August 23, 2013 — It was just after 4 p.m., and while others sat in bumper-to-bumper traffic, I was flying along, cutting across town from the Waterfront to South Bay in under three minutes.
I could get used to that, which is exactly why this 1.1 mile South Boston Bypass Road could soon become the most controversial street in MA. Actually, it already is.
The thoroughfare opened in 1993 as a restricted road for truck traffic during the construction of the Big Dig, and when the tunnels finally opened, the Bypass Road remained restricted to commercial use.
So it’s basically like a country road in the middle of the city, carrying just 100 vehicles per hour during its busiest times when it can comfortably handle 18 times that number. But as the Seaport seizes up with congestion virtually every weekday afternoon, state officials plan to explore opening the road to general traffic.
It’s not as easy as taking down some signs, though. To allow commuters and other drivers to use the bypass, the state will need to seek approval from the Federal Highway Administration because federal funds were used to build the road. State officials must show that lifting the restriction won’t add to air pollution, and if it does, they’ll need to come up with a plan to offset the harm to the environment. Think more bus service and carpooling.
And that’s just the complicated part. Here’s why it’s so controversial.
The Seaport may be the place in Boston where the new and old economies most vividly collide. And that collision may well take place on the Bypass Road.
Read the full story at The Boston Globe