Wednesday, May 15, 2013
Many people want to tear the elevated highway down, but there have been differences of opinion about when and how to do that.
Plans for the McGrath Highway, a crumbling roadway with an overpass many in Somerville want to see torn down, will be discussed Wednesday night at a presentation hosted by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation. MassDOT has spent nearly two years conducting a study of the roadway. The study is called, "Grounding McGrath: Determining the Future of the Route 28 Corridor." The state transportation department will present draft recommendations from the study at a meeting scheduled to take place at the Argenziano School at 6 p.m. At a public meeting about the study held in spring of 2012, many members of a passionate crowd urged MassDOT to tear down the McCarthy Overpass, the elevated part of McGrath Highway, immediately. Doing so would…
42.379367
-71.099156
Dr. Albert F. Argenziano School at Lincoln Park
290 Washington St, Somerville, MA
/articles/future-of-mcgrath-highway-topic-of-wednesday-presentation
1346714
/locations/9388106
Thursday, April 4, 2013
If you drive over or near the BU Bridge on Memorial Drive, prepare for six months of traffic disruptions.
No, this isn't in Somerville, but any of you who commute on Memorial Drive may want to know about it. Starting April 7, the Reid Overpass—the overpass that takes cars over the rotary at the BU Bridge—will be closed to cars, bicycles and pedestrians, according to an announcement from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation. It will be closed for six months as MassDOT work crews perform structural repairs. All traffic will be diverted onto surface roads, through the rotary, and back onto Memorial Drive.
Wednesday, March 20, 2013
The bridge will be closed until November.
As a reminder, the Cross Street Bridge closes to vehicles on Thursday and won't open again until late November. The bridge, which is structurally deficient, will be closed while Massachusetts Department of Transportation work crews repair it. Crews will conduct demolition work on selected portions of the bridge on March 23 and 24, according to an announcement from MassDOT. The work will lead to detours around the bridge, which is near the intersection with the McGrath Highway. Cars driving south on Cross Street toward McGrath Highway will take a left onto Tufts Street, a right onto Washington Street and a right onto McGrath Highway, where they can rejoin Cross Street on the other side of the bridge. Cars wanting to drive north on Cross …
42.38335
-71.08973
Cross St & Tufts St, Somerville, MA
/articles/cross-street-bridge-closes-to-traffic-on-thursday
/locations/9059909
Thursday, March 14, 2013
Crews will build a temporary pedestrian bridge Thursday night and Friday morning, the bridge closes to cars on March 21, and demolition begins March 23.
Beginning Thursday night, rehabilitation work will begin on the Cross Street Bridge in East Somerville. It will lead to the bridge being closed until November. The Cross Street Bridge, about a block north of McGrath Highway, won't close to cars until March 21, but work on a temporary pedestrian bridge begins Thursday night, according to an announcement from the city of Somerville. Work on the temporary pedestrian bridge will begin at 10 p.m. Thursday and continue until about 6 a.m. Friday, the announcement says. After closing to vehicles on March 21, demolition will begin on March 23 and "will continue 24 hours per day until completed," according to the announcement. While the bridge is closed, traffic along Cross Street will be diverted …
42.38265
-71.09014
Cross St & Chester Ave, Somerville, MA
/articles/bridge-in-somerville-will-be-closed-until-november
/locations/9013881
Monday, March 11, 2013
The trains could bring 1.8 million gallons worth of ethanol through Somerville's borders twice a week.
Somerville is hosting a pubilc meeting on ethanol trains Monday. The meeting, organized by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, will provide information about plans to ship ethanol on trains—dubbed "bomb trains" by some activists—through Somerville, Cambridge, Boston, Chelsea, Everett and other communities on their way to the Global Oil terminal in Revere. Ethanol is used as a fuel additive in gasoline. The Somerville Board of Aldermen has opposed the trains, which could bring 1.8 million gallons of ethanol twice a week along Commuter Rail lines past dense neighborhoods in the city. Members of the Board of Aldermen and activists elsewhere have argued the trains are dangerous. Other communities have also opposed the trains. The …
42.379367
-71.099156
Dr. Albert F. Argenziano School at Lincoln Park
290 Washington St, Somerville, MA
/articles/somerville-hosts-meeting-on-ethanol-trains
1346714
/locations/8977343
Wednesday, February 6, 2013
Dubbed "bomb trains" by some activists, the ethanol freight trains could roll through the heart of Somerville twice a week, each time with 1.8 million gallons of the volatile liquid on board.
