Lane restrictions on the turnpike this weekend really will be part of a traffic study

The Globe reports MassDOT and State Police will be experimenting with lane closures in the Pru tunnel this weekend as they get ready for a series of lane closures later this month and next month so workers can remove the tunnel's ceiling.

The ceiling was originally put in place to protect the girders that hold up the Pru and the convention center should something go boom in the tunnel, but the buildings now have other systems in place to protect them and the ceiling is at the end of its expected life, so the state is just going to rip it out. Carefully, of course.

You can learn probably more than you want to about the project at a public meeting at 6 p.m. on Monday at the Hynes.