Surprise! The Toll Booth Demo Project Not Only On, But Ahead Of, Schedule

MASSACHUSETTS—Some are surprised to hear it, but the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) announced on Monday that the Mass. Pike toll plaza demolition and road projects are either ahead of schedule, or on it, at all 23 sites between the New York border and Boston.

As of Monday, Interchange 2 in Lee, Interchange 3 in Westfield, Interchange 11 in Millbury, Interchange 14 in Weston, Interchange 15 in Weston and Interchange 37 where I-90 east and 1A enter the Ted Williams Tunnel, have completed the first phase of demolition and reconstruction activities that were scheduled to be completed by Nov. 22, said the announcement.

Drivers: you should pay full attention when you're headed through these work zones, say officials, because several of the toll plazas are scheduled to be knocked down this week, to complete Phase One. The lanes around this week's projects will shift to the outer areas of the former toll booth to the center lanes.

In West Stockbridge, MassDOT crews and contractors have completed the dense grading and fine grading of the roadway, and paved on Monday.

At toll plazas located in Chicopee and Ludlow, Phase One work continues as contractors finish grading the roadway and undertaking paving operations.

At Interchange 9 in Sturbridge, paving operations began Sunday night and crews placed median barriers to separate the travel lanes from the active construction areas.

At interchanges in Auburn, one of the plazas in Millbury, Hopkinton, Framingham, and Natick, work continues on schedule, and crews continue with road striping, paving, barrier realignment, and roadway grading.

At Interchange 14 in Weston, crews completed Phase One work several days ago, and will be striping and marking the roadway tomorrow for new lane shifts. By late Tuesday night, crews are scheduled to implement the traffic pattern that will remain in place for the winter months, said the announcement from MassDOT.

At Interchange 15 in Weston, Phase One work was completed early last week and the roadway is now set up with the lane alignments that will remain in place during the winter months.

"At this interchange construction has progressed so efficiently that road reconstruction work scheduled to be finished by April 2017 is being finished now," said the announcement.

"To the engineers ... It was a pleasant surprise to not want to cry during the AM commute," Tweeted Amanda Lynne.

At Interchanges 18, 19 and 20 in Allston/Brighton, road reconstruction activities currently include paving, installing traffic controls, and putting in place barriers to separate travel lanes from the work zones.

At Interchange 31, the Ted Williams Tunnel toll plaza used by vehicles from I-90 westbound and Route 1A, paving is scheduled to begin Tuesday night.

The six work zones where Phase One work has been completed are now transitioning to the next phases of construction, which include drainage work, demolition of remaining structures, and installing catch basins.

Drivers should experience similar experiences during Phase Two work, being able to head through the work zones at the posted speed limits.

The length of Phase Two work will vary as each of the 23 work zones has its own physical challenges and considerations. The overall Toll Demolition and Road Reconstruction Project is scheduled to be complete by the end of calendar year 2017, continued the announcement.

Photo via MassDOT