Re: Traffic and road names.

[Eli Sherer <eli@smartroute.com>]

Title: Re: Traffic and road names.

Actually, everyone gets the names wrong, or says them differently, because they change all the time. Back in the mid 80's the state re-numbered the exits along Rt 128, (this was when the real i-95 is i-95 deal got hot), and all of the traffic reporters were "issued" cheat cards with new numbers on them. But if you go market to market as I have, you will see that people refer to the roads however they want to. In New Jersey, people know their exit numbers (I know, big lauch, but it's true). In Philadelphia, it's 90% by name, even the roadways such as I-76, when it's the Schylkil Expressway, that's what they call it.... Around Boston, people refer to the exits off 128/95 by name, and most don't even know their exit number except on the Turnpike, which is almost always referred to by number (with the noted exeption of the extension ... i.e., east of Weston (exit 14 and 15 for the record).

As for the Inner Loop, yes it was supposed to happen, but poop planning and threats from the feds on funding back in the 70's killed it. There was a big highway boom going on, but an even bigger influx of commuters, I-93 north of Boston was built to take commuting traffic of Rt 28 through the residential areas. When it was completed, the state realized it would never hold the volume of traffic and refused to open it. Mike Dukakis (if I remember correctly), even had a bill in the house that would have turned the upper and lower deck into the groundwork for housing projects (now think what a view like that would cost today!). Then early one morning, a truck driver heading out from Charlestown to the Tobin bridge struck on of the uprights and bent it to the point that the Tobin had to be closed (no idea if it was another Canadian lumber truck, but I'm sure someone can look it up).... I-93 was put into emergency service to handle north shore traffic and the "merge" was born.

When the inner loop was killed, I-95 was designated to overlap portions of 128, and later, the numbering changed (as I said, in the 80's) to make it a trough roadway. If you head up Rt 1 in Revere, as you swing the corner near the Showcase Cinema, you can look off to the right past the closed (or never opened) barricaded non-ramp and see what's left of the road bed that had been built as the continuation of I-95. When the work was stopped, this road bed was left there and over the years, sand and gravel removed to shore up the shoreline. Amongst other things, some of this was used to replenish Revere Beach over the years as it's been surf damaged.

One last hostoric tidbit.... since we're talking about Revere, that area where the road bed is, and the shopping plaza sits nearby, is the site of the old Revere Airport. In the days when the Boston airport was two runways and one terminal.... there were a number of local airports around handling traffic. Imagine dealing with that many nowadays.

> Date: Wed, 6 Oct 1999 16:20:09
> -0000
> From: "Bill Dunn"
> <ecps92@tiac.net>
> Subject: Traffic
>
> I think they just get used to how the
> State Police report the traffic to
> them. The SP Calls the Expressway ,
> Rte-93, not the Expressway. Drives me
> Crazy too.
>
> Maybe Eli could jump in here with
> hisYears of experience.
>
> Don't forget Rte-93 starts in Canton
> at Rte-95 and goes to the NH Border.
>
> Bill Dunn
> ......................
> :My big bugaboo is how BZ, SmartRoutes
> and others will sometime slip up and
> :say 93 SOUTH ( which can be either the
> expressway OR coming in from the
> :north)
> :
> :SOLUTION  rename the expressway
> 393 or 595 (every other city can do that)
> I
> :seem to recall the "inner
> belt" would have been 695 had it been built.
> :
> :Compared to Philadelphia and Detroit
> however, our traffic reports on radio
> :are lacking..
> :
> :Of course I have spent a lifetime
> trying to figure out how US3 becomes SR3
> :at the Longfellow Bridge.
> :

-Eli