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Multi-car crash on the turnpike causes rush-hour gridlock
By adamg on Tue, 05/05/2015 - 6:41pm
Going nowhere fast on the turnpike. Photo by Jed Hresko.
UPDATE: Around 6:50 p.m., people stuck in a garage at 125 High St. called 911 to complain of the fumes; police were helpless in the face of downtown-wide gridlock.
A multi-car crash on the turnpike westbound near Kenmore Square shortly after 5 p.m. quickly jammed the turnpike out of town and then all the roads leading to it downtown. At 6:30 p.m., State Police reported one lane was still shut due to the crash.
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Comments
Huh?
a)There is a fire station that literally shares an entrance with the parking garage in that building
b) It didn't occur to the callers to simply leave the garage on foot?
I assume that they had
I assume that they had already pulled out of their parking spaces and were stuck waiting to get out the door, and didn't want to abandon their cars in the middle of the driving lane in the garage.
"Police were helpless?"
How about, you know, instructing drivers inside the garage to turn off their engines?
Seriously, what the hell was up with traffic today? The Mass Ave connector to 93 South was a parking lot at 2:30.
Ha! You expect people to have
Ha! You expect people to have common sense?
I catch the #9 bus daily from
I catch the #9 bus daily from Herald St. to Southie around that time. While waiting 40 MINUTES(!) for an outbound bus (2:10 trip was skipped and the next one was 15 min. late and overcrowded) I can tell you the Pike westbound was backed up from at least the Pru tunnel to 93 and Herald was backed up to Shawmut from Albany at 2:30 yesterday.
Next week is bike week
Whenever I read stories like this it makes me so glad that I commute on my bike. It also scares me that one (big) accident can gridlock the whole downtown area.
Okay... what is bike week?
Okay... what is bike week?
And yet
John Fish and Rich Davey think we can host the Olympics without any infrastructure improvement. They clearly never have to actually get around this area at any time other than 2am or 1pm.
Well, obviously
When the Olympics come to town, nobody will need to drive anywhere because of all the T upgrades. Problem solved.
When the Olympics come to
When the Olympics come to town, they'll ban anyone but the athletes and elites from driving within Boston for the duration of the games.
Like the Big Dig?
You mean it'll be like the Big Dig where a lot of companies left the city for 'burbs due to the expect traffic problems?
Here's what I don't get
There was a car crash, during rush hour, on one of the major routes out of the city. The phrase "accident" was once used to describe such events until the concept of there being a cause arose, but the original mean was that it was a sudden, unexpected thing.
How exactly would Boston2024 improve the infrastructure so that car crashes at a chokepoint during the height of rush hour won't affect traffic? Should we build a second, redundant, Mass Turnpike, just in case this happens again?
It's griping like this that makes me support the Olympic effort, even though I have misgivings.
Be thankful that we have
Be thankful that we have Storrow.
Let's hope the proposal to replace Storrow's Back Bay underpasses with traffic lights is not approved.
Let's think through this
One accident on one roadway shut down the entire downtown area.
It is shut down so bad that people can't even exit a parking garage for an extended period (seriously, they called 911 over that?).
Our infrastructure can barely handle the traffic it sees now, and any issue, minor OR major, can cause extreme ripple-effect impacts on the entire region. One truck Storrowing itself doesn't just mean slow traffic in one direction on Storrow: it causes traffic on every secondary street as well because there is simply not enough capacity (Markk, please don't pipe in here).
Yet somehow we can handle having an entire lane on every single major roadway set aside for the IOC and Boston2024 VIPs for a month and not have any problems? All while accommodating more people and cars and buses than usual? All without any infrastructure improvements, per Fish and Davey (because they really want to sell the plan without scaring voters about the tax implications)? And without any negative economic impacts for those businesses who basically have to shut down because their employees can't count on being able to get to work if they are located anywhere near Widdett Circle?
This is a completely valid point, and if you are the sort of person to ignore facts, data, history, and common sense simply because you don't like an argument then I don't know what to tell you. Or you just aren't paying attention to the issues being raised.
Here's the difference
Planned versus unplanned events.
