Mass Governor Issues Travel Ban

By Barry Thompson (Patch Staff)

As of midnight, highways across Massachusetts will be closed to all excluding emergency personnel and providers of other indispensable services, as per a travel ban announced by Governor Charlie Baker this afternoon. The ban will continue throughout Tuesday.

“This is clearly going to be a really big deal,” said Gov. Baker toward the end of a press conference conducted at the Massachusetts Emergency Management Agency bunker in Framingham. An official statewide State of Emergency has also been issued.

The governor repeatedly emphasized the looming nor’easter - predicted to be a Top Five - could bury some areas in 3 feet of snow, and cause massive power outages, impassable roads, and brutal sustained winds of 40 to 50 mph. Motor vehicle travel may well be “virtually impossible,” he said, and is highly inadvisable.

The MBTA will cease its services at midnight and may resume on Wednesday, although the governor makes no promises that conditions will allow for that. The same applies to state offices. Members of the National Guard are already on hand throughout Massachusetts to assist with various relief efforts, the governor said.

A representative from the Massachusetts State Police said a $500 fine and a possible incarceration may apply to those who disregard the travel ban, though experience with past storms leads him to expect to issue few, if any, such citations.

“I view the travel ban as a last resort. But in this case, I believe it’s the right thing to do,” said Gov. Baker.

“We’re New Englanders, so this isn’t new to most of us,” he mentioned, before reminding the public that extra food, flashlights, and medications may be worthwhile investments. Most importantly, the citizenry should know that unless it’s completely, 100 percent necessary, driving anywhere during this storm is probably an awful idea.