By adamg on Tue., 2/3/2015 - 3:48 pm

Cram and jam on inbound Rutherford Avenue in Charlestown. Photo by Tucc06.
Because it's sounding like downtown and surrounding areas are at gridlock right now - and it can't possibly be because of people heading to the Beanpot, can it?
Jaci reports:
Two lanes are trying to exit at Charles MGH off Storrow. Those two lanes are not moving.
Ashley Steriti adds:
Revere to Back Bay via car. 75 minutes and still in the tunnel. Can't even see the light of Storrow Drive yet
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Thursday
By cybah
Tue, 02/03/2015 - 3:52pm
this is what happened last thursday. I'm taking bets on the evening commute will be repeat. Once it starts in one area, it just gets worse elsewhere.
Both State and Congress (northbound) look completely jammed
By JCK
Tue, 02/03/2015 - 3:56pm
This is just looking out my window.
I would have taken the T today, but instead drove, given the the status of the red line.
No functioning T and most roads are minus 0.5-1 lanes. The math isn't too difficult.
Something for drivers to
By anon
Tue, 02/03/2015 - 4:06pm
Something for drivers to remember when they say they don't care about funding for the T, since a dysfunctional and underfunded MBTA (or expensive) will lead to increasing traffic. People won't disappear if the T keeps breaking down and isn't expanded to reach more people, they will just drive to work.
Sadly I think most of the
By Eric
Tue, 02/03/2015 - 9:18pm
Sadly I think most of the drivers in the Boston area actually do favor T funding. The tricky thing is getting those people in the under-served suburbs (you know, like where the house speaker lives), to favor it.
Office Window
By cybah
Tue, 02/03/2015 - 4:06pm
from my office window...looks like Atlantic Ave is backed up (northbound). Southbound isn't there yet (but close).
Summer Street coming from SoBoston is backed up to Sleeper Street and beyond.
Northbound 93 is backed up thru the tunnel.
Southbound 93 is clear (which is odd because its usually the first to back up)
Roommate had to go to Woburn this afternoon. Left DTX (Macy's complex) @ 2:30. Arrived in Woburn at 345.
Yeah its brutal out there.
Almost glad I have to stay for this install at 6pm. That is if the guy even can show up (or can make it here)
cybah....
By SBer
Tue, 02/03/2015 - 5:04pm
...what's the view out your work window now?? Have to venture from downtown to South Boston and wondering how badly the #7 buses will be stuck in traffic in the South Station area. You mentioned Summer Street being backed up to Sleeper....that early in the afternoon, it isn't a good sign for the rush hour.
Thanks for any updates. Might just stay in the office to get some work done and wait out the rush hour.
here
By cybah
Tue, 02/03/2015 - 5:49pm
see for yourself..
sorry for the blurryiness. Office building windows need to be cleaned again.
[img] http://oi59.tinypic.com/21ean41.jpg [/img]
Thanks....
By SBer
Tue, 02/03/2015 - 6:17pm
Thanks for the birds-eye view! I'm heading towards SB so it doesn't look too bad at the moment. Was worth hanging around the office for a bit.
Good. This is the only way
By J
Tue, 02/03/2015 - 4:10pm
Good. This is the only way the idiots at the state house will think (for at least a second) that the T is valuable and worth funding, but only because it saves them time on their drive.
Yes, yes, of course narrowed lanes due to snow are contributing to the delays, but theres a shit ton of people who didnt use the T today because every single line failed.
dreaming
By cybah
Tue, 02/03/2015 - 4:13pm
Unfortunately you're dreaming on this one. I'd like to think it would wake legislators up but it doesnt.
'sides.. Charlie says he's gonna CUT 40 MIL from the transportation budget. Good move Charlie.. not. You and Mahty can share the dog house you're both going to be in soon...
Charles will cut most of it
By anon
Tue, 02/03/2015 - 4:37pm
Charles will cut most of it from public transit, I am sure it won't be an equal % cut from roads/highways and transit. It will be the T, he screwed it when he was last in the state house with Weld and he will do so again.
like I said
By cybah
Tue, 02/03/2015 - 5:51pm
in another post..
Stating its is unacceptable, yet will cut money from the T. How can you fix 'unacceptable' when there's no funds to fix it? You can't.
I hope you like your new roommate (mahty) in the dog house, Charlie.
