Results tagged “masspike”

The Boston Herald reports that the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority's insurer, Ambac Financial Group, just had its credit downgraded, which might spell trouble for the Pike. Early this year, UBS, a Swiss financial company, demanded a $400 million payment from the Pike, "but eventually backed off because the credit rating of the Pike’s insurer." The lower rating might mean a renewed demand for the payment and an immediate financial crisis at the Turnpike, which just delayed a vote on a toll hike. [Herald]

-- Police have made a second arrest in connection with the May 18 shooting of Justin Cosby outside of a Harvard dorm. Blayn Jiggetts, a 19-year-old New Yorker, was arrested in Harlem yesterday just before midnight. Jiggetts joins Jabrai Jordan Copney, also of New York, in prison for the crime, which police say was a "botched 'drug rip'" that left Cosby dead from a gunshot to the gut and $1,000 cash and a bag of marijuana laying nearby. Police still seek a third suspect. [Globe]

The MBTA unveiled a new budget for 2010 this morning that cuts wages by $130 million, effectively eliminating 1,200 of its 6,000 jobs, reports WBUR. (No estimate was given regarding the percentage of bad drivers who would be among the layoffs.)

There is not a person among us who has not endured a rant about how SUV owners should pay an extra tax for the damage that their gas-guzzling, road wrecking, child endangering, shameful monstrosity of a vehicle does to the rest of us. Some of us might have even been the perpetrators of such a rant. But could the idea actually come to pass?

Those of us who don't drive may not care, but the automobile aficionados among us are certainly interested in the issue of toll hikes on the pike. (Personally, we like the Universal Hub solution: sponsorship.) The financially troubled Turnpike Authority will be holding a series of public hearings on the topic in the coming weeks to allow citizens to voice their opinions on the matter. The schedule is as follows:

Deval Patrick wrote an op-ed in the Globe yesterday about reforming Massachusetts transportation. He advocated consolidation and system-wide planning, and emphasized multi-modal transportation. Proposing an elimination of the Turnpike Authority, Patrick outlined a plan to turn over roads that go to Logan and the South Boston Seaport (including Mass Pike east of route 128) to Massport, while the Highway Department would take over the turnpike west of 128. Tolls will be eliminated on the western pike as well, as these funds cannot be used to fund the Big Dig. Other tolls will be implemented to help pay for construction and upkeep. In general, Patrick's plan focused on tolls and roads, not the T.

MassDebate presents opposing sides of a controversial local issue. If you have a hot-button topic you'd like to see us cover, or if you want to represent your view on a subject under debate, email us at tips at bostonist dot com. Bostonist does not endorse any opinions expressed in MassDebate.

The pensions are enabled by a 1945 law that ensures higher payouts for those who have worked for at least 20 years or whose positions are eliminated. The law was originally intended to protect workers, but now it seems to be costing taxpayers and benefiting already-wealthy middle managers who are working new jobs while receiving pensions from the state.

In addition to Fannie and Freddie's mortgage meltdown, there are other real estate problems going on in Boston: the Turnpike doesn't has the money to fulfill its duties, and can't take advantage of its real estate, either. The pike has a $100 million budget deficit, and Big Dig payments are coming due, but it doesn't look like it'll be able to take advantage of its prime real estate anytime soon. Theoretically, it should be possible to get big bucks for building above Turnpike property, but poor handling of past real estate decisions and the current market crisis (not to mention the expense of building above ground) are making it tough for officials to take advantage. Instead, they'll be raising tolls to pay the bills. One dime at a time!

Some Mass Pike toll takers allegedly thought they could get rich by skimming some of your grubby quarters. The Suffolk County DA's office announced that 10 people were charged for misclassifying cars that went through the toll and pocketing the difference. Here's the full scoop on their clever schemes:

--So NOW Sal DiMasi wants to strike a deal on gambling? Guess we've learned one thing during the recent DiMasi stories. What happens in the State House stays in the State House. [Boston Herald]

--The Turnpike Authority is giving you a choice: Bitch about traffic during the day while they do roadwork, or pay up for it if it gets done at night. [WBZ]

--Total commuter hell broke out today with a tractor rollover that blocked the Mass Pike, along with dodginess on the Blue Line that left, according to one individual, "hundreds of people" stranded at the Airport T stop. [WHDH, b0st0n LiveJournal]

--The thought of Massachusetts drivers plus a U-Turn that's open to the public makes us skittish. [WBZ]

This is a story tailor-made for the Herald: The Mass Pike has changed a long-standing but secretive policy that allowed toll collectors to carry .38-caliber handguns. The union that represents these workers plans to oppose the rule change, saying they need the weapons for protection when transporting toll money away from the booths.

