Print

Please login or register.
1 Hour 1 Day 1 Week 1 Month Forever
Login with username, password and session length

[mightyace]

It looks like the Massachusetts toll facilities will be part of the overall transportation authority in the state.  See:

Tolling's big future in Massachusetts - transit, planners control new authority

[Steve]

I assume that tolls will be gone within 15 years if this happens.  It's been put forth and almost adopted enough times already.

[74/171FAN]

Actually it will now be merged into the newly founded MassDOT  http://www.tollroadsnews.com/node/4219

[akotchi]

Is this purely a cost-cutting consolidation move, or are there other issues (such as fallout from the Big Dig) behind it?

[mightyace]

Is this purely a cost-cutting consolidation move, or are there other issues (such as fallout from the Big Dig) behind it?

Well, there is this lawsuit.
Massachusetts Turnpike's funding of Big Dig challenged in court - "political theater"

And, reorganization would take the I-93 portion of the Big Dig out of the turnpike funding picture and leave only the tolled sections.

[mightyace]

Mass Turnpike Authority dies, but Mass Turnpike lives on

The Turnpike Authority in Massachusetts will formally pass away Oct 30, but the Turnpike itself will live on as a division of a new Massachusetts Department of Transportation that begins Nov 1.  The Turnpike generates $285m/year, a revenue flow there was never any question of the state foregoing.

The Massachusetts Turnpike is under the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority through October 30th and is under the new MDOT on November 1st.

So, what is the status of the MassPike on October 31st? 

EDIT:
Mass Turnpike pay and conditions cause problems in integration with DOT

[Steve]

Change of topic: Will they abbreviate as MassDOT or something else?  Given that they're MassHighway, I would think that makes the most sense.

[mightyace]

Change of topic: Will they abbreviate as MassDOT or something else?  Given that they're MassHighway, I would think that makes the most sense.

I smell a new joke topic coming up...

i.e. Well Mass Surface Trans Authority could be abbreviated MassSTA or MASTA pronounced mas-tuh. (master) 

The Massachusetts state police will now be Massachusetts Intrastate Vehicular Enforcement or MassIVE! 

[Ian]

So, when will the tolls be removed? Besides that, what will be different to the pike now that the state maintains it?

[ctsignguy]

Change of topic: Will they abbreviate as MassDOT or something else?  Given that they're MassHighway, I would think that makes the most sense.

I smell a new joke topic coming up...

i.e. Well Mass Surface Trans Authority could be abbreviated MassSTA or MASTA pronounced mas-tuh. (master) 

The Massachusetts state police will now be Massachusetts Intrastate Vehicular Enforcement or MassIVE! 

So, could the new head of MassSTA be referred to as the MasSTA-Mind?

[mightyace]

So, when will the tolls be removed? Besides that, what will be different to the pike now that the state maintains it?

From everything I've read, the tolls will remain.

So, I guess the only thing that will change are the names and titles of who you need to bribe to get things done.

[Ian]

So, when will the tolls be removed? Besides that, what will be different to the pike now that the state maintains it?

From everything I've read, the tolls will remain.

So, I guess the only thing that will change are the names and titles of who you need to bribe to get things done.

Oh I see. Well thats good, because I hope to get some shots of the tolls the next time I'm up there!

[shadyjay]

Funny how there's not even a mention of the Masspike on the new MassDOT web site, which you can get to easily from the old www.masspike.com.  Even the state map posted in a PDF there just calls it I-90.  Wonder how long it'll take before MASSPIKE is greened out from BGSs. 

[vdeane]

I wonder if we're witnessing the death of one of the major turnpikes.  Probably won't be the end of tolls, though.

[D-Dey65]

I wonder if we're witnessing the death of one of the major turnpikes.

Considering the anti-highway mentality these days, it wouldn't surprise me.

[vdeane]

I don't mean that the road goes away; just that it ceases to be a turnpike and is just a regular interstate (which happens to have tolls).

[D-Dey65]

I never said it was an effort to make the road go away. What I see this as is an emphasis to focus less on the road, and more on buses, taxis, paratransit, and such.

[mightyace]

What I see this as is an emphasis to focus less on the road, and more on buses, taxis, paratransit, and such.

IMHO I think that this is a good thing.  Massachusetts new authority is "Surface Trans" and most other states have a "Department of Transportation" not a "Department of Highways".

Our transportation system can work much better if we stop thinking that highways, rail, air, barge and the entities that uses them (private transport, transit agencies, airlines, Amtrak, etc.) are separate from each other.  Even where people use mass transit to get from suburbs to the city like in Boston, New York, Philly, Chicago, etc., people usually drive to the train/bus/subway station and that will be even more necessary to try and get those modes established in other cities like here in Nashville.

[vdeane]

I never said it was an effort to make the road go away. What I see this as is an emphasis to focus less on the road, and more on buses, taxis, paratransit, and such.

I saw this as simply renaming the road...

[Duke87]

I don't see why the road would be renamed. The question really is, 20-30 years from now, will "MassPike" have dropped from the common vernacular among the locals the same way "Connecticut Turnpike" has? I don't think it will, unless the tolls are removed and signs cease to acknowledge the name. Neither of which seems to be on the horizon, so the "Pike" is safe, and all this is is a change of ownership.

[vdeane]

It's already disappeared from maps, so it's currently assumed that it will disappear from signs.  The tolls would be all that remain.

[Ian]

I contacted MassDOT about the pilgrim hat signs. They actually said that they would all remain. Here is the email I recieved from them...

"Although the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority was eliminated as part of the recent reorganization that created the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, there are currently no plans to remove the "Massachusetts Turnpike" designation from I-90.  As such, there are no plans to remove the existing MassPike "pilgrim hat" logos.
 
Presently, as guide signs on intersecting routes such as I-95 and I-495 are replaced with new signs, the "Mass Pike" text will be changed to the MassPike "pilgrim hat" logo.  This is both for consistency and to minimize the need to make major changes to these signs should it be decided to eliminate the Massachusetts Turnpike designation."

I am glad there are no plans to remove the pilgrim hat signs. I really do like them. Someday, I would like one of those as part of my collection. However, if they do decide to remove the designation, then...  . Now I am waiting responce to the reply I sent asking about the tolls.

-IC

[agentsteel53]

As such, there are no plans to remove the existing MassPike "pilgrim hat" logos.

now can we get them to bring back the "arrow through hat" style?

[Scott5114]

The "arrow through hat" style was discontinued due to potentially anti-Native connotations, wasn't it?

[Ian]

As such, there are no plans to remove the existing MassPike "pilgrim hat" logos.

now can we get them to bring back the "arrow through hat" style?

That would be very nice. I would enjoy seeing those again. But, I think the whole reason why it was made without the arrow is because it was granted policically incorrect.

Here is the responce I got reguarding the tolls...

"While there has been some discussion about eventually removing the Mass Pike tolls at most of the interchanges west of I-95/128 in Weston, no firm decisions have yet been made about this action, nor has any timeline been established for doing so."

Now, we wait and see what happens.