UPDATED: Travel Ban Will Be Lifted at Midnight

By Les Masterson (Patch Staff)

Photo credit: Patch file photo

UPDATED at 5:27 p.m. Tuesday: Massachusetts Gov. Charlie Baker said the travel ban will be lifted at midnight as the Blizzard of 2015 makes its way out of Massachusetts.

The MBTA will resume operations on Wednesday morning. Trains will operate on a regular schedule and buses will also operate on a regular schedule as long as the roads and stops have been properly cleared.

Logan Airport will reopen at 6 a.m. Wednesday with a small number of flights. That should ramp up by noon and JetBlue plans on resuming service by 3 p.m Wednesday.

The state will limit state workers to 22,000 “emergency” executive branch employees, said Baker.

Baker said snow will continue to fall in parts of Eastern Massachusetts into the night and possibly as late as midnight. He said another 2 to 6 inches may fall tonight.

He also warned there is still a lot of snow to be removed from roads and sidewalks and it will be a long cleanup.

Baker said a smaller storm could hit Massachusetts on Thursday and Friday that could drop another six inches.

When Baker was asked what he thought about Mother Nature after his first brush with a major storm as Massachusetts governor, Baker quipped, “She’s a big, powerful lady.”

Original StoryGov. Charlie Baker said the travel ban remains in place across Eastern Massachusetts and on the Massachusetts Turnpike.

Baker announced at noon that Western Massachusetts counties are no longer under the travel ban except for the Mass Pike.

Baker said parts of Eastern Massachusetts are seeing snowfall rates at the moment that are similar to when the storm first hit overnight. Parts of Eastern and Southern Massachusetts may still get another 5-10 inches of snow and could face white-out conditions.

The governor also said some snow drifts are as tall as six feet in Eastern Massachusetts.

The travel ban stays in place across Eastern Massachusetts for now, but he hopes to have more information by 5 p.m. Tuesday.

There have been “several instances” of drivers being cited for violating the ban, including a truck driver whose tractor-trailer jack-knifed on I-91.

Baker added that he expects the MBTA will not be in service at all on Tuesday.

The governor said there has been widespread moderate coastal flooding and some isolated major flooding. A seawall in Marshield was breached and “took out” an unoccupied house, said Baker.

The governor expects things to return to normal on Wednesday though he acknowledged it will be a slow start in the morning.

“This is clearly a very big storm for Massachusetts. I’m glad we had a little bit of advanced warning to plan for it,” he said.

Baker asked for residents to check on their neighbors when they can.

He said people with transportation questions can call 511.

Those with shelter questions can call 211.