Interstate 90 (Massachusetts)

The Mass Pike is a toll road; it costs $5.10 for a Class 1 passenger vehicle to travel east from Exit 1 (Route 41), in West Stockbridge, to Logan Airport, in Boston. From Exit 1, in West Stockbridge, to Exit 14/15 (Route 128 / I-95), in Weston, the Mass Pike is a closed-system toll road, using long-distance tickets obtained once by a motorist on entrance, and surrendered on exit, at toll gates. The toll gates exist at all exits and entrances from Exit 1 to Exit 14/15. From Exit 14/15 to its eastern end, in East Boston, the Mass Pike is an open-system toll road. There are toll plazas at Exit 18/19/20 in Allston, Massachusetts, in both mainline directions and on the interchange ramps. There also is a toll plaza on the mainline at the westbound entrance to the Ted Williams Tunnel, in East Boston. Exits 16, 17, and 21–26 have no toll plazas on their ramps.

Toll plazas on the interchange ramps at Exit 16 were removed in 1996 at the direction of then Governor William Weld.

After protests from Western Massachusetts residents that their toll money was funding the Big Dig, a Boston highway project, tolls were removed on a western portion of the freeway in July 1996: no toll is charged for passenger-vehicle travel between Springfield (Exit 6, Interstate 291) and the New York (Exit 1, West Stockbridge) border in either direction.

Travel between exits 16 and 17, both in Newton, is a "free movement": no toll is charged for travel between these two exits. At exit 16, traffic can enter the Turnpike only eastbound and may exit from the Turnpike only westbound.

Motorists can pay tolls to toll-booth personnel or use the Fast Lane electronic toll-collection system, whereby transponders installed in the cars (typically on the inner windshields) are recognized automatically in special lanes at the toll plazas, the toll amounts then being withdrawn from the motorists' accounts. Fast Lane is compatible with the E-ZPass electronic toll-collection system, which is used throughout the United States.

The Ted Williams Tunnel has a toll only in the westbound direction. The outbound (West) trip from Logan Airport costs $3.50.

History

Plans for the Turnpike date back to at least 1948, when the Western Expressway was being planned. The original section would have connected Boston's Inner Belt to Newton with connections with US 20 and Route 30 for traffic continuing west. Later extensions would take the road to and beyond Worcester. From the beginning, the corridor was included in federal plans for the Interstate Highway System, stretching west to the New York state line and beyond to Albany.

Also included in the route was the planned Springfield Bypass, which had been proposed to provide a bypass of US 20 in the Springfield area. Part of this route (and that of the eventual Turnpike) used the grading from the never-opened Hampden Railroad. Similarly, the West Stockbridge Bypass provided a new route of Route 102 from Route 183 in Stockbridge west to Route 102 just east of the state line in West Stockbridge; this latter route was built prior to the Turnpike.

The Massachusetts Turnpike Authority was created in 1952 by a special act of the Massachusetts General Court (legislature) upon the recommendation of Governor Dever and his Commissioner of Public Works, William F. Callahan. (1952 Acts and Resolves chapter 354; 1952 Senate Doc. 1.) The enabling act was modeled upon that of the Mystic River Bridge Authority (1946 Acts and Resolves chapter 562), but several changes were made that would prove of great importance fifty years later. Callahan served as chairman of the Authority until his death in April, 1964.

When the attorneys were searching land titles along the proposed route, they discovered that sections of the original land had been granted by the King of England to some of the landowner's ancestors. Construction began in 1955, and the whole four-lane road from Route 102 at the state line to Route 128 in Weston opened on May 15, 1957. The Berkshire Thruway opened on May 26, 1959, connecting the west end to the New York State Thruway mainline south of Albany. Prior to its opening, traffic used Route 22 and US 20 in New York. At the Massachusetts/New York state line, one can see where the Turnpike made an abrupt right turn before terminating at Route 102, as the old pavement still exists for Turnpike Authority and State Police vehicles to access this remote stretch of highway.

