Gov. Charlie Baker and Boston Mayor Michelle Wu are taking a excessive stakes gamble that the 30-day-long Orange Line closure starting this week received’t be an entire catastrophe and traumatize motorists, commuters and residents for months to return.
For Wu, the T shutdown mitigation measures — like additional bus lanes, decreased parking, free bikes and free commuter rail — match neatly into her grand utopian plan of forcing all gas-fueled vehicles off the roads.
Cutting lanes for vehicles in half in the course of the Orange Line closure? Wu may have no issues with that.
Commuters who should journey into work, nevertheless, don’t have the identical grandiose designs that the mayor has for her metropolis. On highways, vacationers will see a 20% uptick in congestion on I-93, Route 1 and the Fellsway. That just isn’t a prescription for completely satisfied motorists.
The penalties for Baker are steeper. The Republican governor on Monday expressed confidence that every one the wanted repairs on the Orange Line will probably be accomplished in a month, regardless of the unprecedented nature of the work and scheduled closures.
But may this be the ultimate folly for the lame duck governor, who’s stumbling alongside to a detailed of his second four-year time period?
If the closure lasts longer than a month or is marred by troubles and visitors nightmares, that would have a long-lasting influence on Baker’s legacy.
What if there are accidents between buses and bikes, or buses and passenger vehicles? What if the bus drivers who’re being imported from out of state have hassle navigating our state’s difficult and slim streets and highways? What occurs to the retailers and shops and eating places that rely on out-of-towners coming into the town? Will they take one other enormous hit?
Baker and the T brass will probably be blamed, and for good cause.
Baker is already taking a big gamble that motorists received’t take kindly towards being steered off the roadways.
“I assure you that that is not a good option and you should look to other transit options,” Highway Administrator Jonathan Gulliver mentioned.
Yeah, for probably the most half individuals don’t like being instructed the place and when to drive their vehicles. Some haven’t any different however to drive to work.
And then what occurs to the 100,000-plus T vacationers who should get into work every day utilizing these unusual bus routes, orange cones and Bluebikes?
According to the Wu administration, they’ll know what’s good for them.
“We are hopeful we will look back on this moment as a turning point,” Jascha Franklin-Hodge, chief of streets for the town of Boston mentioned.
That’s an exceedingly optimistic viewpoint.
Good luck, vacationers.
Source: www.bostonherald.com”