Overview | |
---|---|
Location | Boston, Massachusetts |
Coordinates | 42°21′12″N71°01′42″W / 42.3533°N 71.0283°W |
Status | Open |
Route | I-90 / Mass Pike |
Start | South Boston |
End | Logan International Airport in East Boston |
Operation | |
Constructed | 1991–1995 |
Opened |
|
Owner | Commonwealth of Massachusetts |
Operator | Massachusetts Department of Transportation |
Traffic | Automotive |
Toll | Between $0.20 and $2.05 both directions depending on payment method and residency |
Technical | |
Length | 1.6 mi (2.6 km) |
No. of lanes | 6 at ends, 4 under harbor |
Operating speed | 45 mph (72 km/h) |
Lowest elevation | −100 feet (−30 m) [1] |
The Ted Williams Tunnel is a highway tunnel in Boston, Massachusetts. The third in the city to travel under Boston Harbor, with the Sumner Tunnel and the Callahan Tunnel, it carries the final segment of Interstate 90 (the Massachusetts Turnpike) from South Boston towards its eastern terminus at Route 1A in East Boston, slightly beyond Logan International Airport. The tunnel is named after the Boston Red Sox baseball legend Ted Williams.
The underwater section of the tunnel is 90 feet below the surface of Boston Harbor, the deepest such connection in North America. [2]
The Ted Williams Tunnel (TWT) was the first major link constructed as part of Boston's Big Dig. It is constructed from twelve "binocular" shaped steel sections fabricated in a Baltimore shipyard. These sections were then brought to the Black Falcon Pier near the site and each was fitted with a large surrounding mass of concrete (so that the tunnel section was more neutrally buoyant). Using additional flotation, the tunnel sections were then floated into place, lowered into a dredged channel, and joined to the other sections. At this point, the steel panels sealing the now-joined sections could be cut out and the finishing operations could be completed.
When the TWT opened in 1995 it was only available to authorized commercial traffic. Later, non-commercial traffic was allowed to access the tunnel on weekends and holidays. In 2003, with the substantial completion of the I-90 portion of the Big Dig, the tunnel was opened to all traffic at all times.
The tunnel is 8,448 feet (2,575 m) long, of which approximately 3,960 feet (1,210 m) are underwater. A toll is collected in both directions, through the E-ZPass electronic toll collection system, formerly named the "Fast Lane" system. Vehicles with a Massachusetts E-ZPass transponder pay $1.75, and the tolls are higher for vehicles with an out of state E-ZPass or vehicles without an E-ZPass. Eligible East Boston residents for the E-ZPass discount program pay $0.20 for either direction. [3] Commercial vehicles pay higher, depending on number of axles. [4]
On July 10, 2006, at approximately 11 p.m. four three-ton sections of a concrete drop ceiling inside the I-90 Fort Point Channel tunnel leading to the Ted Williams Tunnel collapsed. A section of ceiling fell on top of a car traveling through the connector tunnel, killing 38-year-old passenger Milena Del Valle and slightly injuring her husband Angel Del Valle, who was driving. The cause of the collapse was later determined to be the failure of adhesives connecting a steel tieback suspending the concrete drop ceiling to the main ceiling above. Massachusetts governor Mitt Romney ordered the eastbound lanes of the Ted Williams Tunnel to be immediately shut down on July 20 after two ceiling supports showed signs of slippage. At a press conference, Romney stated that "pull tests" were to be conducted in the eastbound tube to test the stress load on the bolt/epoxy system that supports the drop ceiling. An independent contracting firm was to conduct that test. Romney said the shutdown should last "hours, not days". [5] [6] The next morning, the eastbound lanes of the tunnel were opened to MBTA Silver Line buses as well as commercial buses running to Logan Airport.
Late in the evening of August 8, I-90 connector ramp A leading to the Ted Williams Tunnel was reopened to general traffic, easing the crunch on Logan Airport traffic coming from the south. Cars heading to the airport northbound on the Southeast Expressway (I-93) would get off at exit 15B (former exit 18) [7] and take the South Boston Access (Haul) Road to Ramp A, eliminating the need to go through downtown Boston and U-turn at Storrow Drive to access the Callahan Tunnel. [8] One eastbound lane of the connector tunnel which collapsed was reopened to traffic on September 1.
The Big Dig was a megaproject in Boston that rerouted the then elevated Central Artery of Interstate 93 that cut across Boston into the O'Neill Tunnel and built the Ted Williams Tunnel to extend Interstate 90 to Logan International Airport. Those two projects were the origin of the official name, the Central Artery/Tunnel Project. Additionally, the project constructed the Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge over the Charles River, created the Rose Kennedy Greenway in the space vacated by the previous I-93 elevated roadway, and funded more than a dozen projects to improve the region's public transportation system. Planning for the project began in 1982; the construction work was carried out between 1991 and 2006; and the project concluded on December 31, 2007. The project's general contractor was Bechtel and Parsons Brinckerhoff was the engineer, who worked as a consortium, both overseen by the Massachusetts Highway Department.
