Crazy Highway Pitches

[DominusNovus]

Does anyone know of any information on any efforts to widen rte 3 south? There's an old thread on it that hasn't been touched in a decade:

Route 3 Widening

Ex-transportation official pitches plan for private companies to widen Route 3 south, recoup costs with tolls The former state official who championed the public-private coalition that widened Route 3 north of Boston a decade ago is proposing a new partnership south of the city to widen Route...

archboston.com

I thought for sure there would be something connected to the canal bridge project, but nothing that I found, either.

I think a general scheme of "widen rte 3 from 4 lanes to 6, while ditching the breakdown lane travel" would make a lot of sense, particularly given how wide the median is for most of rte 3. If there were any particular commuter rail or redline improvements that could be done at the same time, in conjunction with this, I think that would make it more palatable for any transit advocates who are opposed to highway widening in principle.

 

[themissinglink]

Does anyone know of any information on any efforts to widen rte 3 south? There's an old thread on it that hasn't been touched in a decade:

Route 3 Widening

Ex-transportation official pitches plan for private companies to widen Route 3 south, recoup costs with tolls The former state official who championed the public-private coalition that widened Route 3 north of Boston a decade ago is proposing a new partnership south of the city to widen Route...

archboston.com

I thought for sure there would be something connected to the canal bridge project, but nothing that I found, either.

I think a general scheme of "widen rte 3 from 4 lanes to 6, while ditching the breakdown lane travel" would make a lot of sense, particularly given how wide the median is for most of rte 3. If there were any particular commuter rail or redline improvements that could be done at the same time, in conjunction with this, I think that would make it more palatable for any transit advocates who are opposed to highway widening in principle.

The best chance of it happening was decades ago, I kinda doubt it will ever happen. Even the most recent attempt (2012) was a long shot; they probably would've had to do it in the '90s or early aughts if they seriously wanted to get it done. Instead, we should spend money on double-tracking the Old Colony mainline through Dorchester and Quincy, with some new double-tracking on the branches.

IIRC, Mitt Romney canceled plans for widening Route 3 in 2003 or 2004. Is anyone able to confirm this? I looked for a source online but I wasn't able to locate one.

 

[OldColony]

Does anyone know of any information on any efforts to widen rte 3 south? There's an old thread on it that hasn't been touched in a decade:

Route 3 Widening

Ex-transportation official pitches plan for private companies to widen Route 3 south, recoup costs with tolls The former state official who championed the public-private coalition that widened Route 3 north of Boston a decade ago is proposing a new partnership south of the city to widen Route...

archboston.com

I thought for sure there would be something connected to the canal bridge project, but nothing that I found, either.

I think a general scheme of "widen rte 3 from 4 lanes to 6, while ditching the breakdown lane travel" would make a lot of sense, particularly given how wide the median is for most of rte 3. If there were any particular commuter rail or redline improvements that could be done at the same time, in conjunction with this, I think that would make it more palatable for any transit advocates who are opposed to highway widening in principle.

Umm, where would the traffic go after crossing the canal? U.S. Route 6 (the Mid-Cape Highway) east of Sagamore is a two-lane parkway, with no breakdown lanes and poorly designed (by interstate standards) interchanges down to Route 132.

I can think of many much better transportation projects to spend limited dollars on than widening Route 3 from Weymouth to Sagamore. To name just a couple, replacing the I-93/I-95 interchanges in Reading and Canton (highways), and double-tracking the Old Colony mainline through Dorchester and Quincy (public transit).

 

[bigeman312]

Umm, where would the traffic go after crossing the canal? U.S. Route 6 (the Mid-Cape Highway) east of Sagamore is a two-lane parkway, with no breakdown lanes and poorly designed (by interstate standards) interchanges down to Route 132.

I can think of many much better transportation projects to spend limited dollars on than widening Route 3 from Weymouth to Sagamore. To name just a couple, replacing the I-93/I-95 interchanges in Reading and Canton (highways), and double-tracking the Old Colony mainline through Dorchester and Quincy (public transit).

The Old Colony Double Track Project should be #1 on the list of any project increasing the capacity of moving human beings between the Boston area and Southeastern Mass.

 

[DominusNovus]

Umm, where would the traffic go after crossing the canal? U.S. Route 6 (the Mid-Cape Highway) east of Sagamore is a two-lane parkway, with no breakdown lanes and poorly designed (by interstate standards) interchanges down to Route 132.

I can think of many much better transportation projects to spend limited dollars on than widening Route 3 from Weymouth to Sagamore. To name just a couple, replacing the I-93/I-95 interchanges in Reading and Canton (highways), and double-tracking the Old Colony mainline through Dorchester and Quincy (public transit).

I’m not talking about traffic after the bridge on rte 6. Rte 3 is quite congested, well away from the canal.

Edit: and lets be honest, if rte 3 wasn't overly congested, then they would have their gimmicky 'its okay to drive in the breakdown lane during rush hour' solution. Something should be done?

 

[OldColony]

I’m not talking about traffic after the bridge on rte 6. Rte 3 is quite congested, well away from the canal.

Edit: and lets be honest, if rte 3 wasn't overly congested, then they would have their gimmicky 'its okay to drive in the breakdown lane during rush hour' solution. Something should be done?

So widen as far south as the active breakdown lane runs, which I understand ends at Route 139 in Pembroke? Got it -- that makes sense. Thanks.

 

[omaja]

For some reason I had just assumed that the bridge replacements/expansions done to Route 3 over High Street and Webster Street in Norwell/Hanover were in anticipation of an impending widening. Seems a bit odd that they would have only widened the bridges to include a left shoulder... instead of provisioning for an eventual third travel lane.

 

[DominusNovus]

So widen as far south as the active breakdown lane runs, which I understand ends at Route 139 in Pembroke? Got it -- that makes sense. Thanks.

Thats pretty much it. In the interest of keeping things tidy, I’d say down to rt 44, but the area around 3a in Kingston is a tight fit.