Tuesday, December 2, 2008

Stop the Pike Hike

I had to drive into the office this morning because I had an early morning meeting. There was lots of traffic on the Pike today. It took forever to get through the Newton tolls. You know it's a crazy traffic day when the cash lanes move faster than the Fast Lanes on the Mass Pike.

If you're concerned about the Mass Pike toll increases, listen up. According to today's The Boston Globe Mass lawmakers are scheduling hearings about the toll increases. WCVB-TV reported on a rally scheduled tomorrow by Michael Kelleher of East Boston to protest the proposed toll hikes. Michael is part of a group called Stop the Pike Hike. Tomorrow's rally will take place at 4 p.m. at the Ecco Restaurant & Martini Bar located on 107 Porter Street in East Boston. There is also an online petition and a listing of the public hearings scheduled across the state.

The toll increases directly impat East Boston. As Michael said in his interview with WCVB-TV, "it will actually be cheaper to drive to a Fenway game from the Bronx than from East Boston." Isn't that nuts?

Former Gubernatorial candidate Christy Mihos wrote an op-ed about the Pike in today's The Boston Herald. Mihos thinks the Pike should be disbanded.

Now, onto train news.

Commute-a-holic and I have both been pretty busy at work. We have another update from Grafton Train Rider which we should hopefully be able to post later today.

Yet another article about the Salem garage, this time from WickedLocal Rockport. The Patriot Ledger reports on efforts by the town of Weymouth to have permanent signs installed near the new connector road near the Weymouth Landing MBTA commuter rail station. This has been a project that has been a year in the making. The town wants flashing lights installed to relieve rush hour traffic.

The Milford Daily News reported on how the Mass Highway Department will be closing an old bridge that runs over the MBTA/CSX tracks near the Franklin BJs. This bridge is a popular bypass into and out of the Franklin Forge Park commuter rail station.

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

OK, I don't know about anyone else, but the Silver Line was downright scary this morning. As I boarded, I saw an MBTA officer with a police dog searching the bus. Then, another officer with a HUGE rifle came and looked around. The bus left anyway, but was making a strange grinding sound in the engine area.

Halfway between South Station and Courthouse Station, an MBTA official (the guy who is usually at South Station in the morning) STOPPED the bus mid-tunnel! The bus shut off completely and was pitch black for around 10-15 seconds. Then we proceded, albeit slowly. Another official was waiting for us at Courthouse Station. The driver stopped the bus and got out to inspect the back of the bus. Don't ask me why I didn't just get off at that stop. Apparently I enjoy risking my life to get to work faster!

Anyway, no idea what was wrong, and the MBTA site hasn't said anything all morning.

Train Rider said...

Yikes. I usually take the silver line in the morning, but I had to drive in today. What time was that at?

Anonymous said...

Around 8:28 I'd say

Anonymous said...

The last two days have been pretty bad - Monday the 502 was 45 mintues late (I don't remember why), Tuesday the 519 had engine problems and was cancelled. One of the conductors said its going to be a long, I hope she was wrong but .....