The Pennsylvania Turnpike, sometimes shortened to Penna Turnpike or PA Turnpike, is a controlled-access toll road that is operated by the Pennsylvania Turnpike Commission (PTC) in the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania in the United States. It runs for 360 miles (580 km) across the state, connecting Pittsburgh in Western Pennsylvania with Philadelphia in eastern Pennsylvania, and passes through four tunnels as it crosses the Appalachian Mountains in central Pennsylvania.
Interstate 93 (I-93) is an Interstate Highway in the New England states of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont in the United States. Spanning approximately 190 miles (310 km) along a north–south axis, it is one of three primary Interstate Highways located entirely within New England; the other two are I-89 and I-91. The largest cities along the route are Boston, and Manchester, New Hampshire; it also travels through the New Hampshire state capital of Concord.
The Atlantic City Expressway, officially numbered, but unsigned, as Route 446 and abbreviated A.C. Expressway, ACE, or ACX, and known locally as the Expressway, is a 44.19-mile (71.12 km) controlled-access toll road in the U.S. state of New Jersey, managed and operated by the South Jersey Transportation Authority (SJTA). It serves as an extension of the freeway part of Route 42 from Turnersville southeast to Atlantic City. The Atlantic City Expressway is signed as east-west, though the mileage and exits decrease as if one is travelling north-south. It connects Philadelphia and the surrounding Delaware Valley metropolitan area with Atlantic City and other Jersey Shore resorts, and also serves other South Jersey communities, including Hammonton and Mays Landing. The expressway intersects many major roads, including Route 73 in Winslow Township, Route 54 in Hammonton, Route 50 in Hamilton Township, the Garden State Parkway in Egg Harbor Township, U.S. Route 9 (US 9) in Pleasantville, and the Atlantic City–Brigantine Connector near the eastern terminus in Atlantic City.
The Massachusetts Turnpike is a controlled-access toll highway in the US state of Massachusetts that is maintained by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT). It is concurrent with the entirety of Interstate 90 (I-90) within the state, and is the longest Interstate Highway in Massachusetts, spanning 138 miles (222 km) along an east–west axis.
State Route 267 is an expressway in the US state of Virginia. It consists of two end-to-end toll roads – the Dulles Toll Road and Dulles Greenway – as well as the non-tolled Dulles Access Road, which lies in the median of Dulles Toll Road and then extends east to Falls Church. The combined roadway provides a toll road for commuting and a free road for access to Washington Dulles International Airport. The three sections are operated and maintained by separate agencies: Dulles Toll Road and Dulles Access Road are maintained by the Metropolitan Washington Airports Authority (MWAA); the Dulles Greenway is owned by TRIP II, a limited partnership, but is maintained by Atlas Arteria, an Australian company which owns the majority stake in the partnership. The Dulles Access Road's median hosts the Silver Line of the Washington Metro between the airport and Tysons.
E-ZPass is an electronic toll collection system used on toll roads, toll bridges, and toll tunnels in the Eastern United States, Midwestern United States, and Southern United States. The E-ZPass Interagency Group (IAG) consists of member agencies in several states, which use the same technology and allow travelers to use the same transponder on toll roads throughout the network.
The Silver Line is a system of bus routes in Boston and Chelsea, Massachusetts, operated by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA). It is operated as part of the MBTA bus system, but branded as bus rapid transit (BRT) as part of the MBTA subway system. Six routes are operated as part of two disconnected corridors. As of 2019, weekday ridership on the Silver Line was 39,000.
The New York State Thruway is a system of controlled-access toll roads spanning 569.83 miles (917.05 km) within the U.S. state of New York. It is operated by the New York State Thruway Authority (NYSTA), a New York State public-benefit corporation. The 496.00-mile (798.23 km) mainline is a freeway that extends from the New York City line at Yonkers to the Pennsylvania state line at Ripley by way of I-87 and I-90 through Albany, Syracuse, and Buffalo. According to the International Bridge, Tunnel and Turnpike Association, the Thruway is the fifth-busiest toll road in the United States. The toll road is also a major route for long distance travelers linking the cities of Toronto and Buffalo with Boston and New York City.
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The Sumner Tunnel is a road tunnel in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It carries traffic under Boston Harbor in one direction, from Logan International Airport and Route 1A in East Boston. The tunnel originally deposited traffic at the west side of the North End, but with the completion of the Big Dig, it was modified to have two exits. One exit connects to I-93 northbound and downtown Boston near Haymarket Station. The other exit connects to Storrow Drive and Nashua St., connecting Cambridge via Route 28. Traffic headed for I-93 southbound and the Massachusetts Turnpike (I-90) westbound is normally routed to the Ted Williams Tunnel. It is managed by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation.
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The Big Dig ceiling collapse occurred on July 10, 2006, when a concrete ceiling panel and debris weighing 26 short tons and measuring 20 by 40 feet fell in Boston's Fort Point Channel Tunnel. The panel fell on a car traveling on the two-lane ramp connecting northbound I-93 to eastbound I-90 in South Boston, killing a passenger and injuring the driver. Investigation and repair of the collapse caused a section of the Big Dig project to be closed for almost a full year, causing chronic traffic backups.