After political and legal battles related to the Boston Extension inside Route 128, construction began on March 5, 1962, with the chosen alignment running next to the Boston and Albany Railroad and reducing that line to two tracks. In September 1964 the part from Route 128 east to exit 18 (Allston) opened, and the rest was finished on February 18, 1965, taking it to the Central Artery.

The Interstate 90 label was assigned to the Turnpike in 1959 with the completion of plans for the Interstate Highway System. Early proposals took I-90 across the northern part of the state, along Route 2, but this was rejected as too costly. With the completion of the Boston Extension, that too was designated as I-90.

In 1991, construction began on the extension of the Mass Pike to Logan Airport, via the Ted Williams Tunnel as part of the Big Dig "mega" project. The final extension opened in 2003; the eastern end of I-90 now merges into Route 1A.

Controversies

MTA Board firings

Since 2001, the Turnpike Authority had come under fire from state politicians in a fight for control of the quasi-state agency. Beginning in 2001, former Massachusetts acting governor Jane Swift (R) attempted to fire Christy Mihos, a former Turnpike board member and Jordan Levy, the current Vice Chairman of the board.

Mihos and Levy had cast votes on the board to postpone a toll hike. Swift objected, saying such a delay was "fiscally irresponsible” and saying the two men "interfered with the effective daily management of the Authority."^[3] Mihos and Levy refused to step down and sued Swift to retain their positions. The Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court (SJC) ruled that the Turnpike was "not part of the machinery of the government" and therefore not subject to Swift’s decisions.^[4]

Proposed MTA/MassHighway merger

Gov. Mitt Romney (R), elected in 2002 during a fiscal crisis, ran on a platform of streamlining state government and eliminating waste. Part of this was the elimination of the Turnpike Authority. Gov. Romney wanted to fold the Turnpike into MassHighway, the state highway department, operated under the Executive Office of Transportation. A first step to this was to replace the Chairman of the Board, Matthew J. Amorello with someone loyal to the governor. The governor has the power to appoint members to the board, but the SJC advised in an Amicus brief that "nothing in G. L. c. 81A explicitly provides for the removal and reassignment of the chairperson to the position of "member."^[5]^[6]

The governor took the case to the court of the public opinion and put enormous pressure on Mr. Amorello to step down. Mr. Amorello announced he would do so in 2007, after Gov. Romney would have left office. Gov. Romney continued to press the legislature to give him the power to remove members from the board, specifically the chairman, pointing to a series of financial and construction mishaps over the last several years. However, the legislature instead sought to keep Mr. Amorello on board by extending the terms of various board members to prevent Gov. Romney from removing Mr. Amorello.^[7]

I-90 connector ceiling collapse

In response to a fatality caused by the collapse of the ceiling of the eastbound I-90 connector tunnel approaching the Ted Williams Tunnel on July 10, 2006, and in response to Mr. Amorello's refusal (at the time) to resign, Gov. Romney took legal steps to have Mr. Amorello forcibly removed as head of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority,^[8] culminating in Mr. Amorello's resignation on August 15, 2006. The next day, John Cogliano was sworn in as the new Chairman of the Turnpike Authority by Gov. Romney.^[9]

Toll removal

On October 18, 2006, the Turnpike board voted to remove all tolls west of the 128 toll plaza in response to a recommendation^[11] made by Eric Kriss, a former fiscal adviser to the governor, whom Gov. Romney asked to review the Turnpike situation following the July 2006 tunnel ceiling collapse.

On October 19, 2006 members of the Massachusetts Legislature Transportation Committee were quoted in The Boston Globe as saying that the governor's actions may require state law to be amended for the toll removal to happen. In addition, questions have been raised in regard to how the State would fund the maintenance of the Turnpike after the removal of the tolls.

The issue of the removal of the tolls is highly charged politically. Several members of the state Democratic Party declared this as a political maneuver to bolster the gubernatorial campaign of Republican Lt. Governor Kerry Healy (R), who was behind in the polls at the time of the announcement. Also, because the MTA Board is composed of appointees of Gov. Romney, Mr. Kriss's former association with the Gov. Romney Administration and the ongoing election at the time, the issue was clouded by accusations of partiality and political agendas from both sides of the aisle.