The MetroWest Daily News shed some light on the Turnpike Authority Board yesterday. The following line says it all:

Good to know Bostonist isn't the only one who gets nervous driving under the Shaw's in Newton that appears to balance precariously over the Mass Pike. Oh, and through the Prudential Tunnel. And through pretty much any tunnel in this city. The Globe reports today that private businesses are responsible for maintenance of the piece of tunnel that passes under their building.

In snowy weather like this, complaints about icy roads or snowpiles are normal. But you know the weather is bad when the snow is so heavy that it collapses the roof of a Rite-Aid.

With Thanksgiving and the holiday season approaching, the time has come to focus on travel options. Vamoose buses now offer WiFi access and guaranteed seating, but perhaps it is time to take another look at its oft-maligned competitor, the Fung Wah Bus. Established ten years ago, Fung Wah, which is Cantonese for “magnificent wind,” has gained notoriety for buses slamming into guard rails and getting stuck in a toll booth. But even with these occasional...

- Two men are on the lam after an attempted carjacking in broad daylight on the Mass Pike. The suspects jumped into the back seat of a car waiting in line for the Allston-Brighton toll. When they arrived at the booth the driver alerted the attendant to the carjacking while being "pistol-whipped" with a handgun. The car hit another and then stopped, at which time the two men fled and have yet to be...

From the DA's Office: A man was arrested for attempting to kidnap a Los Angeles woman who was walking her bike in Allston early this morning. At about 3:00 am, 25-year-old Bruce Saidi, of Chelsea, and an unknown accomplice, who is still at large, grabbed the woman and held a knife to her throat. Saidi held her head down while the other guy took the bike, and the two forced her over the footbridge over...

Is this how a porn star is welcomed in Boston? A drunk driver swerved in front of Ron Jeremy's tour bus as he and his friends with the Porn Debate were leaving town early Saturday after holding their Porn Debate at the Middle East. Luckily, no one got hurt, but Ron Jeremy and his posse were rattled. Jeremy, anti-porn activist and self-described "porn pastor" Craig Gross, and members of the Porn Debate tour crew...

If your residence is as close as Bostonist's is to the Pike you're in luck if you also like casino gaming. Of course, you can get to Mohegan Sun by hopping off 395 and hitting some lesser travelled byways for a short jaunt to their front door – but if the Mohegan Sun ownership has anything to do with it you'll soon be able to hit the pike and just get off at the Palmer...

Bostonist was walking past the hustle and bustle of Fenway Park on Friday afternoon when we finally identified that nagging feeling that had been with us ever since the Park Street station. We had seen more Baltimore Orioles jerseys, hats and T-shirts in an hour than we saw all day when we traveled to Camden Yards last season! What was going on? Everyone knows that the orange-accented Baltimore ballpark is known fondly in Red Sox...

The Globe calls it Highway Blogging. Operation Over calls it effective. Yesterday the collective calling themselves Operation Over, working to stop a new BU biolab from opening its doors in Roxbury tossed bed sheet banners to display their message on 128 and the Mass Pike. They're looking to get their message out to a larger community, including the suburbs. Threatening situations like the spread of Ebola in the Hub – or even smallpox – has been the battle cry of the group. The Globe took to calling the road-banner activists "Highway Bloggers" without mention of the Operation Over initiative (fair - they only blogged about it on the tubes after the Globe's press time). Instead, the overpass-as-podium piece focused mainly on a Rhode Islander, a California resident, and a bit on Bruce MacDonald, a Cambridge lawyer. But we're not faulting them for the focus, they found a few folks who were willing to talk. The term "Highway Blogger" (or Freeway Blogger, as it was originally coined in California – land o' freeways), is a poor term. We're pretty sure that blog is a shortened version of 'web log' and the abbreviation and origin of the term has a handful of people laying claim to it – but it has nothing to do with banners on highways. That said it'd be really great if Mac Daniel would start blogging Starts & Stops by displaying slogan adorned bed sheets off overpasses…now, what rhymes with Amorello?

Poor Mitt Romney, stymied at every turn. Last week, the Supreme Judicial Court refused to tell him whether he could legally demote Mass Pike chairman Matthew Amorello, and this morning we learn that there are even more leaks and defects in the Big Dig than previously thought (Bostonist can imagine Mitt inside the Statehouse, shaking his fist at one of the east-facing windows that looks down Ashburton Place toward the John Adams Courthouse). Worse still, state lawmakers yesterday approved a law allowing distribution of the morning-after pill without a prescription, and Mitt must now sign or veto it, forcing him to take a stand that will hurt him either in the 2006 state election (if he nixes it) or the 2008 national election (if he lets it ride). And to rub salt in his wounds, conservative groups aren't even bothering to mobilize opposition to Mitt's nomination to the Supreme Court (despite Bostonist's firm belief that he would be a wise pick for W.). With all this and the gloomy weather, Bostonist can only hope that the Governor isn't doing what we would be doing right now if we were in his shoes.