Thursday, 4:30 PM
Tunnel will not open at noon, staying closed “indefinitely”
By Mac Daniel, Globe Staff, and Andrew Ryan, Globe Correspondent | July 12, 2006
The east and westbound lanes of the Massachusetts Turnpike connector will remain closed "indefinitely" as crews and investigators probed the ceiling collapse that killed a Jamaica Plain woman Monday night.
Turnpike spokeswoman Mariellen Burns said a noontime opening of the tunnel "is not going to happen" and that Big Dig officials are not going to give a timeframe on the tunnel's opening. Big Dig officials plan to hold an 11 a.m. press conference to update their investigation and give the latest on the tunnel's future opening.
The morning commute went smoothly, with Interstate 93 southbound being the most congested as motorists are forced to use the Callahan Tunnel to access Route 1A north, East Boston and Logan International Airport.
"Route 93 southbound was the heaviest this morning but even that was better than yesterday," said Cindy Campbell, director of operations at SmartRoute Systems, Inc., the traffic monitoring firm.
"I think the reason for it was that people had plenty of time to change their routing...and I also think there's a percentage of people who decided to stay home or come in later or earlier," she said.
Attorney General Thomas F. Reilly appeared at CNN this morning, speaking under the headline, “Big Dig Debacle.”
“We will get to the bottom of this,” Reilly said. “We’ve been at this for a little more than 24 hours, and we’ve made progress.”
Reilly has vowed that “everything is on the table” in a negligent manslaughter probe he launched Tuesday. His said his office is scrutinizing the Turnpike Authority, contractors, designers and “anyone that’s signed off on this project.”