Although I disagree with the ideas on the T's woes this winter demonstrating that it would not be able to handle the Olympics (mainly due to the facts upgrades are in the works regardless of the games and promises of other upgrades), I see the point with that gripe, since we all (or all of us who take the T) have dealt with SNAFUs even on good days (just look at what Roadman wrote yesterday)
My issue is when you conflate things that happen or could happen anywhere (I have visited Yakima, WA but once, and on that day, and for days afterwards, I-82 was complete shut between Yakima and Ellensburg due to a truck crash) with the ability of Boston to put on the games, I gotta say something.
Every city that has hosted the summer games have had traffic issues. For almost all of them, traffic was a concern. Somehow, London, Beijing, Athens, Sydney, and so on have been able to get people from place to place during the games. A multiple car crash on a Tuesday in May 9 years before the city, if chosen, will host the games is not a reason to think we could not put this thing on. Oh, there are reasons not to even bid, but this is not the thing to point to.
There are many reasons to end the bid
This is just one of them. And it is indeed important to point to. We don't have the infrastructure in place to host, and the bid organizers have explicitly stated that the bid does not require new infrastructure to move forward, in their opinions (even though they don't have an engineer on staff, just a bunch of PR and political staffers).
The Olympics HAVE caused major traffic disruptions in host cities. Just because you didn't hear about them on the NBC telecast doesn't mean they didn't exist:
http://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/olympics-games-lanes-caus...
http://news.sky.com/story/964624/olympic-lanes-open-traffic-delays-in-lo...
http://www.washingtonpost.com/world/europe/as-london-olympics-loom-so-do...
Remember, we're talking about taking one lane out of commission on every single major thoroughfare in the city, both highway and surface street, for a month. Do you really want to believe that the impact will be minimal? And that a single accident causing gridlock in the entire region isn't somehow emblematic of this issue?
Dedicated Olympic Lanes
This demand goes way beyond anything required for the Atlanta Olympics. People were strongly "encouraged" to work from home -- and the like -- to reduce ordinary workday traffic as possible (and this was a pain for most people), but there were no special Olympics-only roads or lanes.
You're proving my point
Which is that a multiple vehicle crash on a Tuesday 9 years before opening ceremonies is not the reason why we could not put this on.
I was waiting for Kerpan or other Atlanta exiles to chime in about the traffic. Will business in Boston essentially grind to a halt for 2 weeks if they do this thing? Most likely, but that is a different thing than thinking that a car crash means we are too incompetent to put the games on.
Quick quiz. Before yesterday, when was the last time the Turnpike was backed up so bad it affected city streets, excepting weather related events? I bet you cannot give a date.
I don't think you're understanding me
I said nothing about competence. That's another post (or three). I'm talking about actual, physical space on roadways, and capacity on mass transit, secondarily.
Maybe I'm assuming too much about your understanding of how traffic works, and although I'm not a professional traffic engineer I think I understand the basics of capacity. My argument is that we don't have enough capacity to accommodate all of the new traffic the games would generate, especially if you reduce the region's carrying capacity by a full lane on most major roads. More simply: we can barely handle basic, non-event traffic at peak times now. Add more cars and take away 25%-50% of the capacity (IOC lanes) and it gets worse. Lots worse.
Accidents are indicative of this dilemma. No, I don't expect every day of the summer of 2024 to feature a crash on a major artery. However, the response to the closure of just one roadway for a relatively short period led to backups throughout the city as people scrambled to find other ways to their destination. Roads that have nothing to do with the MassPike entrances were jammed because we just don't have the capacity to overcome any additional stress on the system. The meltdown that happens in this area every time there is any incident on a roadway shows how unprepared we are for any major impact on the system, especially one that seeks to add traffic AND reduce capacity at the same time.
And to answer your question (although I don't know why I try, since you clearly aren't reading any other links I post to help you understand the issue) you might remember this little incident from two whole days ago:
http://www.universalhub.com/2015/if-youre-going-slam-your-truck-storrow-...
or maybe this little number from just two weeks ago:
http://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2015/04/16/truck-dangling-over-side-sou...
