Massachusetts Turnpike

And the Pru tunnel on the turnpike is reopened. But Lower Allston takes its turn his morning going without power.

State Police and the Suffolk County District Attorney's office are investigating the sudden death of a pedestrian state troopers were trying to get off a turnpike ramp near the Allston/Cambridge tolls last night.

MassDOT alerts us. Can the opening of Copley Square be far behind?

Jeff Tamagini photographed John Rosenthal's anti-gun sign in the Fenway with 20 fresh handprints, in memory of the students shot to death in Newtown, CT. See it larger.

See it being stenciled.

Earlier:
Newtown memorial at Jamaica Plain monument.

The Herald reports Gov. Patrick is looking at replacing toll takers with electronic systems.

Roving UHub photographer Will Bussiere was roving all the way out in Charlton yesterday when he spotted a Green Line trolley on the back of a flatbed on the turnpike. No clue why.

Earlier:

• Trolley on 128
• Trolley on a train

MuckRock examines how much it costs to sponsor free tolls at the Allston/Cambridge exit on the Turnpike.

A day after we learned the alleged final cost of the Big Dig, the Supreme Judicial Court ruled the way the then turnpike authority shifted toll revenues to Big Dig construction costs was perfectly legal.

A bunch of turnpike commuters had challenged the money shifting, arguing it amounted to an unconstitutional tax, because they were paying for a new road system they might not use.

Au contraire, the state's highest court ruled: It didn't think the use of turnpike money on the Big Dig was a tax, but even if it were, the fact that the legislature approved it made it OK

Because we conclude that the tolls collected by the authority on the MHS were fees, and because we conclude that they would still be constitutional excise taxes even if they were taxes, we affirm the dismissal of the plaintiffs' State constitutional claims.

• Complete ruling

Plans probably don't include restoring Charlesgate to its early 20th-century state.

State officials hold a meeting tonight to discuss options for the turnpike through the Back Bay and the Bowker Overpass - the decaying hulk that now speeds cars across the fetid remains of the Muddy River between Fenway and Storrow Drive.

At the session, which begins at 6 p.m. in the mezzanine conference room at the BPL in Copley Square, state transportation officials will discuss various options for improving the Back Bay for people encased in metal shells, including extending the overpass to the turnpike for people heading to the airport or just tearing it down altogether and replacing it with a simple surface road. Another possibility is a new offramp to Brookline Avenue.

State officials recently announced plans to tear down the equally decrepit Casey Overpass in Jamaica Plain and replace it with surface roads and parkland.

• Massachusetts Turnpike Boston Ramps Study

Hitchhikers at Mass. Ave. and the turnpike in 1971.

Sometimes life gets a little frenetic around here, as Photographynatalia (above, by the Pru) and misssalimoo (by Kenmore Square) show:

They could rename it Pigsty Park.

The Globe today reports the state Department of Transportation has some ambitious plans for the land and air around the turnpike/93 interchange in Chinatown, which it hopes will eventually become a new gateway to the city, featuring new development and parks.

Parks, huh? The photo above is the latest on file with the city's Citizen Connect service from Mary Soo Hoo Park, the little plaza at the pedestrian gateway to Chinatown that is owned by the state Department of Transportation - or at least, that's what the city and the Greenway Conservancy keep telling residents in explaining why their crews can't pick up the trash that keeps getting left there. A couple of weeks ago, the city actually did dispatch a DPW crew to remove trash, but this latest complaint is marked "closed:"

Case Referred to External Agency. Mass dot jurisdiction. details forwarded.

Around 11:40 a.m., Jim Lokay posted a photo of the backed up traffic on the turnpike westbound between Framingham and 495.

Around the same time, Dave reported a major jam on 128 north by Rte. 20 in Waltham caused by a multi-vehicle crash that closed three lanes. Sarah Nelson reported a similar situation involving another multi-car crash on 495 south between exits 26 and 27.

Teagan photographed Boston's burning pickup of the day around 5:30 p.m. on the turnpike westbound by the BU bridge. Nobody was hurt, but the fire delayed both drivers and riders on the Green Line - because of firetrucks on Comm. Ave. above the highway.

Brooke, who took this photo of smoke from flaming westbound car by the Allston/Cambridge tolls around 3:15 p.m., reports traffic was tied up for miles.

Channel 4 reports two westbound lanes on the turnpike were shut overnight after concrete chunks fell on them from the Comm. Ave. overpass.

Smoke from turnpike truck fire billows over West Newton. Photo by JJ Free.

AlertNewEngland reports the cab of a semi on the Massachusetts Turnpike westbound caught fire around 10:50 a.m. by exit 16. All traffic is being diverted at exit 17.

Because the vice president, who used to take Amtrak everywhere, is now being chauffeured around town today and so Boston ramps to the turnpike westbound are currently shut.

Ryan Boyle couldn't help but notice the flipped truck at the Allston tolls on the turnpike around 12:30 p.m. today. He adds State Police did a great job keeping the traffic moving.

Posted under this Creative Commons license. Tagged as universalhub on Flickr.

CKP tweets a guy jumped onto the turnpike eastbound just before the Pru exit tonight and then started pounding on car hoods. As you can see, State Police arrived and subdued him before carting him away.

A rollover on the turnpike eastbound in Newton around 1 p.m. shut the road and sent two to the emergency room, state Transportation Secretary Jeff Mullan reports.

Among those sitting with no place to go until the scene was cleared was Sean William, who tweets he was stuck for 90 minutes in the car with his fashion-impaired mother:

I wasn't sure how much longer I could sit in the car with my UGG wearing mother before saying something!

Channel 5 reports.

North Shore Dish, stuck right in the middle of it all, posted this trafficjamcam shot:

Luke managed to get a shot of somebody on the turnpike who clearly spent sheer seconds clearing the car off.

Seen at the Charlton Gulf Station, Massachusetts Turnpike, 5:38 PM, December 23, 2010.

Either someone wanted to give drivers an early Christmas gift or someone else is about to lose his/her job.

Gas pump prices:

Posted prices:

Can you blame a Masshole for catching up with some reading?

Kevin Smith reports he was amazed when he looked out his window on the passenger side around noon today to see a guy reading a book - as he was doing about 70 on the eastbound turnpike by exit 13 in Natick. So, naturally, he took his photo.