The view from Sidney Street. Photo by Meg Reils.
UPDATE: State Police report the truck and a Scion tC collided around 6 a.m., sending the truck partially over the Jersey barriers.
A box truck that wound up hanging off I-93 south in Dorchester this morning created problems on both the highway and the Red Line below - which the MBTA shut until mechanics could move the truck and end the risk it might plunge onto the tracks.
State Police report two people were injured in the crash; both taken to the hospital.
The T is now running shuttle buses from North Quincy to Ashmont, which, of course, means long lines of commuters, many of them not happy at the lack of coordination:
Witnessed a man be nearly trampled trying to get in a bus at North Quincy.
Amy Derjue was one of the lucky ones to get a seat on a shuttle bus at North Quincy. She looked out the window:
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Comments
Lack of coordination
By Ari O
Thu, 04/16/2015 - 8:42am
Seriously, people, what do you want? Somehow the T got buses there despite the fact that every roadway is a parking lot, and people want them to have flight attendants offering them pillows and little bottles of bourbon before the ride? How about everyone lines up, gets on the buses in an orderly fashion, and decides to just be happy they're not stuck in a traffic jam that stretches from Stoughton, Walpole and Hanover.
Exactly correct.
By roadman
Thu, 04/16/2015 - 9:19am
While there are times when the T should be faulted for poor coordination of substitute bus service (like with scheduled shutdowns of subway service), this is a true emergency situation that the T, for once, had absolutely no control over.
Hacks , pensions
By bulgingbuick
Thu, 04/16/2015 - 1:08pm
affirmative action, Deval...Wait he's not Governor any more... dammit who can I blame. The T!
Hard to blame the T on this
By Kinopio
Thu, 04/16/2015 - 9:20am
Hard to blame the T on this one. The fault obviously lies at the feet of the dumb driver and a poorly designed bridge. Of course this moron who made thousands of people late for work won't lose his license because car drivers hate being held responsible.
The driver may not lose his license
By roadman
Thu, 04/16/2015 - 9:32am
completely. But any accident on his CDL, however minor, will affect his chances at future employment. Even if it is determined the truck driver wasn't at fault.
Note that approximately 90 percent of truck accidents involve a passenger car. In approximately 75 percent of those cases, it's the passenger car driver that's at fault. # 1 reason for this - cutting in front of trucks too closely.
Are ambulances able to get through?
By Michael
Thu, 04/16/2015 - 8:50am
Will the local sports talk radio devote an entire day to fuming at idiot drivers who block highways with their idiotic driving?
(Spoiler: no, because without idiotic drivers there is no sports talk radio)
I was stuck in that traffic for two hours
By Nancy
Thu, 04/16/2015 - 10:38am
They were very serious today. I spent an hour listening to people call in to wish Dino good luck in rehab and/or talk about how "regular" the people on the Aaron Hernandez jury are.
Then I thought "WTF, Nance?" turned off the radio and listened to Spotify.
I don't think that discussing how "regular"
By roadman
Thu, 04/16/2015 - 10:39am
the Hernandez jury is qualifies as "serious" conservation.
You Shall Not Pass
By johnmcboston
Thu, 04/16/2015 - 9:09am
hmmm. You would think these raised highways would have better barriers when they go over things like train tracks, houses, etc...
Roadman - Any reason we don't have such things? Or do they become ineffective at higher speeds?
I suspect the reason there aren't higher
By roadman
Thu, 04/16/2015 - 9:20am
barriers here is because it's on a bridge structure that was originally built in 1959 and likely could not handle the additional loading of a "monster" (i.e. 42 inch high) Jersey Barrier.
Of course, if this had happened prior to 1985, when the bridge still had its original guardrail instead of the present barrier, the truck would have likely ended up going over the edge and down onto the Red Line.
Wait a minute, roadman!
By issacg
Thu, 04/16/2015 - 10:24am
You mean to tell me that something good happened in the 80s?
Say it isn't so! I thought that everyone was just blowing coke all the time!
/snark (and disclaimer: I was a kid - a younger one - during that era)
Thanks, as always, for an informative answer to a well-directed question. What an even bigger cluster this would have been if the truck had gone over (not to mention the probability of serious injuries and/or deaths).
