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Twin storrowings in East Boston
By adamg on Wed, 09/07/2016 - 11:38am
Storrow Drive is where the little trucks go to die, but Neptune Road and Bennington Street in East Boston is where the big rigs end their lives - and tie up traffic for miles around. Shane Dunn shows us one of the two trucks stuck at the Rte. 1A overpass this morning.
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Comments
Why not just put up posts at
Why not just put up posts at the entry ramps to prevent the blockage of a major artery? Or learn from CT and set up audio alarms for trucks that are approaching bridges. Or both.
Why is the city doing nothing to deal with this?
Don't blame the City this time
There are 6 clearly visible signs!
The signs doesn't say "cars only" or some vague statement.
It says trucks over 12'-0" no left turn.
This is Entirely the truck driver's fault.
https://www.google.com/maps/@42.3796758,-71.0248105,3a,48.2y,306.58h,90.56t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sNHpmeSpj4LjWEARV6aEVmw!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en
The signage that is literally
The signage that is literally under the bridge? Yea, that's helpful.
EDIT: On second look I guess it is only a limit for left hand turns. Fair enough. City gets a pass.
I don't know how tall my truck is...
I think the signage https://goo.gl/maps/FSWRJm6auGr including truck bashing signs when too tall, should be sufficient no? You can only do so much to stop idiocy unless the RMV starts making basic reading comprehension part of the licensing process.
Once you get to the final signs...
... aren't you already past the underpass? Either you made it through safely or you've already storrowed yourself. The left turn leads to an on-ramp that goes up, not under anything.
Left turning trucks can't make it under
Take a look at it again - while making the left turn, they jam under the low corner.
Maybe the answer is "no left turn". period.
The bridge itself isn't low
The bridge itself isn't low clearance. The pier cap end is. So if you go under the bridge and take a left there to get on the on-ramp you will hit it if you are an over height truck.
Actually
That left leads drivers back to the airport or to 93/90. There are signs further down 1A that trucks over 12'-6" will have issue with the Sumner.
Trucks are not allowed to use East Boston streets to leave the Airport, so they have to figure out the wide left turn or go north on 1A.
Storrowing Can Happen Anywhere — Here, It Just Involves Turning
To storrow is a verb. It's usage is not limited to one location. If conditions are right, sorrowing can happen on even the most modern of highways
Big trucks must and can pass underneath the Eastern Expressway viaduct on Neptune Road. However, big trucks turning need to "swing wide" at a certain place to get the proper clearance.
It's all about turning — just like sculpture, which coincidentally, is located at the same intersection:
East Boston "Spinning Disco Light" Mobile — Universal Hub
Obsolete
While I can't understand the lack of better signage, the real issue here is obsolete infrastructure. This elevated section of 1A, the East Boston Expressway, was constructed in 1950. Since then, it has not been well maintained. Under the viaduct on Saratoga St, there is a large net attached to the underside to catch falling chunks of the roadway. The steel is rusted out at many locations, the lights are not functioning in many areas, and there is a sudden and unsigned lane drop on the Northbound side. It's a shame that the big dig wasn't big enough to put this structure underground; not only would the roadway have been made safer, but also a major blight and barrier would have been removed from East Boston community.
FYI
The Big Dig did not put this section underground because it has nothing to do with an Interstate Highway. Route 1 is a state road.
The Big Dig reached beyond the Interstate highways
Most notably, it added a tunnel on Storrow Drive, under Leverett Circle, which wasn't there before.
Technical Solution
Seems like the 'low-bridge / storrowing' problem could have a reasonably low-cost technical / electronic solution -- rather than detailing police officers to guard locations or hanging something above a roadway.
How about some form of a 'beam breaker' system, analogous to the old fashioned at the entry point to stores? The 'beam' could be from a modern infrared or ultraviolet device (not visible to the human eye). The beam would shine across the roadway, at a height of an inch or two below the bridge clearance.
Breaking the beam would trigger an 'annunciator' system. It could involve lights, sound, or both (vocabulary TBD).
I'd bet this problem could be solved by a local engineering professor (and his/her students, of course). With a proven design, the production is generally low cost.
MAYBE Boston could make some money selling the units to other cities.
Already exists. Drive the
Already exists. Drive the merrit parkway and you will find your idea in use.
The MDC even tried this!
Yes. the old Metropolitan District Commission installed something like this on some of the parkways, notably Storrow/Soldiers Field, many years ago. Couldn't keep it maintained.
or
Why do you need to get that technical? Why not something relatively indestructible which hangs at the height of the bridge, which will give the driver a loud, and much less-damaging preview of what will happen if they enter said path? Having a truck back out is a lot better than having a truck stuck.
East Boston trucks
A few Jersey barriers placed strategically under the bridge will cause the trucks to take a wider left turn onto the 1A ramp, thereby avoiding the underside of the bridge
Google streetview
Shows some already in place. Apparently they didn't stop this head-butt.
And back in Islington
Persistent, I must say.
Did he make it through, or did he back out? We'll never know.