I wouldn't be so sure.
By Eric
Tue, 02/03/2015 - 9:21pm
I wouldn't be so sure. Stephanie Pollack whom he appointed as transportation secretary is about as a staunch supporter of public transit investment as they come.
This is the only way to get drivers to support the T.
By issacg
Tue, 02/03/2015 - 4:36pm
"You should support a better T because each person who rides it is not in front of you."
It must be made very, very clear to everyone that this is what happens when many of your neighbors who normally ride the T cannot do so because it is a complete and utter shambles.
Even if the roads were not narrowed today, this cluster would be apparent. Of course, however, since the narrowing variable is in play, it will give license to the crazies to say that the narrowing was the cause (rather than the many thousands (hundreds of thousands?) who avoided the T today (at the T's request!) were the cause).
That would make an excellent
By anon
Tue, 02/03/2015 - 5:11pm
That would make an excellent bumper sticker. Or something to the effect of, "If the Ⓣ were better funded, I wouldn't be in front of you right now."
More travel lanes needed
By Markk02474
Tue, 02/03/2015 - 4:40pm
Is the take away from this situation! Get rid of some of the shrubs and fences blocking snow from being pushed back further!
As to the state house: Many members represent cities and towns not served by the MBTA. Voters in those places already give 20% of sales taxes to the MBTA along with millions in gasoline taxes and RMV fees. There is far more to Massachusetts than just Boston.
Why stop there?
By Scratchie
Tue, 02/03/2015 - 4:53pm
Get rid of the houses and businesses and we'll have even more room for cars, glorious cars!
Ok, Let's break the state in two.
By JCK
Tue, 02/03/2015 - 4:55pm
We can have the Commonwealth of Metro Boston and the Commonwealth of the Rest of Massachusetts. Then the Rest of Massachusetts's sales tax proceeds won't go to the MBTA.
I'm fine with that. But guess who gets screwed (financially) in that deal?
You could fit dozens of cars
By Kinopio
Tue, 02/03/2015 - 6:10pm
You could fit dozens of cars in the Boston Common if you just paved over that thing already!!!1!
And yet
By anon
Tue, 02/03/2015 - 8:27pm
You want to close the Jamaicway for the benefit of locals.
Parking on the Common
By anon
Tue, 02/03/2015 - 10:32pm
Don't forget to leave room for the beach volleyball stadium.
Cambridge and Longfellow construction to blame
By Markk02474
Wed, 02/04/2015 - 10:03am
Much of the gridlock is near MGH and Leverett Circle is from motorists not able to get out of Boston. The single open lane of the Longfellow bridge greatly worsens traffic patterns.
There is the loss of a travel lane on the Longfellow bridge due to construction hurting the exodus from Boston.
Worse is the ongoing campaign in Cambridge to remove vehicular travel lanes throughout the city and worsen signal timings while adding ever more instant change pedestrian signals. It all impedes flow and gridlock propagates into its neighbors. Worse, alleged engineers at MIT (urban studies, planning, car hate, and bicycling department) support this failure.
Uh oh
By SwirlyGrrl
Tue, 02/03/2015 - 6:36pm
The stupid that was burning? IT EXPLODED!!!
RUN FOR YOU LIFE!
Worse is the ongoing campaign
By Scratchie
Wed, 02/04/2015 - 9:10am
I don't even know how you can stand to live there. It must be literal hell on earth. When are you moving?
I happily left Cambridge in 1988
By Markk02474
Wed, 02/04/2015 - 10:52am
I think that was around the time Cambridge narrowed Mass Ave in Central Square from 4 lanes to 2. Since then, more lane removals on Memorial Drive and Mass Ave towards Boston with resulting congestion and last night's parking lot on the Mass Ave bridge. Lane removals around Kendal are more recent, also contributing to the gridlock.
Elsewhere in the US, instead of removing and wasting transportation as done in Cambridge and Boston, roads are expanded to satisfy demand and economic growth.
Texas awaits you
By SwirlyGrrl
Wed, 02/04/2015 - 10:21am
You don't seem to like the weather or the fact that old cities built before the car have realized that they aren't built for cars.
Plenty of tech jobs. Any reason you are waiting?
Elsewhere in the US, there is
By Scratchie
Wed, 02/04/2015 - 12:36pm
Elsewhere in the US, there is enough empty space to expand roads to meet demand (until there isn't, of course; see LA and Atlanta, for example).
