Quincy News: East Boston traffic grinds to halt after tollgates are removed from Sumner Tunnel

Gridlock in Eastie
A David L. Ryan/Boston Globe image
– News covered by Quincy Quarry News.

East Boston traffic grinds to halt after tollgates are removed from Sumner Tunnel.

In a problem all too familiar to Quincy residents, MassDOT planners appear to have blown its traffic forecast for the Sumner Tunnel which connects East Boston with Boston Proper reports the Boston broadsheet.

Commuters seeing red
A Bloomberg.com file photo
In 2013, MassDOT forecasted a 2.5% annual traffic increase between the start of 2014 and the end of this year through the Sumner and Callahan tunnels.

Instead, traffic has increased by 47% since the start of 2014.

Apparently, MassDOT overlooked the well-known fact that a robust economy typically fuels commuters to opt to use personal vehicles rather than suffering public transit.

EZ Pass scanners
An Elise Amendola/AP image
In turn, given MassDOT’s blowing it on its forecasting efforts, subsequent actions undertaken by it to eliminate staffed toll gates in favor of EZPass automated tolling technology at the toll plaza for the Summer Tunnel appears to have proven to be disastrous.

That and you know things are bad when motorists are nostalgic for staffed toll booths.

Now much missed old toll gates
David L. Ryan/Boston Globe file photo
Unfortunately, Quincy Quarry was not able to discern if MassDOT used the same traffic consultants as did the City of Quincy on its $2.3 million traffic improvement study which was supposed to mitigate still worsening traffic citywide.

Source: Did removing a toll plaza ruin East Boston’s roads? – The Boston Globe