State Police report arresting five Extinction Rebellion climate-change protesters they say were getting ready to use several pink 55-gallon drums outfitted so they could lock arms through them to make traffic even worse than usual this morning on the Leverett Circle Connector and on the ramps that connect to it. Read more.
Leverett Circle
State Police report that sometime before 6:20 p.m., a driver flew off I-93 southbound at the Leverett ramp, landing on the ramp rather than continuing to plunge down to the ground or water. The driver was taken to the hospital "conscious and alert," State Police say. NECN reports the driver, a 19-year-old from Lynn, was standing next to his car when troopers arrived.
State Police credit the lack of traffic early this morning for the lack of any crashes due to a Reading man speeding down I-93 southbound on the northbound side from Wilmington all the way to Leverett Circle, where he got on Storrow Drive the wrong way before finally getting cornered in a parking lot near Mass. General. Read more.
Lindsey Mason came upon the aftermath of a crash shortly before 9 a.m. on the Leverett Connector, way up in the air.
Dan Esdale reports several cars were involved.
Brian Vogel reports he drove with this guy "from Back Bay to Storrow and onto 93s."
Earlier:
A mobile snowbank on Huntington Avenue.
Christopher was among the commuters who had plenty of time to ponder the issue on the ramp to Storrow Drive from I-93 this morning, when a truck driver suddenly realized that, hey, that sign wasn't fooling.
A Boston Municipal Court judge today set bail at $10,000 for Vivencia Bellegarde, charged with OUI and ramming into a Boston Globe delivery truck that plunged 40 feet off I-93 onto a Leverett Circle exit ramp, the Suffolk County District Attorney's office report.
The Globe reports the truck's driver is expected to survive his injuries from the 3:13 a.m. ramming.
MassDOT alerts us that, once again, you'd best avoid Leverett Circle during the evening rush due to those still uncompleted repairs.
Separately, the state says it's shutting the westbound side of the Ted Williams Tunnel between 11:30 p.m. and 5 a.m. for some maintenance.
This just in from MassDOT:
Motorists should seek alternate routes or expect delays heading into Leverett Circle during this afternoon’s commute. Motorists are proceeding cautiously over a plate that is covering a roadway defect on the ramp from Leverett Circle to I-93 Southbound. As motorists take the ramp at a reduced speed, this is creating a queue along the roadways feeding into Leverett Circle.
At 5:54 a.m., MassDOT tweeted:
Traffic Alert: Boston- Storrow Drive tunnel at Leverett Circle, overheight truck stopped @ tunnel entrance. Traffic back up both ramps.
At 6:12 a.m., the agency alerted those who were awake that the truck had been removed (but that traffic was still heavy as a result).
I just received notice at work from our building's transportation coordinator that the Craigie Bridge will have major lane closures this winter to repair the bridge. Craigie Bridge is the steel drawbridge on O'Brien Highway at the Leverett Circle that allows for ship access between Charles River and the harbor.
Mats Tolander posts photos from yesterday's "unimpressive" nor'easter, including one of an 18-wheeler whose driver suddenly realized he wasn't going to make it out of the tunnel from I-93 to Storrow Drive in one piece and so stopped just in time - but after he blew by the "NO TRUCKS" sign.