Commonwealth Conversations: Transportation

New MassDOT Website

As part of the historic transportation reform underway, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, MassDOT, will launch a new customer-focused website at 12:01am on November 1, 2009.  The web address:

www.mass.gov/massdot 

The new website design, developed in-house by a team of employees, provides information and links for all transportation agencies in one place, with four main sections for the four new transportation divisions (Highway, Rail&Transit, Aeronautics and Registry of Motor Vehicles).  A new transportation calendar will provide residents and businesses with a single location to view public events and hearings hosted by MassDOT.

The Registry of Motor Vehicles Division home page design will be updated to reflect the new MassDOT webpage design so frequent online customers and returning customers should not be alarmed at the change in design.  The existing RMV web link  at www.mass.gov/rmv will auto-forward directly to the new RMV home page.

The MBTA website at www.mbta.com and Regional Transit Authority website designs will not change.

As of October 31st, former Turnpike and MassHighway Department cameras have been merged into one online state Highway Division traffic camera page, www.mass.gov/511/cameras. Residents and commuters can view live traffic cameras throughout the highway system.

MassDOT Board, Leadership Announced

Governor Deval Patrick today announced the appointment of five transportation and finance experts to the new Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) Board.

On Monday, November 2, the Governor will formally swear in the following Board members:

•    John R. Jenkins, a Natick resident, will serve as Chair of the MassDOT Board and was a former Massachusetts Turnpike Authority Board member.
•    Professor Andrew Whittle, a geotechnical engineer, currently serves as Department Head of the Massachusetts Institute for Technology’s Department of Civil and Environmental Engineering.
•    Elizabeth Levin is President of Liz Levin & Company, a management consulting company that serves the transportation, design and environment community.
•    Ferdinand Alvaro is Partner-in-Charge of the Adorno & Yoss LLP Boston office and Co-Chair of the National Business Law Group. He previously served on the board of directors of the MBTA. 

•    Janice Loux is the first female president of UNITE HERE! Local 26, representing more than 6,300 hotel and food service workers in metropolitan Boston and was a member of the board of directors of the MBTA for 12 years under five governors.

The Governor will establish a 20-member Advisory Counsel to the Board, led by Alan MacDonald, Executive Director of the Massachusetts Business Roundtable, designed to ensure the Board receives guidance and input from a broad array of statewide stakeholders.

Governor Patrick and Incoming Secretary and CEO Jeffrey Mullan also named the following Administrators of MassDOT’s four divisions:  Luisa Paiewonsky, Highway Division Administrator; William Mitchell, Acting Rail & Transit Administrator; Christopher Willenborg, Aeronautics Division Administrator; and Rachel Kaprielian, Registry of Motor Vehicles Division Administrator.

On Wednesday, November 4th, the Governor will release a financial analysis of the MBTA conducted by former John Hancock executive David D'Alessandro. Citing concerns about finances, safety and management, Governor Patrick commissioned the top-to-bottom review of the MBTA in August.  Visit the MassDOT Information Center to learn more.

RMV New Express Branch: Attleboro

Lt. Governor Tim Murray joined RMV Registrar Rachel Kaprielian today in Attleboro to open the new RMV Express Branch.  The new Attleboro branch is located in the former post office building next to City Hall.  The space is rent-free. 

The branch will offer license and registration renewals Monday through Friday, 9am to 5pm.

Check out nearby parking on a map.

The RMV has added eight new online services over the past two years, including license, registration and title inquiries as well as license and registration renewals.  Visit our virtual branch and join our new electronic reminder service for license renewals here.

Blackstone Bridge: On Time, Under Budget

The Town of Blackstone today celebrates MassHighway's reconstruction of the Route 122 Bridge over the Blackstone River and P&W Railroad.  The $2.9 million bridge project was completed this fall on time and under the original budget. 

The structurally deficient bridge required a full replacement of the superstructure, including beams and deck, along with relocation of all utilities- sewer, water, telephone, and gas.  The bridge carries more than 8,000 vehicles per day, so MassHighway's contractor phased construction to keep one lane of traffic open from the time construction began in spring 2008.

Learn more about projects managed by MassHighway, which becomes part of the new MassDOT Highway Division on November 1. 

MassDOT Board First Meeting: November 2

The new Massachusetts Department of Transportation, MassDOT, becomes effective on November 1, 2009.  The first public meeting of the MassDOT Board has been scheduled as follows:

MASSACHUSETTS DEPARTMENT OF TRANSPORTATION

INITIAL BOARD MEETING

STATE TRANSPORTATION BUILDING, CONFERENCE ROOMS 1-3
10 PARK PLAZA, BOSTON, MA
NOVEMBER 2, 2009
2:00 p.m.

