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Comm. Ave. bridge replacement work will mean disruption for drivers and Green Line, T bus and Worcester Line riders
By adamg on Mon, 04/10/2017 - 1:05pm
State officials announced today they'll be shutting Commonwealth Avenue near the BU Bridge July 26 to Aug. 14 as they work to replace the increasingly creaky bridge where the street crosses over the turnpike and the tracks used by the Worcester Line and Amtrak's Lake Shore Limited service.
Paths will be kept open for pedestrians and bike riders, MassDOT announced today.
Detours and transit shuttles will be necessary for some station stops on the MBTA’s Green Line B Branch, MBTA Bus Routes CT2 and 47, the Worcester Commuter Rail Line, and Amtrak’s Lake Shore Limited route. The impacts on all modes of transportation are a necessary part of having the MassDOT contractor work continuous shifts 24 hours a day and utilize Accelerated Bridge Construction techniques in order to reduce overall construction duration, minimize the impact on the traveling public and local community, and improve safety.
This project, which would take an estimated four to five years using conventional techniques with significant lane-takings and service disruptions, is scheduled for completion in 2019 under the accelerated plans, with future construction activities and service impacts expected in the summer of 2018. The project will replace the Commonwealth Avenue Bridge superstructure and add functional and safety improvements to Commonwealth Avenue, such as additional dedicated bike lanes and extensive pedestrian pathway improvements.
Even before the main part of the work, turnpike drivers will see reduced lanes in the area of the bridge as workers begin to get ready for the replacement work, MassDOT says. Then:
Throughout the construction activities from 9:00 p.m. on Friday, July 28, through 5:00 a.m. on Monday, August 7, a “crossover” will be in place on I-90 using traffic channelization equipment, such as zipper barrier, line striping, and variable message boards to direct traffic to one side of the highway.
From 9:00 p.m. on Friday, July 28, through 9:00 p.m. on Wednesday, August 2 both eastbound and westbound traffic will be on the westbound side of I-90. From 9:00 p.m. on Wednesday, August 2 through 5:00 a.m. on Monday, August 7 both eastbound and westbound traffic will be on the eastbound side of I-90. This “crossover” is necessary to allow MassDOT crews and its contractor to conduct construction activities on the bridge above I-90.
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Comments
Video
I like the parts where the two trucks drive into the bridge, demolishing it along the way.
Nom nom nom.
Nom nom nom.
"Drive into"
Based on that description I was hoping the video was going to show two trucks Storrowing the bridge apart.
Personally
I prefer the yellow crane that powerslides a 180 to get into position. I've seen video of people parallel parking that way, but a giant crane is orders of magnitude cooler.
Like parking the Bluesmobile
Like parking the Bluesmobile in front of the Chez Paul? Yeah, that was fun. Must be a relative of the driver from the tollbooth demolition animation video that does the Masshole lane changes.
Video gets off to a good start
also
Oh, I don't know. I like all the tiles just flying in and laying themselves down.
Bike and Ped crossings?
Everything I've read here and elsewhere is that going across Comm Ave will be preserved for bikes and peds. Having watched the video, I'm not quite sure exactly how that will work.
Any ideas?
Far Side
The North side of the bridge is untouched during the construction and stays open. Presumably they'll hold traffic for a few minutes periodically to let trucks cross but otherwise it should be usable. You'd need to cross the street if you were headed East (Inbound).
Going across the Pike will be preserved
From the video, it seems like Comm Ave will remain open for bikes/peds, but you will not be able to cross from the BU bridge over to Essex St/Mountfort St directly (because that section of the overpass will be missing).
We could build a ramp
I've done some pretty sweet jumps on my bike before.
">http://www.thewrap.com/wp
That's what I was afraid of
There are workarounds, but they're not elegant. Going from Brookline to Cambridge, you go right on Mountfort, left over the Carlton St bridge, left again onto Comm, then right over the bridge. Going from Cambridge to Brookline, you turn right from the bridge onto Comm, then left at Saint Paul.
Of course, this may require sidewalk access or other methods when they're working on the north deck...
2018
The two best things about the bridge replacement, which unfortunately probably won't happen until the 2018 summer shutdown, are that University Road finally gets a ped signal, and the BU bridge going toward Cambridge is restored to 2 lanes.
Pages 28 and 29:
http://www.massdot.state.ma.us/Portals/8/docs/HighlightedProjects/CommAv...
Really?!
I see the image you cite, and I agree that it shows what you claim.
I'm really surprised about the decision for two lanes northbound on the bridge rather than the 1.5/1.5 current configuration. I ride over the bridge twice a day, at least once during rush hour. The congestion in the traffic circle on the Cambridge side of the bridge is considerable. The light allowing vehicles to turn right onto the bridge from Cambridge is to allow ped crossing, so it's green far more often than the BU Bridge/Comm Ave light is green. This means that the current 1.5 lane configuration allows more southbound throughput than the proposed 1 lane configuration.
I can't figure out how the current vehicle backup on the Cambridge side, particularly during the evening commute, will possibly clear with less throughput and storage on the BU Bridge.
Has there been an active discussion or is this just kind of slipped into the plan in the middle of the night?
To answer my own question...
There has been process, and the plan as described by shawnp is the plan.
My bet: Cambridge-side rotary redesign planned in 2021, implemented in 2022. It's a real struggle now, and may only get worse once the Comm Ave project is finished because southbound loses storage space and loses the right turn slip lane, which means cars can't empty the buffer even a little bit while Comm Ave has the green, as they can now.
This design seems to encourage a counterclockwise approach to getting over the bridge rather than a clockwise one, which is also a bit counter intuitive.
Oh well! Onward!
Double right turn lanes have no place in a walkable city
I'm not happy that they're eliminating the slip ramp/ped island on the northeast corner of the Comm Ave/BU Bridge intersection. And adding a double right turn lane, probably to make up for the traffic light capacity lost by adding exclusive bike phases.
This means pedestrians crossing Comm Ave on the east-side crosswalk will need to cross a bike lane, a right turn lane, 2 thru lanes, 2 trolley tracks, 3 thru lanes, a double right turn lane, and another bike lane before reaching a refuge. That's a nightmare of a crossing. Today there's only one right turn lane, and it has a refuge island.
Something similar is happening at the southwest corner, where they're adding another double right turn lane (though they're removing a thru lane, so it's a wash for pedestrians).
Reroute for comm ave traffic?
I may have missed this, but where are they rerouting traffic (57 bus)?
Part of the bridge will
Part of the bridge will remain open, for MBTA buses (57 and Green Line shuttles), bikes, and pedestrians only.