It's not about an accident. It's about what an accident can show us about our deficiencies, a "stress test" of sorts. We don't pass these sorts of tests on a regular basis, so why invite one at our expense for a cool $9 billion?
I think we have a point of agreement
Yes, road capacity will go down during the games (assuming we get them. I doubt traffic in Boston will be affected by Paris 2024). That said, you are underplaying both what happened in other host cities and the fact Boston will have plans for crap like this (yes, they should have plans for things like this every day, but they are not trying to impress the world this week) while somehow making the odd point that an unanticipated, hence unplanned, event that happened yesterday shows that we can't handle the Olympics. They have plans for hurricane evacuations that somehow won awards. The thing you need to understand is that when the Lords of the Rings decamp into Boston, all stops will pulled out to get people from A to B.
Also, still waiting on the last time Turnpike traffic backing up to city streets. Didn't happen when Storrow Drive and the Southeast Expressway had their accidents, though the latter did SNAFU the Red Line.
In short, car crashes happen, but somehow the Olympic Games keep on occurring every 4 summers.
Refocusing
I remember side streets getting backed up on those other two accidents, especially on the Cambridge side with the Storrowing, but I don't want to get into that level of discussion. It's not the main point of my first post.
Refocusing to the main point, which I think there is agreement on:
1) Boston2024 is touting its bid as not requiring any investment in new infrastructure to manage the games' impact. They are adamant about this because polling shows them this is a very weak link in the perception of their pitch.
2) We need additional infrastructure investments regardless of Boston2024's dictates. However, should Boston get the nod from the IOC, I am fairly certain that most, if not all, new transportation funding would be prioritized to Olympics-based projects.
3) Thus, new funding would be needed, but only after Boston2024 won its referendum by confusingly convincing voters that "no new tax money*" was needed. That asterisk would be mostly ignored in the press and public until it was too late and Marty Walsh signs the region's future away to the IOC. We're now on the hook to do what the IOC demands, or face a $100m penalty for withdrawing. Bear in mind, the IOC doesn't list its demands until after the host city agrees to accept them carte blanche.
That was my main point. Boston2024 wants to sell its project as being tax-neutral, but simply living in this area we know that significant improvements are needed just to keep the region functioning, not to mention host a mega-event like this. However, if Boston gets the nod, you can bet that any new transportation funding would be prioritized to the IOC's needs. I can't guarantee it, but if you really think that, come 2023, with roads to venues still unfinished, that cities like Lawrence or Somerville or Newton would get priority for transportation funding coming online, then I've got a bridge to sell you.
It's not about one accident on the Turnpike.
We don't need more roads
Which is kind of back to my first point. There is no need for a second Mass Turnpike. But here are my 6 cents on your 3 points.
1) Well, yeah, there is going to need to be some infrastructure upgrades. To be fair to them, some of the infrastructure is in the works, but if they are planning on putting the stadium in Widett Circle with a pathway downtown, that's not infrastructure currently planned.
2) Yeah, but again, there is no level of infrastructure that would have prevented the traffic on Tuesday, unless you want a redundant system of highways. Accidents happen, all over the world. Do you seriously think that they don't gripe about traffic in other candidate cities or host cities. Heck, London pioneered congestion charges on regular streets.
3) Funding is the main thing that could torpedo the bid locally. The annoyance of the world taking over the city for 3 weeks (or however long the games would be) is something that PR can handle, but I don't see voters being too happy if tax dollars are going to go to this, unless they can see tangible benefits in the end.
In the end, there was a multiple car crash. Trucks jackknife in bad places. This happens. It happens in Chicago, San Francisco, Los Angeles, Washington, Rio de Janiero, London, Athens, Paris, Rome, basically anyplace that has highways. Sorry, but this crash means nothing to my view of whether we could hose the Olympics.
It's was a bad accident. All
It's was a bad accident. All lanes were blocked for a time until the troopers and medics arrived. Then one lane opened. Atleast one person was injured and laying on the ground. It wasn't a simple fender bender.
I always say
It's not a real traffic jam until the cop comes to your window and tells you to turn off the cah because your gonna be here for a while.