Tuesday’s Headlines

Holiday weekend traffic mayhem makes a great case for not driving.

Good morning, and welcome back from the holiday weekend. Here are your Tuesday headlines:

  • The region’s fragile and crash-prone highway infrastructure basically lived up to everyone’s extremely low expectations over the weekend:
    • Morrissey Boulevard didn’t flood, but its drawbridge did get stuck open for 3 hours Saturday evening, reported the Globe.
    • On Sunday afternoon, a crash just inside the O’Neill Tunnel engulfed a vehicle in flames and shut down all of the northbound lanes of I-93 for about an hour (Universal Hub).
    • And on Monday, a 5-car pileup just across the border in Salem, N.H. injured several people and trapped hundreds of cars on I-93 southbound, reports NBC 10.
  • In better news, the Stanley Cup Finals got underway in Boston Monday evening with a win for the Bruins, and Canal Street was closed to vehicles to make room for the kind of traffic that people actually enjoy being in:

ALSO ON STREETSBLOG

A crowd of people in bikes pedals through a wide brick plaza. In the center, wearing a black helmet and blue hoodie, is Boston Mayor Michelle Wu.

PHOTOS: Boston’s 2023 Bike To Work Day

By Christian MilNeil |
Between 7:30 and 8:45 a.m., convoys of riders coming in from Mattapan, Dorchester, Brookline, Cambridge, Malden, Chelsea, and other cities across the region arrived in City Hall Plaza in waves, while City of Boston Transportation Department staff welcomed them with cowbells and cheers.
Bar chart illustrating monthly bus driver active headcounts and vacancies since January. The number of vacancies increased slightly in the months Jan. to March but decreased slightly in May.

MBTA News Briefs: Finally Some Better News on Bus Driver Hiring

By Christian MilNeil |
The MBTA’s three board committees met on Thursday morning with three newly-appointed members to discuss its new 5-year capital plan, hiring updates, and meet the MassDOT’s newly-hired Chief Safety Officer. Incentives for new bus drivers get traction For the past several months, the board’s Workforce Committee has been getting regular updates on hiring efforts, with […]
The gold-plated dome of the Massachusetts State House against a blue sky, with the Massachusetts flag flying to the right of the dome in the foreground.

State House Transportation Committee Discusses Bills Regarding East-West Rail, T Oversight

By Christian MilNeil |
The legislature’s Joint Committee on Transportation hosted a hybrid in-person and virtual public hearing on Monday afternoon to discuss several bills related to transit expansion projects, East-West rail, and MBTA oversight. You can find hearing details – including information about  how to attend in person or submit testimony virtually – at the Massachusetts Legislature’s website. […]