Universal Hub - Storrow Drive

Beulah, peel me another truck

adamg — Tue, 18 Jun 2013 21:22:19 +0000

Boston Ward 4 Dems snapped the latest BU Bridge/Grand Junction casualty: A truck whose driver apparently and rather suddenly lost the ability to read, right in the middle of the evening rush hour today. On the eastbound side, at least.

The driver might not have been the cream of the crop

adamg — Fri, 07 Jun 2013 12:33:22 +0000

Rob Colonna and other inbound commuters had a sour experience on Storrow Drive this morning due to an epic battle between a milk truck and a bridge. As ever, the bridge won - one wonders how the driver failed to realize the bridge would skim the top off his truck. No word if he received a ticket for a mooving violation.

Looks like one driver didn't get the news about what happens to buses on our river roads

adamg — Sun, 26 May 2013 22:00:10 +0000

Ed Hatfield captured the scene yesterday on the entrance to Storrow Drive from the Bowker Overpass:

I would hate to drive in any big city in anything bigger than a sedan. Why doesn't GPS warn these guys? I think this guy was trying a U turn and got stuck. There is a very small cut through just to the left.

At least he didn't plow into an overpass, sending 33 of his passengers to the hospital like the last guy.

Copyright Ed Hatfield. Posted in the Universal Hub pool on Flickr.

Labor Day already?

adamg — Sat, 27 Apr 2013 22:28:19 +0000

At 10:50 a.m., Bobby Main tweeted:

Uhaul stuck at bridge on Storrow heading east by Mass. Eye and Ear.

Oh, Boston, you're my home

adamg — Sat, 20 Apr 2013 16:34:56 +0000

Yep, things are quickly returning to normal. Around 12:30 p.m., Charles O'Brien reported:

East bound Storrow Drive, truck can't clear BU footbridge. Major back up.

Needs more cowbell

adamg — Mon, 04 Feb 2013 12:37:52 +0000

Paul Levy considers the weekend bus crash and recounts how the state solved the problem 30 years ago - by hanging cowbells from the warning signs at the entrances to Storrow Driver and Soldiers Field Road, after then MDC Commissioner Bill Geary told his underlings to call a cow farmer to ask where they got their bells:

The frequency of crashes in the underpasses went from one per week to less than one per year. ...

The Commonwealth of Massachusetts solved the problem of bus crashes on this road 30 years ago. A lack of maintenance or will or understanding on the part of the state administration caused this problem to recur this past weekend. It was, in a sense, inevitable.

And it will happen again and again unless the state agency gets it act together.

Meanwhile, Charles Bahne, who has led bus tours of the Boston area for 30 years, explains why he had trouble getting to sleep after hearing about the crash:

Clearly the driver was completely lost. He had not bothered to plan his route or to ask directions from anyone locally. When you, the bus driver, are responsible for the safety of 40 or 50 other people, that is the utmost of irresponsibility. And despite being lost, he was traveling at an excessive rate of speed.

What to do about the river roads?

adamg — Sun, 03 Feb 2013 15:32:48 +0000

The Storrow Pool is all fun and games until the top of a bus is peeled back, sending nearly three dozen people to the hospital.

Is there any way to prevent this in the future? Clearly, the signs aren't working. Bring back the cowbells the old MDC used to attach to poles across onramps? Station troopers at every entrance? Suggestions?

Here are some thoughts from Twitter last night as the events unfolded: