New Logan exit expected to ease Expressway commute
Traffic to airport can now bypass downtown Boston
By Peter DeMarco, Globe Correspondent, 1/26/2003
With South Shore commuters now able to bypass downtown Boston on their way to Logan Airport thanks to the latest Big Dig ramp opening, who could blame North End pastry shop manager Claudio Midiri for being a little depressed?
After all, with the opening of Exit 20 on the Southeast Expressway yesterday, coupled with last weekend's unveiling of the Interstate 90 connector tunnel, thousands and thousands of cannoli lovers will no longer need to use the North End's Callahan Tunnel to reach the airport.
But these days, with splashy new tunnel openings causing reports of record-breaking commutes, the Big Dig is on a roll, and even Midiri couldn't find fault with the city's ever-changing driving landscape.
"Actually, we might catch some more business now," he said hopefully. "There will be less traffic to fight, and people will at last be able to get here."
Exit 20, located on the expressway north, just past Exit 18 (Mass. Ave./Roxbury/Frontage Road), was opened to traffic at about 2:30 a.m. yesterday, officials said. Drivers can use the exit to reach either South Boston's Congress Street or the Ted Williams Tunnel, which leads directly to Logan International Airport and Route 1A.
During tomorrow's morning commute, the exit is expected to siphon an additional 200 vehicles per hour from the expressway, thereby reducing traffic on the Central Artery. But the main beneficiaries of the new ramp will be South Shore commuters heading toward the airport or the North Shore.
Though traffic was light yesterday, the exit ramp, which rises onto an elevated roadway before plunging underground, opened to mostly rave reviews.
"Fifteen minutes door-to-door from Milton to the airport. Absolutely seamless," said Lewis Surdam, who was taking a flight to Buffalo from Logan yesterday.
"We could have stayed home for another 45 minutes," said his wife, Toni. "Now we have to wait it out here."
At Suffolk Downs on Route 1A, a Brockton couple who declined to give their names said they ventured to the racetrack more or less as an excuse to use the new exit ramp. "I'm a truck driver for the Big Dig," said the husband. "After four years of hauling dirt out of that tunnel, I wanted to see some results."
There were minor complaints. Some drivers said the exit's new road signs will take some getting used to. Boston resident Michael Wilt, who called the Globe with his review of the Big Dig's latest achievement, thought the exit ramp's pavement was "very wavy . . . almost worse than driving on Route 93."
With the opening of the new exit ramp, officials expect to close down Exit 24 leading to the Callahan Tunnel this Wednesday at 8 p.m. From that point on, drivers heading northbound on I-93, unless they exit onto Atlantic Avenue, will only be able to access Logan Airport via Exit 20 and the Ted Williams Tunnel.
"Exit 20 is going to be their new permanent entrance to South Boston, Logan, and points north. This is truly a bypass," said Sean O'Neill, spokesman for the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority.
Meanwhile, those returning from Route 1A or the airport toward the South Shore will need to use the Sumner Tunnel for at least another year until a new westbound tunnel leading to the Expressway south opens. For the next two weeks, radio frequencies within the tunnel will automatically be switched to an announcment reminding drivers to use the Sumner when returning home.
As is the case with the Callahan Tunnel, there is no toll for northbound connector tunnel trips.
This story ran on page B2 of the Boston Globe on 1/26/2003.
© Copyright 2003 Globe Newspaper Company.
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