Hey, there! Log in / Register
Giant boiler bound for Cambridge, banned by Somerville, stuck in Arlington
By adamg on Fri, 07/29/2011 - 10:34pm
Truckers trying to deliver an oversize boiler to MIT have instead been forced to cool their heels in Arlington because Somerville officials are refusing to allow the wide load on their streets.
YourArlington.com reports that at one point Thursday, 20 Arlington and Cambridge police and state troopers were on scene at Mass. Ave. in Arlington near the Cambridge line to escort a mini-convoy - the truck pulling the boiler and a couple of pickups - via Rte. 16 and Broadway and then into Cambridge. But while the driver got a permit from Cambridge, he never got one from Somerville, so instead the boiler will be parked in a Walgreens parking lot at least through Tuesday.
The delay is causing some headaches for MIT, which had sent out e-mail on Wednesday alerting faculty and staff of potential traffic issues on Portland and Albany streets yesterday and today while the boiler was being delivered to the Central Utilities Plant.
H/t to snuffles dog for forwarding news of the Boiler without a Country.
Neighborhoods:
Free tagging:
Ad:
Support Universal Hub
Help keep Universal Hub going. If you like what we're up to and want to help out, please consider a (completely non-deductible) contribution.
Comments
Don't give Mumbles any ideas.
Don't give Mumbles any ideas.
Each municipality has to issue a permit? Is that correct?
How much do you think they're paying the Walgreen's in rent?
Also, something smells fishy here that each municipality would have to issue a permit - just think of the havoc that could cause. I would be interested to hear from Roadman, who probably knows something of these things.
That is correct issacg.
While the state DOT issues a single permit for the load that covers the entire portion of the oversize route on state highway, the trucking company must still get separate permits from each city and town for the portions of the route that are on local streets and roads not under state jurisdiction. As I understand it, this requirement is pretty much uniform in all states.
Not sure about this case, but normally the trucking company leaves getting the approval of the route and obtaining all necessary state and local permits to move the load up to the pilot car company they hire to escort the load.
All oversize load movements in Massachusetts require at least a pilot car escort. If they exceed certian weight or dimension criteria, they also require a police escort as well.
Be aware that these oversize load movements are normally planned weeks, if not months, in advance. So although the system of needing separate permits for the state and each local municipality may seem chaotic, there generally shouldn't any issues IF proper planning is done in advance.
Several years back, there were a couple of fatal railroad grade crossing crashes involving oversized loads - one in Florida and one in California. In both cases, the NTSB investigations revealed several errors made by the pilot car drivers in not following the proper route laid out on the permits.
And I thought it was stuck
And I thought it was stuck out here because the GPS was directing it down Mass Ave through Harvard Square.
Data point...
I mentioned this story to my Dad, who is faculty at MIT, and he hadn't heard anything about it. Makes me question the bit about the Institute having alerted anyone about this things arrival.
Which also means that someone will have to update Uhub on the boiler's progress, since apparently I'm not going to hear of its arrival from Dad. :)
An email was circulating on
An email was circulating on the 27th. It was sent to my entire department, among other places.
Prospect Street Bridge? Huh?
The linked article says:
"Flynn said part of the intended route would have taken the rig over the Prospect Street Bridge, where it would have encountered MBTA lines."
The Prospect Street bridge, in Somerville's Union Square, is one-way northbound. I can't see any reasonable route from Arlington to MIT that would involve using this bridge. Southbound traffic uses the Webster Avenue bridge instead.
Also, what "MBTA lines" ?? The Prospect and Webster bridges go over the Fitchburg commuter rail line but I can't figure out how that is relevant in any way.
He could mean bus lines
He could mean bus lines (87, 91, CT2, etc), though either way it sounds like you're right about Prospect vs Webster.
At the Park St crossing they could run into the Fitchburg rail line but that street is too narrow for a wide vehicle to turn onto Beacon.
The 83 bus turns there...
... both from Beacon NE onto Park, and from Park NW onto Somerville Ave, and back again.
I'd want to ban parking for the length of Park, though, just in case.
You still need a Somerville permit though, because the only highways are 16:Alewife Brook (which I think has about 1/2 mile of US 3 with it, from the Cambridge Line to the Mystic Valley circle), 28/38:McGrath and 38:Mystic Ave, and I-93.
They probably did mean the
They probably did mean the Webster Ave bridge. It's easy to confuse them, especially since there are *zero* street signs for either street where they cross.
The boiler is still in the
The boiler is still in the Walgreens parking lot.
I'm glad I'm not the one paying for all of this.
it just went through putnam ave in cambridge
it's almost home!