Massachusetts Turnpike

Sister Lorraine ponders the question when confronted with a Masshole doing Massholish things on the turnpike:

... Things like that are really annoying and I was starting to feel angry about it. But then all of a sudden Jesus' words in the sermon on the mount came back to me, what he said about responding with a blessing when people curse you. It struck me that I had a choice about how to react. ...

Two car accidents (one fatal) 25 miles apart were enough to create highway gridlock throughout the Boston area this afternoon.

Daniel, the Globe's transportation reporter, has been appointed communications director at the turnpike authority. What that also means: Now, instead of asking the tough questions about Big Dig ceiling collapses or turnpike toll increases, he'll have to answer them.

So the Big Dig isn't the only part of our transportation infrastructure always on the verge of collapse. A state commission reports roads, highways, public transit, you name it, have fallen billions of dollars behind basic maintenance needs.

A roundup of reactions:

Casey Ross summarizes the lowlights.

On Pelican in Her Piety, Jason says he is just shocked by how much of the state's transportation budgets go toward wages and fringe benefits, in particular, health insurance:

Why are all the tollbooth attendants being so nice all of a sudden? Well, most of them, anyway.

Bus winds up on divider at Weston tolls.

No one injured in Allston crash.

Exclusive photos?

Sco says yay on environmental issues and nay on the loss of toll-collector jobs:

... I appreciate that the very purpose of unions is to protect peoples' jobs, but I have to say that the reason that we have tolls is not to provide employment for toll takers. ...

Carpundit writes that if the tolls stay west of 128, it will be the first tax hike of the Patrick administration.

Michael reports on the bad jam-up on the westbound turnpike this morning caused by rubberneckers slowing down to gape at the three Staties who had cornered some guy (with guns drawn and pointed at the guy's head) on the other side of the highway:

... I have no idea what this guy did, but I'm assuming he had a kilo of blow on the dash board and a backseat full of illegal guns from Georgia to elicit this kind of response. It felt nice to know that no matter what happens in the next 4 hours, at least one guy had a much worse morning than I could possibly have.

Tolls west of 128 to disappear in June.

Earlier this year I went through a Fast Lane toll gate to fast for the Fast Lane to pick up my id, but not so fast that they did not take a picture of my car and license plate.

When I received the letter telling me I had been charged 20 dollars for not being picked up on fast lane, my first reaction was to call fast lane, and get all 'Masshole' on them. The person I was talking to suggested it would be easier for me to send in a fax, than to discuss it with him.

What a genius! True genius. Because I sent in a fax, explaining how I did NOT know my car had not been read, and that I would like to pay for the missed toll.

The Hispanic Community Church of Boston and Citizens Bank have set up a fund for the family of the woman who died in that Big Dig ceiling collapse. Donations can be made at any Citizens branch to the Memorial Account for Yetty M Del Valle.

Via Joe Dwinell.

After reading about the latest political fighting over at the authority, John Daley wonders.

Tim gets onto Rte. 30 from the turnpike this morning and notices a car on fire:

... I passed the car as the driver was getting out. He was running around to the front of the car, which, I noted with some alarm, now featured flames starting to lick out from around the edges of the hood. And he was trying to open the hood. ...

He also notes that in the DC area, traffic reporters would charmingly refer to such events as "car-B-Q."