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Life as you know it ends Thursday, state warns people whose commutes normally involve Comm Ave. at the BU Bridge

Sign warning about Commonwealth Avenue work

Apocolypse Nigh: Signboard on I-93 today. Photo by Lori Magno.

State transportation officials are warning people who drive or take the Green Line or bus across Commonwealth Avenue at the BU Bridge or who drive on the turnpike of the apocalyptic hellscape they will face if they failed to schedule their vacations for early August.

MassDOT warns that replacing the side of the bridge it didn't replace last summer will inspire lamentations and ululations as people caught in a two-week maelstrom that starts Thursday will wonder what they did to deserve such excruciating pain.

On the bright side, once the work is done, we'll have a brand-spanking new bridge that only required some inconvenience for a few weeks over two years, instead of a more traditional bridge project that would seemingly never end.

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Comments

For a variety of work reasons, I have limited ability to telecommute and I can't take more than a couple of days off during the construction. My office is smack dab in the middle of the maelstrom (basically as close as you can get without being on the actual bridge) and I already feel like I need pharmaceuticals to even think about how much more of a nightmare the already-sh*tty commute is going to be than usual. Pray for us all ....

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Sharing the ride can help with the stress - you only have to drive half the time.

If anyone commutes via other modes, you can talk to them about good ways to avoid cars and transit. There may even be some place that you can store a beater bike or park and ride or walk into the area.

Probably a good time to weigh your options. My husband and I have what we call "commute ecosysems" - sets of different ways to get to work, including biking, bike to train, carpooling and bus with bike and the like. It has served us well through all manner of disruptions and disasters.

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I realize you might be coming from far away but if not, and you're able, I would recommend bicycling! I'm a cycle commuter who rides comm ave and over the BU bridge every day and this "coming maelstrom" is actually a paradise for us cyclists. A free and open and CARLESS BU bridge and Comm Ave makes for a wonderful ride to work with cyclists chatting among ourselves much more than normal commuting days. Everyone's just in such a good mood!

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https://www.parkandpedal.org/

They have set up lots where people can park and then bike to their final destination.

I don't know if it will be something that works for this particular person, but it exists and might be an option for someone else who comes in from a further distance.

The Herter Park lot is 2.5 to 3 miles (depending on route) by bike from the clustermess, where cynical works. It can be done nearly entirely without involving city streets - just pop off the bike path at one of the Storrow crossing bridges and into the BU campus.

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I work in the area and commute via foot and bike. They did a reasonable job keeping things open for non-cars.

The new bridge is a big improvement. The work needed to be done and, unlike most projects, this one has been well planned and quick. The biggest "complaint" is that after seeing how quickly and efficiently they can do things, it makes one annoyed when seeing projects that drag on for years. (Looking at you, Medford Sq Bridge.)

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MassDOT has a reasonable fear that people are going to ponder how last year wasn't the catastrophe it was made out to be and will keep on with their regular commute. That will make it horrible.

That said, it does seem that foot/car commutes shouldn't be too bad. Blue Bikes is stepping up their game providing their version of an alternative. And at the end of everything, the bridge will be in tip top shape for some time to come.

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Just a reminder: The Craddock Bridge:
Had 400 year old pilings
Had 200 year old pilings
Had concrete poured into all the pilings to create a dam
Had more concrete poured in random places
Had no records of how, where, when, and what concrete was poured on it all
Had no records of the underlying pilings in the concrete
Had people whining about not closing it completely
Had a river underneath it that needed to be protected and kept flowing.

Not even remotely the same as dropping a new prefabricated span onto existing substructures.

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This time of summer is actually a paradise

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I can barely tolerate my mile walk every day when it is hot and humid. I don't know if I could take cycling it.

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Evenings are for bike clothes and showers at home.

In either case, the moving air at 12-15 mph beats walking on humid days.

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This is pretty good insight into the mindset of state officials. The world is ending because traffic will be backed up more? Give me a break. Take the T, get on a bike, etc. It's not THAT bad.

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That needs to lighten up, or are the recent sign board messages unprofessional?

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One thing we do have here is a sense of humor. At least they are being honest.

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They certainly grab attention and get people talking, which is really what a sign like this is intended to do. Frankly, they're probably far more effective than traditional signage.

I'd consider them more fun and whimsical than "unprofessional", but I can see how something like this might annoy some folks.

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This one seems fine to me. I can't stand the ones where they misspell words or use "wicked" to make it look Masshole like. Just spell the damn words correctly and stop making the region look dumb.

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And don't put the same "cutesy" message on every single board in the state at the same time.

When the "Use Yah Blinka" message was first unveiled, a friend was traveling back from Albany on the Pike. He remarked to me how seeing the message got more and more annoying with every sign he passed.

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It's replaced "It's Coming. It's Bad" with "Wicked Bad Travel".

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version (per a recent tweet). The second "frame" (CMS lingo) of the message reads "Wicked Tough Travels."

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In addition to what tcf098 said, I believe that we are so bombarded by ads and other signage looking for our attention, a staid, proper announcement could easily be missed. This casual, 'freak out' style announcement certainly catches the eye and, hopefully, the brain to remind one to adjust their commute as necessary.

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I'm hoping enough people took vacation that those of us who still have to commute from Cambridge to points south aren't going to flood the Mass Ave and Longfellow bridge.

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