In any case, there are vast swathes of our great nation where the auto is king and you never have to worry about any unsightly public transit offending your eye (unless you're near a shopping mall or housing project). While you may have left Cambridge, it's obvious that living in such close proximity to it is still causing you an incredible amount of stress, and that you'd be much happier elsewhere.
Let us know when you get settled in. The UHub community won't even hold it against you if you continue to read and post as an expat.
Local aid to cities and towns
By Bomar
Wed, 02/04/2015 - 12:24pm
I believe that a fair bit of money flows from greater-Boston-area economic activity to the western cities and towns, via state aid.
How would western MA do if that money were no longer there? Would you trade an aid cutoff for not having that percentage of the sales tax go to the MBTA?
I think some tax money also goes to the Pioneer Valley Transit Authority, the Berkshire Regional Transit Authority, etc.
Regret not biking today
By spin o rama
Tue, 02/03/2015 - 4:20pm
Figured the roads would be terrible enough to warrant a dry ride on the bus to green line to work. Hell I even had the thought of "Gee, you might get in more drivers way then normal, maybe I should stay off the road just for today."
10 buses and 2 hours of waiting followed by another hour or so getting to Kenmore and walking to North Station.......
Ha
By BostonDog
Tue, 02/03/2015 - 4:40pm
I was going to post the exact same thing. I figured it would take only a little longer on the T and be a lot warmer. Turns out it took a lot longer on the T and was colder then I was expecting.
I had never seen so many people at Park Street this morning yet it was surprisingly quite without at least one train in idling in the station. It was also really cold.
I biked. It was a lot slower
By Eric
Tue, 02/03/2015 - 9:26pm
I biked. It was a lot slower than normal and I had to walk in parts, but it was, in retrospect, absolutely the best way to get to work. And I suspect it would have been even easier if I had something more suitable than a road bike with slick tires.
Did everybody abandon the T
By anon
Tue, 02/03/2015 - 4:33pm
Did everybody abandon the T for cars this afternoon?
Yup.
MGH issued congestion alert
By Markk02474
Tue, 02/03/2015 - 4:35pm
Severe congestion in and around Mass General Hospital. Difficulty getting in and out of the garages, dropping off patients etc.
What's with these sick people not wanting to walk, bike, or take the T? How selfish of them needing to use motorized transport.
Good Observation
By BostonDog
Tue, 02/03/2015 - 4:45pm
There WOULD be a lot more room on the roads for those who are ill if all the able bodied people didn't drive.
The trains might suck but the buses would be running just fine if it wasn't for so many people hogging the roads with big hunks of steel containing only a single person.
I take it you agree there should be a urban congestion fee that personal drivers pays (like London) with the money going to the T. It would solve a lot of the problems we've had today.
We know you're angry, Mark
By Michael
Tue, 02/03/2015 - 4:46pm
But please don't post Internet comments and drive at the same time
Exhaust get to your brain?
By SwirlyGrrl
Tue, 02/03/2015 - 4:56pm
The congestion alert isn't about sick people driving - because sick people drive to MGH all the time. In the big snow winters of the mid-90s, I did my share of helping some of the chemo center patients navigate the ice and snow piles when they parked along the street that my lab was on.
Those people will always drive, and in steady numbers. This mess is about everyone else driving because the MBTA has been so messed up.
In the last year of his life, my father enjoyed having a handicap placard in part because living in Portland meant that he could go downtown to shop or get lunch without encountering much traffic or fighting for parking. Why? Not very many people who work downtown commute into the central city by car, that's why. Consequently, if you are willing to pay for the privilege of parking downtown or have a handicap placard, you enjoy the benefits of transit and bike commuting share, too.
If there are fewer cars on the road because transit and human powered options are available and useful, those who lack the choice are all the better for it.
The people who unnecessarily
By Kinopio
Tue, 02/03/2015 - 6:14pm
The people who unnecessarily drive into Boston every day block ambulances on a regular basis yet protesters slow down one ambulance and drivers complain about it for weeks(not that I agree with that protesting tactic, it was a huge waste of gas).
Define unnecessarily
By SwirlyGrrl
Tue, 02/03/2015 - 6:32pm
I have serious asthma issues. I get sick very easily when I ride the T when it is crowded (yes, I had a flu shot), and I could not bike this morning even if the roads were clear (10F is my absolute lower limit).
