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By adamg - 2/21/14 - 11:45 am
Turnpike marker

Driving through Oak Square this morning, I noticed the little sign pointing the way up Washington Street to the turnpike. By itself, no big deal, except note that it shows a green Pilgrim hat - a remnant of the days when the Massachusetts Turnpike had its own authority and for some reason decided to use green Pilgrim hats for its logo (after discarding an earlier logo that featured a Pilgrim hat with an arrow through it and economy-sized toll cards featuring a Pilgrim who was remarkably happy given that he'd just had an arrow shot through his head).

By adamg - 2/20/14 - 4:34 pm

On the outbound side. Police have put up some cones to try to warn off motorists until the DPW can fill those holes.

Meanwhile, the Burlington Mall is shut down due to a car-eating sinkhole.

By adamg - 2/19/14 - 4:06 pm
Flattened truck

Because this truck, which roving UHub Photographer Joe W. ran across (well, not literally) at Pleasant and Hancock streets in Dorchester this morning, could sure use one.

By adamg - 2/18/14 - 3:06 pm

Capt. John Greland at C-6 in South Boston tweets somebody got angry enough about finding somebody in "his" space on E. 6 Street near P Street yesterday that he vandalized the car.

Only he didn't stop there. To make sure the car owner realized why the entire driver's side of the car was now dented and scratched, he left a note on the windshield informing the owner of the punishment for violating Southie's unwritten code of winter parking, Greland reports.

Only problem, Greland adds: "Victim said no space saver in spot."

By adamg - 2/17/14 - 7:59 pm
Propane tank

A concerned citizen complains about this propane space saver on E. 4 Street:

New definition of "don't mess with my space". Rather dangerous!

By adamg - 2/16/14 - 2:42 pm
Hawaiian Punch as space saver in East Boston

Blythe the roving UHub photographer marvels at the Hawaiian Punch bottle being used to save a (completely unplowed) space in her neck of the East Boston woods today. Throw in some frozen Snickers bars and you've got a party.

By adamg - 2/16/14 - 12:41 pm

Shortly after noon, a car went flying into the building at 71 S. Huntington Ave., in the latest of an unending series of crashes along the street south of the intersection with Huntington Avenue.

The building inspector was summoned to check the building for structural damage; the E Line stopped running past Brigham Circle.

By adamg - 2/16/14 - 12:00 am

The Boston Fire Department reports firefighters were dispatched to the Mass. Ave. Bridge around 11:35 p.m. when somebody noticed a person on the ice on the Charles.

Mission accomplished:

Person is tethered with a rope and is now walking off of the frozen river to shore. ... Unknown why person was on the ice. Police to investigate.

By adamg - 2/15/14 - 11:18 am

Penny Cherubino does some research and finds several other big cities do and wonders:

Would you get rid of one or more cars if you had to pay for a resident parking permit?

Would year-round street sweeping, that would allow public works to clear snow to the curb on street sweeping days, be a good idea?

By adamg - 2/14/14 - 2:04 pm

So it has come to this in Jamaica Plain: A fed-up citizen complains about Weld Hill Street:

In addition to the gazillion space savers that are all along Weld Hill, at 14 Weld Hill there is a small blue car used to save at least 2 spots during the day, then moved to a driveway. there is no parking on the street because of space savers, and things like this. please come ticket. this is absurd.

By adamg - 2/14/14 - 10:17 am

A man got out of a car on the upper level and jumped around 9:20 a.m. Although a witness initially reported seeing the person in netting on the lower level, a firefighter discovered the person's body at a construction site below the bridge.

State Police and the Suffolk County District Attorney's office are investigating, although a spokesman for the DA's office says the death is not considered suspicious. The DA's office reports the man was 43.

Traffic in both directions was delayed as firefighters looked for the person.

By adamg - 2/14/14 - 8:10 am

In response to a complaint about an SUV with New Hampshire plates that is basically perma-parked on W. 7 Street, the Boston Transportation Department reports:

This vehicle has been ticketed 15 times in the past 3 1/2 months. Will continue to ticket as it is observed.

By adamg - 2/13/14 - 1:41 pm

Conditions are so bad on Bussey Street through the Arboretum that both police and fire have requested barriers to just shut the road entirely.

Only two cars crashed, but police report numerous other drivers are barely able to stay on the road and on nearby South Street, and firefighters report the road isn't safe even for them to drive on.

By adamg - 2/13/14 - 7:30 am
<a href="https://twitter.com/MassStatePolice/status/433932343834071041">Photo by State Police</a>.

A tractor trailer burst into flames shortly before 6 a.m. on the southbound Expressway by the gas tank, completely shutting the southbound side of the road and causing significant delays on the northbound side.

The Boston Fire Department declared the fire out at 6:45, but as of 7:24, State Police were diverting most southbound traffic onto Columbia Road because only the extreme left lane was still open.

By adamg - 2/12/14 - 4:45 pm

Interesting photo that shows what happens when a vengeful neighbor slashes your tires for daring to park in "their" space and then the local meter maid decides to issue you a steady stream of tickets. Brought to you by the neighborhood of East Boston.

By adamg - 2/11/14 - 10:45 am

Parent Imperfect reports on an incident on South Street in Roslindale yesterday, after he'd dropped his kids off at school:

The salt on the road probably allowed the driver to maintain control of the truck, even though s/he was going too fast. The salt could not, however, keep the load on the truck. In the blink of an eye, ten-foot lengths of 2-inch cast iron pipe were airborne out of the bed of the truck. Before I could even wet my drawers, two of the pipes smashed into the car ...

By adamg - 2/11/14 - 7:21 am
Flipped car on the Massachusetts Turnpike

State Police report arresting a Worcester woman on OUI and other charges last night after she allegedly rammed a State Police cruiser on a detail on the Massachusetts Turnpike at the Brighton/Newton line, then wound up on her side when her car partially flipped over.

Ann Lyn King, 45, was headed west when she struck Trooper Mark Lombardi's marked SUV around 10:30 p.m. He was there to protect a maintenance crew performing inspections of light poles along the highway.

Lombardi was treated at Boston Medical Center for minor injuries and released.

By adamg - 2/10/14 - 4:51 pm

A fed-up citizen reports that not only did city action fail to dislodge space savers in the area of Sumner and Maverick streets in East Boston, they are multiplying, several days after the last snow emergency ended and people were, you know, supposed to stop saving spaces:

I counted 15 savers across three blocks of Sumner alone after this case was closed. Please address and do not close without adequately resolving.

Note: Complaints about space pigs are also flooding in from JP, Dorchester and, of course, South Boston. Especially South Boston.

By adamg - 2/9/14 - 2:03 pm
Foam-covered gas station in Dorchester

Blanket is where victim was pinned. Photo by BFD.

The Boston Fire Department reports a man was pumping gas at the Citgo station at 741 Morrissey Blvd. around 8:15 this morning when the driver of a car behind him failed to stop:

It moved his car out of the station and pinned him between the car that hit him and one of those posts protecting the pumps. Firefighters had to use extrication tools to free the man. Boston EMS treated and transported him with a serious leg injury. While this incident was underway, the overhead fire extinguishing system activated, covering the area with powder.

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