The Road to Reform

Medford I-93 Bridges: July 15-18 Construction

The Medford I-93 "93Fast14" bridges project has successfully reached its midpoint after five weekends as crews have completed the replacement of the seven bridges on I-93 North. The first weekend of bridge replacements on I-93 South begins tonight, July 15th at 8:00 PM and continuing through Monday, July 18th at 5:00 AM. This weekend’s locations involve the bridges on I-93 South over Route 60 (Salem Street)

Throughout the course of the weekend, traffic on I-93 will be limited to two lanes in each direction over a 6-mile segment between Exit 28 (Sullivan Square) in Somerville and Exit 36 (Montvale Avenue) in Stoneham. Traffic on I-93 South will be directed through a median crossover near Spot Pond at the Stoneham/Medford line and then travel in counter-flow operation on the northbound barrel of the highway before traveling through a second median crossover near the Medford/Somerville line. I-93 directional traffic will be separated by a moveable “zipper lane” barrier. Access to and from many of the ramps on I-93 South in this area will be restricted.

The $98.1 million project to replace these fourteen bridge superstructures in Medford is funded through the Patrick-Murray Administration’s historic Accelerated Bridge Program to reduce the Commonwealth’s backlog of structurally-deficient bridges.

For more information or to sign up to receive future updates and schedule information, visit the project website.

RMV Customer Service: Expanded Branch Hours

As part of MassDOT's focus on customer service, the Registry of Motor Vehicles has expanded service hours at several of its busiest branch locations.

The RMV is opening earlier in Lawrence, Worcester, Milford, Brockton and Taunton. These branches now offer license and registration service starting at 8 AM Monday through Friday. The hours for each specific location are:

Lawrence, Worcester, and Brockton - 8 AM to 5 PM Monday-Wednesday and Friday; 8 AM to 6 PM on Thursdays. Road tests are offered from 9 AM to 5 PM. Suspension hearings offered between 9 AM to 5 PM Monday-Wednesday and Friday, 10 AM to 5 PM on Thursdays in Brockton and Lawrence, and 9 AM to 5 PM on Thursdays in Worcester.

Milford - 8 AM to 5 PM Monday-Friday. Road tests are offered between 9 AM and 5 PM

Taunton-8:00 AM to 5:00 PM Monday-Friday. Road tests are offered from 9 AM to 5 PM.

The Springfield Branch will offer expanded hours beginning August 1, with expanded hours to be introduced in Boston and Watertown in the coming months.

The expanded hours provide an earlier service option to customers, and will reduce wait times throughout the course of the day. While some transactions must be done by visiting a branch, MassDOT RMV reminds customers that most services are available at RMV's busiest branch- online.

For a complete list of service hours at all RMV locations, as well as a complete list of all the transactions that can be done online, please visit the RMV website at www.mass.gov/rmv.

New Look Locomotives

As the manufacturing and production of 20 new locomotives gets underway, the MBTA is asking the public to help choose a design scheme that reflects a new era in the delivery of Commuter Rail service. Beginning Tuesday, visitors to www.mbta.com will be presented with three options from which to choose, seen at left. The on-line preference poll will be available for two weeks. The design options will also be on display at North and South Stations

The MBTA is purchasing a new fleet of twenty diesel-electric passenger locomotives from Motive-Power Incorporated of Boise, Idaho. The $114 million investment represents the MBTA’s first major locomotive procurement in more than 20 years. Employing the industry’s newest technological advances, the locomotives are being designed and built to operate more efficiently, reducing fuel use and emissions while significantly improving performance and reliability. The new locomotives will be in service by 2013.

MassDOT August Public Meeting

The Massachusetts Department of Transportation Board of Directors will hold its next regular public business meeting on Wednesday, August 10, 1:00pm, MBTA Board Room, Suite 3910, State Transportation Building, Boston.

The MBTA Board will meet first at 1pm, followed by the MassDOT Board. All meetings are open to the public.

The meeting schedule is available on the MassDOT website.