Hub, neighbors brace for impact of bridge project
Brookline, Cambridge and Allston-Brighton are girding for frustrated motorists seeking escape routes from the Commonwealth Avenue bridge project that kicks off tonight.
“We’re planning for the worstcase scenario,” said Brookline transportation administrator Todd Kirrane, who expects heavy traffic down Beacon Street and across the river to utilize Memorial Drive.
State transportation Secretary Stephanie Pollack yesterday advised commuters to “stay away” from the entire lower BU campus area during the project, which is expected to last until Aug. 14.
“While it will be a hellish three weeks,” Pollack added, “if we weren’t using the accelerated bridge technique, it would be a hellish three, or four, or five years.”
Allston-Brighton will also be the site of a critical detour, with eastbound Commonwealth Avenue drivers turning onto Harvard Avenue to skirt the shutdown. The district’s City Councilor Mark Ciommo said digital signs are warning commuters to prepare for backups, and his office will be manning phones to address any headaches.
“It’s all hands on deck for this three-week period,” Ciommo said.
Brookline and Cambridge officials said they will have police details at strategic street locations to hopefully prevent bottlenecks. Kirrane said Brookline has minimized construction projects along Beacon Street to help.
Cambridge police spokesman Jeremy Warnick said the city has been planning for the construction project for over a year.
“I’m hoping that people are aware, and I think we’ve done as much as we can to make sure people are informed,” Warnick said, adding he’s bracing for traffic jams around Massachusetts Avenue and Memorial Drive.
AAA Southern New England spokesman Mary Maguire called cutting through side streets “a risky proposition” because many of those neighborhood roads were not built to handle large volumes of traffic and are populated by pedestrians, cyclists, and children.
“It’s not something that we would recommend,” she said.
Kirrane said Brookline residents should not be concerned about accessing their homes, and Ciommo said his district has ensured that EMS and public safety officials will be able to travel through the neighborhood efficiently during the project’s duration.
Officials asked for residents to be both patient and strategic in making travel plans, with Warnick adding residents should “give themselves a little bit more time to get where they need to be.”