Trains that would each carry about 1.8 million gallons of ethanol and might travel through the heart of Somerville at least twice a week are the subject of a study by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation. MassDOT is holding a meeting about the trains, dubbed "bomb trains" by some activists, Wednesday night in East Boston. The trains would deliver about 187 million gallons of ethanol, a volatile and inflammable alcohol used as an additive to gasoline, each year to the Global Oil terminal in Revere. In doing so, the trains would travel through about 25 Massachusetts cities and towns, including Somerville, Cambridge, Boston, Chelsea and Everett. Somerville has joined Chelsea, Revere and other communities in opposing the ethanol …
42.380561
-71.034089
86 White St, East Boston, MA
/articles/ethanol-trains-through-somerville-under-scrutiny-meeting-wednesday-night
/locations/8750462
Thursday, January 17, 2013
Tell us: do you think we need to increase taxes to strengthen education and transportation?
In his State of the Commonwealth address on Wednesday night, Gov. Deval Patrick proposed raising the state's income tax by 1 percentage point and lowering the sales tax to pay for $2 billion in transportation improvements and early childhood education programs. "There is no good time to raise taxes. I know how tough the times have been on the people and families of the Commonwealth. And though the worst of the recession is over, many, many families still face tough decisions and have deep anxiety about the future. I would not ask if I did not believe in my heart that investing meaningfully today in education and transportation will significantly improve our economic tomorrows," Patrick said. Patrick said he wanted a more fair and …
Tuesday, January 15, 2013
The plan calls for the state to invest $13 billion in transportation over the next decade.
Gov. Deval Patrick and the Massachusetts Department of Transportation unveiled a plan Monday to pump billions of dollars into the state's transportation infrastructure over the next decade, according to Masslive.com, WBUR and other reports. The plan, which lists the Green Line Extension through Somerville as one of a handful of projects on the state's transportation agenda, says Massachusetts needs to raise $13 billion—$1.02 billion a year—over the next 10 years, according to Masslive.com. It lists the state's transportation needs and proposes several options for raising the revenue. It says any one of the following options would raise $1 billion a year: The plan does not, however, recommend any particular option. WBUR reported on air …
Monday, December 10, 2012
Phase 1 of the Green Line Extension consists of reconstructing two bridges and tearing down one building. It represents about one precent of the total cost of the transit project.
Gov. Deval Patrick will be in Somerville Tuesday to kick off the construction of Phase 1 of the Green Line Extension. The governor will be joined by Rep. Michael Capuano, Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone and Massachusetts Secretary of Transportation Richard Davey, according to an announcement from the Green Line Extension team. Phase 1 of the Green Line Extension consists of reconstructing two bridges and tearing down one building. Workers will reconstruct the Medford Street railroad bridge in Somerville and the Harvard Street railroad bridge in Medford. Doing so will allow both Commuter Rail and Green Line trains to use the bridges. Crews will also knock down an MBTA-owned building at 21 Water St. in Cambridge, which will help prepare …
42.377649
-71.090087
Target
180 Somerville Ave, Somerville, MA
/articles/governor-to-kick-off-phase-i-of-green-line-extension-tuesday
788372
/locations/8352343
Thursday, October 11, 2012
Somerville is home to two of the top-ten worst bicycle-crash sites in the state and one of the worst pedestrian-crash sites. The city was also home to two of the worst 200 car-crash sites in the state.
The worst site for bicycle crashes in the state is the area around Inman Square that straddles Somerville and Cambridge, according to the "2010 Top Crash Locations Report," which was released by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation in September. The third worst bicycle-crash site in Massachusetts was the area around Porter Square, mostly in Cambridge, but partly in Somerville. What's more, Davis Square, in Somerville, was the fifth worst site for pedestrian crashes in the state, the report says. The 2010 Top Crash Locations Report looked at crash data from 2002 to 2010 to determine the worst areas for bike and pedestrian crashes. When it comes to bike crashes, the Inman Square area, including Beacon Street and part of Washington…
Warren Dew
12:59 am on Thursday, May 16, 2013
Making short term repairs while waiting for money to be less tight so they can come up with a beautification project that doesn't snarl up traffic with more traffic lights sounds like a good idea. more ›