Years-Long Tobin Bridge Lane Closures Begin Monday

PEABODY, MA — A $169 million project to repair the Tobin Bridge and the $42 million Chelsea Viaduct restoration are promising to disrupt commutes on Route 1 when construction starts April 1. The work is expected to last for up to two years, according to the Massachusetts Department of Transportation.

Lane closures on the northbound side of the Tobin will start Monday, April 1. Only two of three travel lanes will be open during the day and one of the three travel lanes will be open overnight.

By early May, the three northbound and southbound Route 1 travel lanes in the Chelsea Curves area will be reduced to two during the day and one overnight.

The work on both projects is expected to be completed in 2021.

That has many North Shore residents worried, as the bridge carries about 63,000 vehicles each weekday. According to The Daily Item, locals peppered MassDOT officials with questions and concerns at an informational meeting in Peabody Wednesday. Neither the bridge nor the viaduct have had extensive work since the 1970s, MassDOT officials said, and while the Tobin Bridge is safe, it is showing signs of deterioration.

Among the concerns raised by residents were already overcrowded parking garages at North Shore commuter rail stations, the impact on MBTA bus routes over the bridge and the fact that MassDOT has no plans to reduce tolls over the bridge to make up for the inconvenience. Other attendees scoffed at a MassDOT assertion that the work would only add nine minutes to the typical commute if drivers did not take alternate routes, according to The Item, which first reported this story.

"We appreciate the patience and cooperation of the traveling public and encourage everyone to make smart choices such as utilizing public transit, checking the appropriate technology apps, adding extra time into their trips to account for potential congestion, and making informed decisions on route, timing, and mode of travel," said Highway Administrator Jonathan Gulliver.

"Telling us now to prepare is too late," State Rep. Thomas Walsh (D-Peabody) said at the meeting. "We’re all playing catch up. I lived through the Big Dig and it wasn’t fun."

For more on this story, see The Daily Item.