Not really 128 widening per se, but couldn't find anywhere else to put it. Also won't be funded for 14 more years so don't get excited.
http://homenewshere.com/middlesex_east/article_e55f7c2c-d0f4-11e1-9754-0019bb2963f4.html
http://bloximages.chicago2.vip.town...1e1-a1d0-001a4bcf887a/5006e533e40d2.image.jpg
More than 10 years after it was unveiled at a raucous meeting at the old Woburn Memorial High School, the project to expand the notorious cloverleaf connecting I-93 and Route 128 isn’t dead, but it’s not moving forward quickly, either.
According to MassDOT, the state’s transportation agency, the project is slated for construction funding sometime between 2026-30, when the cost could exceed $500 million.
In the meantime, environmental work continues at the site in preparation for the project, construction of which will primarily impact Woburn, Reading, Wakefield and Stoneham, but will have effects from Boston to New Hampshire, and from Waltham to the North Shore.
The dangerousness of the intersection was underscored as recently as Monday night, when a car and a tanker truck collided, spilling some 8,000 gallons of fuel onto Route 128 just south of I-93. Public safety crews scrambled to contain the fuel, averting what could have been a major disaster.
“I haven’t heard a lot about the (interchange project) but maybe something like this will get the discussion moving again,” said Woburn Mayor Scott Galvin. “There’s a delicate balance between making that area safer for the people who have to travel through there and for the residents who live there, so it’s better for everyone.”
Background
Built in 1972, the I-93/Route 128 cloverleaf was designed to accommodate about 169,000 vehicles per day, but three decades later was handling more than twice that amount of traffic, making it the busiest and one of the most dangerous intersections in the state.
Of primary concern were the ramps connecting the two highways, which according to MassDOT have “substandard radii” that create abnormal weaving patterns, which in turn creates backups.
Particularly impacted are commuters heading south in the morning and north in the evening on Route 128. It is not unusual for traffic heading south on Route 128 to be backed up beyond Route 1 in Lynnfield during the morning rush, even though the highway expands from three lanes to four after the interchange. Bad weather and accidents exacerbate the commute.
Traffic on Route 93 is also impacted, and it is not unusual for the southbound side of the highway to be jammed from Boston to beyond the Route 128 interchange.
In the evening, the commute can extend well beyond Burlington, where Route 3 funnels into Route 128, and as far back as Route 2. Route 93 north is also often reduced to a slow crawl as commuters from Boston head toward the suburbs and beyond.
Seasoned commuters who know the back roads get off the highway and take back roads through the various towns through which Route 128 flows, creating more traffic and increasing the risk on the smaller, local streets that were not designed to accommodate such a large influx of vehicles.
Interchange project
In 2001, MassDOT, then known as Mass. Highway, made a presentation to the public in the auditorium of the old Woburn High that resulted in uproar, due to the “significant” takings of private property, which would have essentially wiped out neighborhoods in Reading and East Woburn. Famously, one Woburn resident compared Mass. Highway to a charging rhino, leaving him with the option of shooting the beast or being gored with its horn.
Not surprisingly, Mass. Highway scrapped its original proposal and started working with the neighbors, who formed citizens groups, primarily THAG (Tri-Community Action Group) and Reading-based PRESERVE.
An advisory task force was established with representatives from the various local communities, and by 2004 released a study that according to Mass. Highway involved the “preparation of goals, objectives, and evaluation criteria; an analysis of noise measurements; and the identification of issues to be addressed. Short-term and long-term alternatives were developed, followed by the screening of each against four basic criteria - lessens congestion, improves safety, avoids takings, and provides local access.”
Different versions of the revised intersection were considered and ultimately two were chosen - known as H3-OS and H3-US - one with two new interchange ramps over the highways, and the other with one ramp under and one ramp over I-93 and Route 128. However, by that time the economy went deeper into the recession, and the project - which was initially expected to cost in the range of $160 million - went into a period of relative dormancy.
The official website set up by Mass. Highway for the project -
www.9395info.com - still lists on its task force roster Thomas McLaughlin as Woburn’s mayor, and Robert Havern as a state senator, though neither has been in office for three years. There are no meetings listed on the schedule, though according to Woburn Planning Director Edmund Tarallo, the Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization (MPO) discussed the cloverleaf project at a meeting as recently as three months ago. MPO is responsible for conducting the federally required metropolitan transportation-planning process (often called the 3C—continuing, cooperative, and comprehensive—process) for the Boston metropolitan area.
About $70,000 has been budgeted this year for environmental preparation work, as part of the final environmental report that was issued in 2007. The required environmental studies are taking place, according to Woburn City Council member Darlene Mercer-Bruen, who lives in the Richard Circle neighborhood that was originally discussed among the areas that would be taken by eminent domain.
“What you see are people flying over taking field surveys,” said Mercer-Bruen, who represents East Woburn. “The environmental studies are still the next step, but there’s no new or related construction taking place.”
According to MassDOT, Boston Metropolitan MPO now projects construction “in the 2026-30 time frame,” subject to change “based on the upcoming federal transportation bill’s allotments to Massachusetts.”
There may be, however, “smaller aspects of the project” taking place once the environmental review is complete.
Tarallo said the estimated the cost of the project in 2012 dollars is $276 million, and taking inflation into consideration the project may end up with a price tag of slightly more than $537 million, which would account for half the federal funding the state will receive.
“Unfortunately, as we’ve seen with the Big Dig, the costs of a project this size keep going up, and we’re still paying for that one,” said Mayor Galvin. “From a planning point of view, we have to make sure what we do is financially-feasible.”
