Mother's Day Weekend: Heaviest Traffic Day of the Year, Again?

Last year, the Friday before Mother's Day was the heaviest traffic day of the year on the Mass Pike.

  Mother's Day Weekend (and warm-ish weather) is upon us — and so will be throngs of people trying to flee town, especially on the Mass Pike or heading to the Cape. Turnpike toll transactions statistics from 2012 ranked the Friday before Mother’s Day as the heaviest traffic day on the Pike with more than 363,000 transactions logged between Interstate 95/Route 128 and the New York border. Friday nights in warm weather months accounted for the rest of the top 20 heaviest travel days on the Pike last year: This weekend, heaviest traffic is expected Friday and Sunday afternoons and early evenings.  So MassDOT (Massachusetts Department of Transportation) officials are encouraging drivers to make travel plans accordingly and, if possible, avoid …

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MBTA Hosting Huge Recycling Event at the Watertown Bus Yard

Bring your electronics, appliances, clothes, metal and more to the event on May 11.

  The MBTA will host a recycling event where residents can bring a wide variety of items, including electronics, metal, clothes and much more. The event will be at the Watertown Bus Yard, at Galen and Water streets in Watertown, on Saturday, May 11 from 10 a.m. to 2 p.m. Residents of all towns are welcome, according to an information poster from the Massachusetts Department of Transportation. Items taken at the event will not end up in landfill, according to the MassDOT. Televisions cost 35 cents per pound to recycle, and everything else will be accepted for free, according to the announcement. Here are items that will be accepted:             Items that will NOT be accepted: wood, glass, hazardous materials, paint, tires, liquids, …

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Don't Drive on Route 128's Breakdown Lane

MassDOT announced today that driving on the Route 128 breakdown lane has been discontinued as a fourth travel lane is open.

Don't Drive on Route 128's Breakdown Lane

MassDOT announced today that driving on the Route 128 breakdown lane has been discontinued as a fourth travel lane is open.

  State Police are now looking out for drivers who use the breakdown lane on Route 128. In an effort to reduce the Route 128 bottlenecks between Route 24 and Route 9, the Mass Department of Transportation (MassDOT) added a fourth travel lane to I-93/95 along that stretch. With that addition, driving in the breakdown lane is now prohibited between Route 24 and Route 109.  Signs along the highways and State Police patrols will inform drivers of the change, according to a MassDOT announcement Wednesday. The breakdown lane is now reserved for emergency vehicles and disabled cars only.  According to the release, drivers have been able to use the breakdown lane on weekdays at peak hours with permission from the Federal Highway Adinistration …

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NHNA Hosts Update on Add-a-Lane Project

Residents heard the latest on proposed improvements to I-95/I-93 (Route 128) and related interchanges in Needham/Newton and Wellesley at a meeting on June 11.

While the I-95 Add-a-Lane Project is designed to help alleviate traffic concerns on local roadways and make highway travel safer, several Needham residents are concerned about how the changes will increase traffic in their neighborhood. The Add-a-Lane Project, which will widen both sides of I-95 (Route 128) and restore the breakdown lane to its original use, includes roadwork on five bridges in the area and the addition of a new interchange at Kendrick Street. It was that addition that drew the most questions Monday night at a presentation sponsored by the Needham Heights Neighborhood Association. Held in the Needham Free Public Library Community Room, the event drew more than 60 people and featured speakers Larry Cash, design project …

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MassDOT Advises Motorists about Heavy Traffic over the Holiday Weekend

Travelers should avoid peak traffic times between 1 and 7 p.m. on Friday and Monday.

  Needham residents who are looking to celebrate the long Memorial Day weekend out of town may want to pay attention to the following advisory released Thursday by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation: ----- Holiday Weekend: Travel Safely MassDOT encourages travelers to plan ahead and travel safely during the Memorial Day holiday weekend. The heaviest traffic is expected Thursday, Friday, and Monday afternoons and early evenings. Drivers are encouraged to make travel plans accordingly and if possible avoid peak traffic volumes between 1 and 7 p.m. on those days. Traffic is especially heavy at the I-84 interchange at Exit 9 in Sturbridge on the Friday of Memorial Day weekend and at Exit 11A, I-495, which handles cars headed south …

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New MBTA Plan Would Eliminate Weekend Commuter Rail Service in Needham

Updated proposal would preserve the town's Bus 59 route and include a 23 percent fare increase across the board.

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation announced an updated budget plan today that would eliminate weekend Commuter Rail service in Needham but preserve the local bus route, Bus 59, that many people working and living in town rely on daily. The new plan, announced in a news release posted at 11:30 a.m. on mbta.com, serves to close a $185 million gap in the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s budget for fiscal year 2013. Along with limiting the service cuts originally proposed, the new plan includes an average fare increase of 23 percent, as opposed to the 35-43 percent increase outlined in the original proposal. The final proposal will be submitted for MBTA board approval by April 4 and is the result of more than two …

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Needham Selectmen Encourage Legislators To Find New Solutions For MBTA

The board voted on March 13 to send a letter to state officials supporting arguments raised at a Transportation Committee hearing in February

Needham selectmen have joined a host of voices speaking out against the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s proposed service cuts and rate hikes. The board unanimously voted Tuesday, March 13 to send a letter to state Sen. Richard Ross and Sen. Michael Rush and state Rep. Denise Garlick that shares their “collective concern” over the plan, which seeks to close a $161 million budget gap in fiscal year 2013. To address that budget gap, the MBTA and Massachusetts Department of Transportation have put forward two possible scenarios that have received considerable criticism over the past month or so. In the first scenario, overall public transit fares would increase by about 43 percent; in the second, fares would increase by about 35 …

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Hearing Next Week on Haz-Mat Transportation Plan

Proposal would direct trucks to pass through Needham, other communities along I-95.

Concerned about the City of Boston’s proposal that would require hazardous materials to travel through towns along I-95, such as Needham? Next week is your chance to speak up about it. On Tuesday, Aug. 30, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation will hold a hearing on the proposal from 6:30-8:30 p.m. at the Arthur J. Clark Government Center, 119 School St., Waltham. A hearing is also being held tonight at the Thomas Crane Public Library in Quincy.  Representatives from Needham's public safety departments will be attending both meetings, according to Sandy Cincotta, assistant to the town manager. Tonight, Lt. John Kraemer of the Needham Police Department will be attending the Quincy meeting, while Needham Fire Chief Paul Buckley …

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PatchCast

PatchCast: Hospital Bed Races, Old-Time Baseball, and How to Build a Bridge

A video roundup of the area's latest developments for Wednesday, July 6.

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