The MassDOT Board will consider adoption of the new Department by-laws among other initial recommended actions.  Incoming MassDOT Secretary and CEO Jeffrey Mullan will address the Board.

View the complete MassDOT Board agenda here. 

Secretary Aloisi: "Major Milestone"

Posted by:
Secretary James Aloisi, Executive Office of Transportation

I am pleased to report the Executive Office of Transportation has achieved a major milestone by receiving federal approval of the Boston Region Regional Transportation Plan (RTP).  The RTP is a critical planning document that reflects transportation projects and priorities over the next 20 years. 

If the Commonwealth had failed to submit a new RTP before October 1st, the federal government could have shut down all transportation related funding.  With this approval, the Commonwealth can advance a number of projects that were stalled due to a lack of a new RTP.  Additionally, this RTP reflects for the first time the true financial resources available for transportation expansion.  It also includes an unprecedented "flexing" of highway funds for transit projects that attempts to reshape the balance of funding between the two modes. 

The Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization with guidance from EOT has completed a plan that is transparent and clear about our priorities.  This RTP will shape the future of transportation decision-making in the Boston region for the next several years.

I encourage you to view the RTP here.

Traffic Alert: Woods Memorial Bridge

The Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) during the next two weekends will repair Woods Memorial Bridge carrying Route 16/Revere Beach Parkway over the Malden River between Medford and Everett.  Traffic will be limited to one lane in each direction. Motorists should expect delays. 

The work will occur as follows:

Friday - Monday, October 30 - November 2 and Friday- Monday, November 6- November 9

9 p.m . Friday - 5 a.m. Monday each weekend

Learn more about DCR information and traffic advisories.

Halloween in Salem? Take the Train

If you are joining the Haunted Happenings on Halloween this coming Saturday in Salem, MBTA Commuter Rail is pleased to provide increased train service to and from the annual celebration.

Special Event round trip tickets for the extra trains to and from Salem will be available at North Station and will be sold on the extra trains.

Check out the MBTA Halloween train schedule here.

Quick Work Reopens Turnpike

MassPike crews showed teamwork and concern for the customers- the Pike motorists- as they joined the State Police and other state officials in a quick response to the overnight accident involving three tractor trailer trucks that spilled beef on the Turnpike near the Weston tolls eastbound.

Immediately following the 2:30am accident involving 3 tractor trailer trucks and a car, the Operations Control Center notified MassPike personnel.  In a matter of minutes, 10 Pike maintenance workers were at the scene with two dump trucks, two loaders, and four other vehicles involved in clean-up and set up of message boards and cones to direct traffic. 

State Police arrived with three troopers for traffic control and three truck team inspectors.  The crews cleaned up the debris from the truck and beef spill and helped right the overturned vehicles.  State Public Health representatives responded to check the status of the cargo.

At the same time, a toll supervisor worked with staff to make sure other booths prior were prepared for a higher volume of traffic and coordinate the decision by State Police to waive vehicles through the tolls during morning rush hour.  Another 10 contracted tow truck workers also arrived to assist in the clean up.

By 7:15am, five lanes eastbound were open, and the incident was all clear by 9:30am.  Thanks to the coordinated efforts and hours of hard work by more than two dozen public servants and others, a major accident and spill caused the least amount of inconvenience possible for MassPike commuters.

Federal Stimulus: Round Two Priorities

Governor Deval Patrick today released a list of 33 priority federal stimulus projects with total value of more than $165.6 million, that the Patrick-Murray Administration is proposing to fund in the second round of highway investment under the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA).  The projects are spread throughout the Commonwealth and will create jobs, promote regional economic growth and boost communities and transit options.

Federal stimulus investment will be a key focus of the Governor’s Economic Summit set to convene tomorrow, Tuesday, October 27th at the Boston Federal Reserve Bank. The Governor is assembling a cross-section of statewide business, financial, education, and public policy leaders to identify ways to promote long-term economic recovery and job growth throughout the Commonwealth.

Many of the 33 projects still need state Metropolitan Planning Organization approval.  When approved and advertised for bid, they would complete the Patrick-Murray Administration’s investment of the $437.9 million in ARRA highway funds allocated to the state by the federal government. 

The projects include a $3.6 million bike path connector for the Alewife Greenway Corridor, $7.5 million in improvements to Worcester’s Canal District, and $10 million “flex” of highway dollars to support improvements in MBTA bus service.  Other projects long-term economic development, including $8.1 million to make improvements to a connector road that will allow better redevelopment of downtown Quincy by separating local traffic from thru traffic, $8.4 million to make improvements to Lynn’s Blossom Street Ferry Terminal to support a commuter ferry and development in downtown Lynn, and $15 million in roadway, bike and pedestrian improvements to support the Assembly Square redevelopment project in Somerville.

Learn more about federal stimulus transportation investments.