Hopefully the truck driver
By anon
Thu, 04/16/2015 - 9:46am
Hopefully the truck driver will be forced to pay back the MBTA for all the associated costs of the disruption.
Why the truck driver and not
By Scratchie
Thu, 04/16/2015 - 10:48am
Why the truck driver and not the car driver who probably cut him off?
What car, I didn't see that
By anon
Thu, 04/16/2015 - 11:09am
What car, I didn't see that in the article.
Sure, if its the car drivers fault he or she should pay. If it is the truck drivers fault are you implying that he or she shouldn't pay, or what is your stance on that?
From the BDC article
By roadman
Thu, 04/16/2015 - 12:03pm
That article doesn't say the
By anon
Thu, 04/16/2015 - 1:31pm
That article doesn't say the car probably cut the truck driver off.
No. But we know a second vehicle was involved, we
By roadman
Thu, 04/16/2015 - 5:12pm
know both drivers were injured, we know the crash occurred where an on-ramp merges onto the highway, and we know the position of the truck when it came to rest after the crash.
Do the math.
We don't know any thing
By SwirlyGrrl
Thu, 04/16/2015 - 5:14pm
We can't assume what happened. We can make bets based on what more often happens than not, but that isn't the same as knowing what happened.
Probably because the car wasn
By erik g
Thu, 04/16/2015 - 1:51pm
Probably because the car wasn't wearing a DayGlo orange reflective vest, and wasn't observing traffic regulations carefully while crossing the street. Tragic, but ultimately the fault of the car.
Wait, what thread am I in?
I heard it was a bike that
By bulgingbuick
Thu, 04/16/2015 - 3:47pm
cut him off...
After complaining to a trooper
By roadman
Thu, 04/16/2015 - 5:11pm
in Charles Circle about a properly parked crusier in a marked construction area, right?
Wrong
By SwirlyGrrl
Thu, 04/16/2015 - 5:15pm
Go check into the agreements and official plans to keep that lane open, deary - you supposedly have access to that, right?
Forget it
By anon
Thu, 04/16/2015 - 9:56pm
This guy supposedly works in transportation, but has no idea about how federal money works or why you can't gut a capital project to pay operating expenses.
Maybe somebody should call in a suspicious package on the road leading to the Reading MBTA station at 6am - that road takes fewer people a day than the Longfellow bike lanes, but the screaming would be to high heaven because CAR.
Yes, I understand how
By roadman
Fri, 04/17/2015 - 10:41am
capital funding and Federal funding works.
What I've been arguing over the years is this - Perhaps we should change the current funding structure to ALLOW "capital" funds to be spent on "operational" expenses instead so trains and buses can continue to run. Among other things, we wouldn't be stuck with overspending on station rehabs and the like because of the "oh, we HAVE to use the money for that or lose it" philosophy.
Perhaps you should be commenting on the people here who respond to my very logical suggestions for funding reform with the "oh, but there's NO way we could ever do that" comments instead.
And forgive me for thinking that a state police cruiser parked in a buffer area (which is NOT a bike lane) in such a way that they still provide room for bikes and peds to use the adjacent "contraflow" lane is somehow not the end of the world.
Were peds and cyclists COMPLETELY
By roadman
Fri, 04/17/2015 - 10:42am
blocked from using that lane? In one word - NO! And, to use one of your favorite responses to people on here, do we know why the cruiser was parked in the buffer area (again, NOT the lane itself)? In one word - NO!.
I guess in your world, there's NO allowable excuse for a state police officer to be parked ANYWHERE within an active construction area (again, perhaps your traffic engineer father can enlighten you about work zone traffic control practices). But when somebody else speculated about the most likely cause of a truck accident by piecing together the available evidence, it's "OMG - you have no clue that that happened, so you're not allowed to state your opinion as to the probable cause".
Someone is
By bulgingbuick
Fri, 04/17/2015 - 7:59am
stalking you.
*Sydney St.
By Lmo
Thu, 04/16/2015 - 1:02pm
*Sydney St.
This is what you get
By Ann Weatherbee
Thu, 04/16/2015 - 1:22pm
when you have to go to work everyday.
