Massachusetts

[shadyjay]

Tell that to ConnDOT, then.  A couple years ago, they created a new left exit on I-91 North in Hartford and have another one going in soon in Meriden.  I know they're not preferred, but it could be done in the I-295 to I-95 case relatively easy, and the wide variable median makes the dropoff point only require a bridge over one direction of I-95. 

[dantheman]

Looks like MassDOT is tweaking the ramp from I-295 North to I-95 South in Attleboro:
https://www.mass.gov/info-details/about-the-i-295-ramp-i-95-southbound-over-ten-mile-river-project

It's funny to me that the map they used to illustrate the project hasn't been updated since a similar realignment of the 95 SB-to-295 SB ramp, almost ten years ago. You can see the outline of the new ramp in the background terrain shading but the line for the actual road still follows the windier old alignment (which left space for a loop ramp that was never needed).

[pderocco]

Tell that to ConnDOT, then.  A couple years ago, they created a new left exit on I-91 North in Hartford and have another one going in soon in Meriden.  I know they're not preferred, but it could be done in the I-295 to I-95 case relatively easy, and the wide variable median makes the dropoff point only require a bridge over one direction of I-95. 

It all depends on the state's policy. Mass may still be in the 20th century, so to speak. But it would still be a lot easier to do a trumpet, because that would just be a piece of road on the ground, no new bridge work. They're never going to build the Attleboro connector. Although I'll miss those flashing yellow arrows on the big white barriers. They're so 1970s.

[Ted$8roadFan]

In fairness, most people on I-295 travel well above the speed limit 🤚, so a left lane merge on to I-95N would not necessarily be a bad thing, except during times of heavy traffic.

[kernals12]

I have clinched the MassPike, from Logan Airport to the New York Border

[Rothman]

I have clinched the MassPike, from Logan Airport to the New York Border

I have clinched the MassPike, from Logan Airport to the New York Border

C'mon, Kernals.  You know this isn't the thread for that kind of announcement:

https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=1224.0

[kernals12]

I'd say the 295N to 95N loop (and 95N to 295) needs to be a higher priority.

I completely forgot 295 crosses the border into Mass.

[bob7374]

Speaking of I-295, I have posted photos of the new signage recently put up in both directions in Attleboro, simply duplicates of the old signage but with no more new exit number overlays:


On my Misc. Mass. Sign Photos Gallery.

[kramie13]

I was on I-295 this past weekend.  All of the overhead and gore signs have been replaced in both directions.  One odd thing I've noticed is that some of the yellow "Old Exit XX" signs were removed but others remain (notably, the ones at 1 mile advance signs).  Compare this to the ongoing US 3 sign replacement project where all of the old exit signs have been removed at least north of I-495.

My guess is that the old exit signs from the exit renumbering will be removed when the "regular" green highway exit signs get replaced.  But MassDOT is being inconsistent with it.  I-295 doesn't need the old exit signs anymore, being such a short route in MA with only 2 interchanges.

[kramie13]

Boston TV stations were reporting traffic slowdowns on Rte. 24 north this morning due to a tractor-trailer fire at "the horse bridge".  Where exactly is that?

[bob7374]

According to the MassDOT project page, the MA 128 sign replacement project from Peabody to Gloucester got its notice to proceed on Monday, 5/21. No word on the I-495 project advertised at the same time as of yet.

[Ted$8roadFan]

Boston TV stations were reporting traffic slowdowns on Rte. 24 north this morning due to a tractor-trailer fire at "the horse bridge".  Where exactly is that?

It is on MA-24 just south of its beginning (or end) at I-93 in Randolph. It is part of the Blue Hills Reservation   


https://www.unistresscorp.com/project/rte-24-randolph-ma/

[kramie13]

Boston TV stations were reporting traffic slowdowns on Rte. 24 north this morning due to a tractor-trailer fire at "the horse bridge".  Where exactly is that?

It is on MA-24 just south of its beginning (or end) at I-93 in Randolph. It is part of the Blue Hills Reservation   


https://www.unistresscorp.com/project/rte-24-randolph-ma/

Thanks.  However, it would have been better to report this as "a tractor trailer fire on 24 north just before I-93" instead of "at the horse bridge".  If you're going to report the traffic, your goal is to help the listeners/viewers avoid a slowdown, not confuse them!

[shadyjay]

Actually, the TV/radio stations would have reported "tractor trailer fire on 24 North just before 128". 
 

[SectorZ]

Actually, the TV/radio stations would have reported "tractor trailer fire on 24 North just before 128". 
 

Don't jest, Fox25 still calls that section of I-93 by 128. There are middle-aged people that don't even know it by that by now.

