![]() Traffic in this area is served by the Worcester Turnpike, Beacon Street, Commonwealth Avenue, Washington Street, North Beacon Street, Arsenal Street and Western Avenue. The heaviest desire line of travel in the metropolitan area is in the western section. The 1948 Master Highway Plan for the Boston Metropolitan Area described the Western Expressway as follows: Eventually, the "Western Expressway" was to be the Interstate highway continuing along the US 20 corridor to Worcester, Springfield and points west. ![]() ![]() PLANNING AN EXPRESSWAY FROM BOSTON TO THE WEST: As early as 1948, the Massachusetts Department of Public Works (MassDPW) proposed a controlled-access route to link downtown Boston with its rapidly growing western suburbs. “These two categories are critical in determining how efficiently taxpayer money is spent, especially when elected leaders claim they need more revenue from the taxpayers.This 2005 photo shows the eastbound Massachusetts Turnpike (I-90) approaching EXIT 22 (Prudential Center / Copley Square) and the "Prudential Tunnel" in Boston. “This year, while Massachusetts’ overall highway system rankings have seen some improvements, the Commonwealth continues to rank as one of the most inefficient states in the country for how it spends taxpayer dollars on ‘maintenance’ and ‘administrative’ costs,” MassFiscal said in a statement. It ranks eighth-highest for maintenance disbursement per mile, at $32,754 compared to the national average of $14,546.įigures from 2020 were used in the report, which, despite the high spending, ranked Massachusetts 14th for maintenance costs and 32nd for administrative disbursements. The Bay State ranks third-highest for administrative disbursement per lane mile, at $17,528 compared to the national average of $5,342. The Massachusetts Fiscal Alliance, a conservative watchdog group, also criticized the state’s high maintenance and administrative spending for highways, as depicted in the report. Roughly 8.7% of Massachusetts bridges are structurally deficient, placing it higher than the national average of 7% and 37th in the state. But the state may need to redirect resources to help it address urban pavement quality, traffic congestion and bridge quality.” “The state’s capital and bridge and maintenance spending is among the lowest-15 of the states, which is a remarkable accomplishment, considering the state’s high-cost neighborhood. “To improve in the rankings, Massachusetts needs to improve its urban arterial pavement and reduce its urbanized area congestion,” the report’s lead author, Baruch Feigenbaum, said in a statement. Traffic congestion is one of several factors dragging down Massachusetts’ ranking in the Reason Foundation report, in terms of how its highway system compares to other states throughout the country for “overall cost-effectiveness and condition.” ![]() INRIX, a global transportation data and analytics company, released its own report in January, which ranked Boston gridlock as second-worst in the country and fourth-worst in the world - behind London, Chicago and Paris, but ahead of New York City for cities with the “highest traffic delay times.” It considers urban traffic congestion throughout each state, but noted that “the congestion problem is primarily concentrated in the major cities of just a few states.” Notably, this report uses 2020 congestion data, from a 2021 study conducted by Texas A&M Transportation Institute. Only drivers in New York and New Jersey fared worse, with 43.2 and 48 hours spent in peak city traffic per year, respectively, according to LA-based think tank Reason Foundation, which released its annual highway report this week. The average Bay State driver spends 40.4 peak hours in urban-area traffic congestion per year, far exceeding the national average of roughly 27 hours. Massachusetts has the third-worst highway traffic in the country, a new report found.
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