In the November 9, 2006 edition of The Boston Globe, Gov. Romney announced his intention to try to remove the tolls before Governor-elect Deval Patrick (D) was inaugurated in January 2007.

On December 20, 2006, Gov. Patrick said he would oppose the removal of tolls on the portion of I-90 west of route 128, throwing into doubt the toll removal plan.

Turnpike Authority funding and jurisdiction

The Turnpike Authority also owns the Callahan Tunnel and Sumner Tunnel, the other two road connections between downtown Boston and East Boston under Boston Harbor.^[12] Upon completion of the project, all Big Dig tunnels were transferred to its control.^[13]

The Authority receives no state or federal government funding. Its revenues come from tolls, leases on air rights and service areas, and advertising.^[14]

Air rights

The MTA has leased the air space over the highway, these are the current structures that have been constructed or are planned:^[15]

Exit list

The Massachusetts Turnpike uses a system of sequential exit numbered interchanges. Since the time that the interchanges were originally numbered, more have been added, leading to situations like Exit 11, which is a minor state route, and 11A, which is a major Interstate Highway 10 miles away.

Also, near Boston, some of the interchanges are solely onramps and are not signed as exits, so, for instance, there is no "Exit 21" signed.

Toll ticket colors

Toll tickets obtained by motorists traveling on the Mass Pike are color-coded based on the interchange where the motorist entered the Pike. In addition to the black stripe on the back which is read by a magnetic reader, this color coding allows rapid identification by the toll collector, expediting the process of toll collection.

Service areas

There are 11 service areas (plazas) on the Massachusetts Turnpike, named for the towns in which they are located. Each plaza offers Gulf gas stations and Gulf Express convenience stores. Most offer McDonald's restaurants, with two plazas (Ludlow WB and Westboro WB) having Boston Market and D'Angelo as the main food offerings. Some plazas also have secondary food such as Auntie Anne's pretzels, Ben & Jerry's ice cream, Papa Gino's pizza, and Fresh City restaurants.

A weigh station is located on the eastbound side of the turnpike in Charlton between exits 9 and 10.

The Mass Pike in song and popular culture

References

^ "MTA - Toll Mileage Calculator". Massachusetts Turnpike Authority. Retrieved on 2007-03-15.
^ Massachusetts Turnpike Authority News Release, 2007-12-28.
^ "JORDAN LEVY & another vs. THE ACTING GOVERNOR & another" (19 November 2001). Retrieved on 2007-07-13.
^ "JORDAN LEVY & another vs. THE ACTING GOVERNOR & another SJC-08730" (7 May 2002). Retrieved on 2007-07-02.
^ "ANSWER OF THE JUSTICES TO THE GOVERNOR." (29 June 2005). Retrieved on 2007-07-02.
^ "REQUEST FOR ADVISORY OPINION, A-108 SJC-09461" (29 June 2005). Retrieved on 2007-07-02.
^ Murphy, Sean P. (2006-06-02). "Budget amendment in Senate would let Amorello keep job". The Boston Globe.
^ Lehigh, Scot (2006-07-14). "Amorello, now adrift". The Boston Globe.
^ Cogliano Sworn In as New Turnpike Chief, WCVB TV, [[August 16, 2006
^ "Mass. to sue Big Dig firms over tunnel accident, Reuters, 2006-11-27".
^ "upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/en/6/64/Turnpike_Taskforce_Report.pdf" (PDF).
^ http://www.state.ma.us/eot/downloads/planning/dataResources/Jurisdiction-Distric t4.pdf
^ "MTA - About Us".
^ "MTA - About Us".
^ "The Future of Boston". Boston.com. Retrieved on 2007-11-28.
^ Casey Ross (2008-09-19). "Developer hopes for a hit at Fenway", The Boston Globe, pp. C1, C6. Retrieved on 2008-09-20.
^ "media.www.dailyfreepress.com/media/storage/paper87/news/2008/05/01/News/Bu.Says.Campus.Future.Is.Up.In.The.Air-3361027.shtml".
^ "'Sweet Baby James' lyrics - James Taylor - song lyrics".

Contents

Tolls