Stuck on Train
By Stuck on Train
Thu, 04/16/2015 - 1:24pm
I had family phone me at 6:30 Am this morning. They were due at work before 7 AM. Wanted to know why their inbound MBTA commuter train was stuck for so long. Crew was delayed in advising them. I switched on the TV to see the chopper shots. The train was literally 200 ft from the overpass where the truck was dangling. JFK station was visible straight ahead. They were stuck there a decent 90-120 minutes waiting.
Now, that said... one possible solution would have been for the train, unable to move inbound, to switch ends, which the FRA requires a full 5 minutes to do for purposes of checking the systems and brakes, then return to Quincy Station. There the passengers could have left for buses. Of course, that would have been one solution. Instead they elected to wait.
Why?
Well they may have had to back up other trains, and when more than one train occupies a certain stretch of track at the same time (called a "block") they have to move (crawl) slowly. And it causes a mountain of paperwork and all kinds of reports.
So folks, that is why sometimes you sit waiting on some commuter trains. It is easier for administration to just hold you there and declare a delay rather than the mass of documentation required when they have to back up and juggle other trains in the same safety zone.
Note... they **CAN** back up. They ** CHOOSE** not to. They **DO** have to override safety systems and stay in close radio contact. It is not an easy thing to do, but it is possible. You may remember they did back up a train or two during snow-mageddon. There is a strict system in place akin to air traffic control for airplanes.
In hindsight with this situation, the riders that were stuck the 90-120 minutes may have made out better than those who were stuck waiting for buses.
Run, don't walk, away from any Braintree branch shuttles
By Neil
Thu, 04/16/2015 - 11:20pm
They're a nightmare. I took one once. I'd rather lose a job or a significant other than lose my mind on one of those infernal journeys. I'd hitchhike along Dot Ave.
And, to the poster above:
The train would have had to back up to North quincy, not Quincy Center. There was probably a train between the stopped train and NQ. And one sitting at NQ. And another sitting between or at Wollaston. Then back to Quincy Center. Probably 5-6 trains total.
Bottom line: nowhere to back up to.
Shutting down the Red Line seemed overly cautious
By Markk02474
Thu, 04/16/2015 - 1:58pm
Sure, shut it down while moving the truck. But, while its sitting there, static, with one wheel over, is presenting no imminent threat. Its no different than crap falling off bridges randomly any other time!
Sorry, but a large truck hanging over the edge
By roadman
Thu, 04/16/2015 - 5:12pm
is hardly your normal crap that might come off a bridge. And if the truck did fall and landed on the train you were riding on, I suppose you'd be one of the first to
demand a huge lottery payment fromsue the MBTA for gross negligence.The truck itself is very
By anon
Fri, 04/17/2015 - 11:00pm
The truck itself is very unlikely to fall, as a whole, but look at the wheel and the popped-open hood. You know for sure that the axle isn't snapped, that everything in the engine compartment is still where it belongs and fully secure? I don't think the T wants to have a wheel or a battery or something to come crashing through a train roof...
My Morning
By Chokmah
Thu, 04/16/2015 - 10:18pm
I got to my commuter rail station at 7:00 AM. I stupidly was without my cell phone. As I parked, I noticed the train before my usual one was at a dead stop and wasn't taking on passengers just letting them out. Luckily there's the 1630 AM radio station with an update. In my head, the part of 93 with the dangling truck is by Quincy Adams so I drive to North Quincy which took a good 50 minutes. North Quincy parking lot is closed by cops and see the mob picture above. I'm on Hancock and every route on the GPS is blood red with traffic. I decide to try to drive to work but switch between allowing anxiety to force me to detour to JFK parking Shaws and praying about finding parking in Boston. My prayers were answered. I got into the office at 9:20.
So to make your life easier
By anonymous
Thu, 04/16/2015 - 10:53pm
So to make your life easier you parked in Shaws lot and jumped on the train to go in town? And people wonder why commuters are hated by those that live in the city.
At least Shaws would have the guts
By roadman
Fri, 04/17/2015 - 10:02am
to tow the cars of such commuters. Unlike the City of Boston, which only cares about revenue, and not actual enforcement.
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