Concerns Raised About Summer Tunnel Closure

By Adam Swift

Representatives from MassDOT met with the City Council’s public safety subcommittee last week to review plans for the Sumner Tunnel closure this summer.

The tunnel will be closed to all traffic for a major rehabilitation project from July 5 to August 31.

This summer, work will be done on ventilation and drainage systems in the tunnel, while next summer, the tunnel will be closed for actual road resurfacing within the tunnel, according to Neil Boudreau of MassDOT.

The weekend closures of the Sumner will remain in place in between the two full-time summer closures of the tunnel.

“Where it is a tunnel system crossing the harbor, we only have so many lanes in and out of Boston,” said Boudreau. “The goal here is to try to utilize, to the best extent possible, mode shifts. There are a lot of options with ferry service, the blue line, silver line, and a number of bus routes as well as the commuter rail that we are hoping to get people to take advantage of.”

The Blue Line will be free during the Sumner closure, and there will also be either free or drastically reduced parking rates at lots and garages along the Blue Line.

Boudreau said MassDOT is also coordinating with other major road construction projects in the Greater Boston area during the summer to minimize inconvenience.

“The last thing we want with the magnitude of the projects is to have people detour from another project into this,” said Boudreau.

Even with the other transportation modes and a major communications push, Boudreau said there is still going to be a major impact on traffic from the project.

“Part of the messaging is going to really try to push home if you can stay home or work from home or change your hours to do that, but there are transit options,” said Boudreau.

Commuters will also be able to sign up for Mass511 online which will give real-time traffic updates about the project and travel conditions during the summer, he added.

One of the rallying cries of several councillors over the past several months is having the state suspend the bus-only lane on the Tobin Bridge for the duration of the Sumner Tunnel closure.

“I’ve been stuck there for an hour because you can’t use the third lane and I have never seen a bus there,” said Council President Pro Tem Joanne McKenna.

Boudreau said the request has been brought to the state highway administrator and the transportation secretary, but that there was no immediate answer on if the bus lane would be opened up to all traffic.

“We have heard that message,” he said. “I know the 111 bus is the frequent use of that lane, and it’s also meant for use for emergency vehicles to get through that area.”

Councillor-at-Large Gerry Visconti said residents and Revere officials are concerned that there will be increased traffic on Rte. 1.

“It looks like the traffic mitigation plan is looking at accommodating East Boston and the Boston side, which is right in that area, but our Revere residents are really concerned about that bus lane … that is going to push the traffic further back from Rte. 1,” said Visconti. “While I would like to believe that people would take the alternative measures to travel to work in Boston, I think what will happen is they will end up going on the bridge, which is going to cause quite a bit of traffic on the Revere side.”