My current commuting choices are bronchitis for the next three weeks, severe asthma and ice hazards, or drive.
While I agree with you in theory and do my best to not wastefully commute, I still have to get to work and stay healthy. Riding a bike satisfies this much of the time. These are extreme times.
On the other hand, I don't drive alone.
Communism has fallen
By Markk02474
Tue, 02/03/2015 - 6:38pm
I'm sure you miss the days when the central planning committee would decide what products the people would get to have. What they want didn't matter.
How do you think we ended up
By Eric
Tue, 02/03/2015 - 9:31pm
How do you think we ended up with all of these paved roads?
Leave the guy alone!
By Brian Riccio
Tue, 02/03/2015 - 6:22pm
Who wouldn't want to go back to those thrilling days when they just loaded the bodies onto carts?
I'm not dead yet!
By BikerGeek
Tue, 02/03/2015 - 7:16pm
I'm feeling better! In fact, I think I'll go for a walk!
Quiet...
By Mollynotloggedin
Tue, 02/03/2015 - 7:24pm
You'll be stone dead in a minute.
Subdued, almost orderly, quiet acceptance today...
By b from Ros
Tue, 02/03/2015 - 5:07pm
The roads were packed during my mid-afternoon break, with intersections pretty close to jammed up. There was a certain element of capitulation in the air today. It seemed pretty peaceful, but it certainly comes across as a quiet acceptance...
It has been century(s?) of the same old same old, the outcome is the same, we still mostly push snow, and this ignores the sidewalks. It is time for some for some crazy (or not so crazy) innovations...
*meh* (personal quiet acceptance on my part)
Would reversible lanes help?
By Ron Newman
Tue, 02/03/2015 - 4:58pm
I'd like to see the city experiment with having some lanes change direction by time of day: one way until 11:55 am, the other way after 12:05 pm.
Queue Danny Glover quotes from Lethal Weapon...
By b from Ros
Tue, 02/03/2015 - 5:07pm
"Im too old for this @#$%..."
And it would be echoed by cities, neighborhoods, residents, and car users... Mostly because simply trying to get the word out will fail hard.
I do see potential in this as a way to do larger scale snow removal projects, at least on a temporary basis. Otherwise, this sort of stuff just adds to the confusion of driving in downtown Boston...
Freak out in 5 ... 4 .... 3 ...
By ElizaLeila
Tue, 02/03/2015 - 6:32pm
This would only work for those who know the roads. I have suburban friends (I'm talking Westford or Pepperell) who Freak Out at the mere idea of having to come into the Big City for a meeting down at the Seaport. Near Tears Freak Out.
I grew up north of the City and we came in for Christmas Eve services at a Beacon Hill church for a number of years (la di dah, right?). The first year we did this, we went down one street with the intent to take another turn. I'll never forget my father muttering, "this used to be one way the other direction!" and then quickly having to spin the wheel to keep moving in order to not piss off the people behind us. (he used to work in town until that company moved to Wakefield for cheaper rent)
Add in the many tourists and out of town livery drivers ... sheer insanity. It's not uncommon to stand at The Tam and see someone driving the wrong way up Tremont St. Bets are taken to see just how far they get ....
I could see that they might work, but you would need some major signage upgrades. And some serious planning to get people in the mindset. Maybe a puzzle master in there with traffic engineers. :)
Since the T said to stay away
By Bob Murphy
Tue, 02/03/2015 - 5:06pm
Since the T said to stay away from the Red Line, and the commuter rail was delayed (and there aren't many spaces in the lot because of the snow), I worked from home until 11 and when i tried getting on the expressway in Neponset at 11, it was still backed up solid. thankfully, Morrissey was surprisingly a breeze. Either way, I'm not leaving the Back Bay to go home until at least 7. It's a disaster out there. if they haven't already, i really hope (pray?) that they delay the parade!
Tomorrow
By anon
Tue, 02/03/2015 - 5:08pm
Imagine what it will be like tomorrow when the suburbanites stream in for the parade. The roads can't handle it and the T can't handle it.
But the show must go on!
By DotGuy
Tue, 02/03/2015 - 5:16pm
let's have a parade downtown where no one can park and the T is broken
think today's a shit show? wait till tomorrow
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