BOSTON — Massachusetts is among a minority of states where you can lose your driver’s license for unpaid parking tickets, tolls and other minor violations.
But advocates want to change that. A proposal on Beacon Hill would effectively end debt-based driving restrictions by prohibiting the state Registry of Motor Vehicles from suspending drivers’ licenses over unpaid fines for non-criminal infractions.
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A trek by state Senate Minority Leader Bruce Tarr, R-Gloucester, and local leaders over the bridge to Connecticut recently may make Bay State highways safer from wrong-way drivers.
Tarr’s visit to the Connecticut Department of Transportation’s Highway Operations Center in Newington to see a potential technological solution to the problem comes after a driver is accused of heading north on Route 128 south on the A. Piatt Andrew Bridge and colliding with a car carrying four young adult Gloucester residents.
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ROCKPORT — A New Hampshire man is being held without bail, accused of attempting to trying to a Rockport resident’s vehicle by force.
Todd Andrew Wilbur, 42, of Derry, N.H., was arrested at 6:46 a.m. Wednesday on Story Street on charges of carjacking and assault and battery, according to a police log entry.
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SALEM —The city’s local historic preservation organization is raising concerns regarding recently installed bollards in front of the Ropes Mansion at 318 Essex St.
Historic Salem Inc. claims the bollards are visually jarring and out of character with the historic setting both in scale and placement.
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NEWBURY — Repairs to the Plum Island Turnpike drawbridge resumed Thursday, reducing the only way on or off the island to one lane – a traffic pattern that is expected to remain for roughly two months, according to town officials.
As a result, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation will employ a temporary alternating traffic pattern on the bridge as crews complete structural steel repairs. Work is scheduled to take place from 6 a.m. to 3 p.m. until mid-December but crews may work around the clock if necessary.
In a statement, Newbury police Chief Patty Fisher called the repairs “necessary” and said she is pleased work is taking place when it will have the least possible impact on Plum Island traffic.
“I appreciate that it’s expected to be completed before the first snowfall,” Fisher said. “It goes without saying that people traveling through the single lane should use caution and abide by the traffic signals and speed. Be mindful that pedestrian and vehicle traffic are sharing the lane.”
While temporary traffic control signals and barriers are in place, a 24/7 signal-controlled, alternating traffic pattern will be used as work is performed beneath the bridge deck.
Signs and police details will also be used to guide drivers through the work zone. Drivers traveling through the work zone should expect delays, reduce their speed and use caution as the eastbound/westbound traffic patterns are subject to change, according to MassDOT.
Fisher said workers will be often stationed under the bridge.
“Just because you can’t see them, doesn’t mean they aren’t there,” Fisher said.
The work is being completed as part of a $7.7 million districtwide drawbridge operations and repair contract.
In March, MassDOT noted some deterioration in the steel along with some heaving of a limited portion of the bridge deck. MassDOT worked with the U.S. Coast Guard to implement a detour to keep the bridge closed to marine traffic until the interim repairs were performed, according to a MassDOT spokesperson.
That prompted MassDOT officials to devise a plan to shift motorists away from the center of the bridge where deterioration was discovered so that the interim repairs could be made. The temporary traffic plan was implemented April 19 right before those repairs began.
An April 19 advisory from MassDOT stated the drawbridge would not be open to marine vessels through Aug. 5 to allow for repairs to the road surface. The speed limit on the bridge was reduced and traffic was periodically limited to one lane to allow the state to restore the bridge to full capacity. Because one lane will remain open at all times, Newbury first responders will not be stationed on the island during construction, according to Fisher.
“We only station responders there if we anticipate the turnpike will flood or they’re opening the bridge,” the police chief said.
Fisher encourages residents to sign up for the town’s CodeRed rapid response notification system and to follow the Newbury Police Department on Facebook for the latest project information and for important messages throughout the year. To sign up for CodeRed, visit public.coderedweb.com/CNE/en-US/943F7ED331D9.
Dave Rogers is the editor of the Daily News of Newburyport. Email him at: drogers@newburyportnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @drogers41008.
Dave Rogers is the editor of the Daily News of Newburyport. Email him at: drogers@newburyportnews.com. Follow him on Twitter @drogers41008.
BOSTON — Transit advocates are renewing a push for congestion pricing along the state’s toll roads with new polling data suggesting support for the move among voters.
A MassINC poll released this week found that voters are getting squeezed by a double whammy of housing costs and transportation issues that have some considering leaving the state. Majorities of those polled said they are getting squeezed by both housing – 71% – and transportation costs at 57% with a shocking 38% saying they will move out of state, according to the poll.
But pollsters said 50% of those who responded to the survey want the state to study initiatives such as congestion pricing, where tolls are lowered during off-peak times and raised during rush hour to encourage drivers to use public transportation.
Transit advocates jumped on the poll’s findings to argue that voters want the state to revisit congestion tolling in the greater Boston region to reduce traffic congestion and tailpipe pollution.
“With a dire budget shortfall when it comes to transportation, we need a mix of solutions and funding sources to ensure our system works for everyone – and isn’t a crushing financial burden for people across our state,” said Reggie Ramos, executive director of Transportation for Massachusetts.
“Congestion pricing should definitely be on the table as one of those solutions we need to explore,” he said.
Massachusetts has a backlog of maintenance on roads and bridges estimated at $50 billion — a figure compounded by a decline in federal highway dollars.
Currently, the state only charges drivers on the Tobin Bridge, at two tunnels beneath Boston Harbor and along the Massachusetts Turnpike, which converted to all electronic-tolling several years ago.
Beacon Hill leaders have resisted adding more toll roads to the mix, or increasing fees, fearing public backlash over the pocketbook impact on constituents.
Congestion pricing has also been controversial in other states, including New York, where Democratic Gov. Kathy Hochul recently put the brakes on a “first-in-the-nation” plan that called for charging motorists an extra $15 to drive into New York City.
Backers of the plan, including New York City Mayor Eric Adams, argued the move would reduce traffic, congestion and tailpipe pollution while raising billions of dollars to support the city’s public transit system.
But the plan was facing several legal challenges, including one by New Jersey Gov. Phil Murphy, who called the new toll charges a “cash grab” that would hurt New Jersey commuters.
Christian M. Wade covers the Massachusetts Statehouse for North of Boston Media Group’s newspapers and websites. Email him at cwade@cnhinews.com
PEABODY — A stretch of the Peabody Independence Greenway will see temporary traffic controls put up around Lowell Street near Interstate 95 beginning Monday, July 8.
Bridge substructure repair work on the I-95 bridge over Lowell Street will take place between 7 a.m. and 3:30 p.m. Mondays through Fridays until the repairs are completed, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation said in a statement.
Traffic on I-95 should not be impacted by the work.
The shared use path on the Kristen Crowley Spur Trail, a 3/4-mile stretch of the greenway, will have a reduced width for pedestrians while work is underway, but it will remain open. Signage will guide pedestrians through that section of the trail for the duration of the project.
Drivers on Lowell Street should reduce speed and use caution, MassDOT said. Fencing repairs on the underside of the bridge will require short-term night work on Lowell Street.
More work to rehabilitate the bridge’s joints and to repaint the structure will take place at a later date, MassDOT said.
For more information on traffic conditions, visit www.mass511.com.