[dantheman]

Boston TV stations were reporting traffic slowdowns on Rte. 24 north this morning due to a tractor-trailer fire at "the horse bridge".  Where exactly is that?

It is on MA-24 just south of its beginning (or end) at I-93 in Randolph. It is part of the Blue Hills Reservation 


https://www.unistresscorp.com/project/rte-24-randolph-ma/

Oddly, this is labeled as "Fire Bridge" on Google Maps. Is that some joker reacting to the fire last week by adding a new Google Place, or has it always been labeled as such? There are two user reviews from two years ago, but maybe someone changed the name more recently.

Bad week for MA 24... yesterday (only three days later), a tractor-trailer hit the support for an overhead sign gantry further south, closing the highway in both directions for a few hours so the sign could be taken down. Just what we needed to keep traffic moving on Memorial Day. https://www.nbcboston.com/news/local/tractor-trailer-gets-stuck-on-route-24-guardrail-in-west-bridgewater/3380806/

[kramie13]

Actually, the TV/radio stations would have reported "tractor trailer fire on 24 North just before 128". 
 

MA 24 and MA 128 don't intersect!  Maybe they did once upon a time but not in the present day.

Don't jest, Fox25 still calls that section of I-93 by 128. There are middle-aged people that don't even know it by that by now.

I'm one of those middle-aged people (born in the 80s) that has always identified this segment of highway as "93".  WBZ radio (1030 AM) has also gotten the memo in recent years.  If you hear "128" in their reports now, it's from Canton northward (and eastward to Gloucester).

[RobbieL2415]

Actually, the TV/radio stations would have reported "tractor trailer fire on 24 North just before 128". 
 

MA 24 and MA 128 don't intersect!  Maybe they did once upon a time but not in the present day.

Don't jest, Fox25 still calls that section of I-93 by 128. There are middle-aged people that don't even know it by that by now.

I'm one of those middle-aged people (born in the 80s) that has always identified this segment of highway as "93".  WBZ radio (1030 AM) has also gotten the memo in recent years.  If you hear "128" in their reports now, it's from Canton northward (and eastward to Gloucester).

MA 24 once multiplexed with MA 39 through Brewster and Harwich on its old alignment

[RobbieL2415]

Found this photo from 1980 of deck work being performed on the Bourne Bridge, with one lane open and a temporary signal to control flow.

I cannot imagine them every attempting this in modern day.

[Ted$8roadFan]

MassDOT is seeking public feedback fe the Mass. Pike's rest areas. Here's wishing they would consider rest areas (or lack thereof) on other highways as well.

https://www.masslive.com/business/2024/06/massdot-seeks-feedback-on-pike-rest-stops.html

[shadyjay]

So true... especially I-95 NB/Mansfield... the fact that this major entry point into the state is littered with trash and visitors get a boarded up building and overflowing portolets in a parking lot is disgraceful.
I-495 NB/Chelmsford as well.

[vdeane]

Hopefully they learn from the mistakes made with the Thruway service area rebuild.

[NE-3]

The lack of care of the service plazas and property is characteristic of the overall poor maintenance of roadways and infrastructure in MA when it comes to trash, roadway gravel and debris and vegetation control. It seems once MassDot buildings infrastructure, including service plazas, it then is ignored. I'm guessing budgeted funds for maintenance and upkeep are diverted to other budget lines. 

[Rothman]

The lack of care of the service plazas and property is characteristic of the overall poor maintenance of roadways and infrastructure in MA when it comes to trash, roadway gravel and debris and vegetation control. It seems once MassDot buildings infrastructure, including service plazas, it then is ignored. I'm guessing budgeted funds for maintenance and upkeep are diverted to other budget lines. 

When it comes to maintenance and capital project funding, finances can get very complicated.  Maintenance tasks are typically either not eligible for federal funding or, due to their loose definition geographically (i.e., "going where needed"), funded by State funding out of convenience since NEPA screening would be problematic.

So, in NY, maintenance has its own funding separate from capital project funding.  This division is made at a very high level; NYSDOT's program management groups aren't even involved in which State funds go where.  And then, maintenance can snag capital funding (State) when their side is cut for whatever reason.

And then you throw in toll revenues, which are a whole other ball of wax.

So, all sorts of reasons could be coming into play for the perceived lack of quality in MassDOT facilities.

[bob7374]

According to the MassDOT Project Info site. The Notice to Proceed was given to the I-195 Dartmouth to Wareham sign replacement contract this past Monday, June 10. They also added under design contracts a sign replacement contract for MA 213 in Methuen under preliminary design taking place.