Thursday, 4:30 PM
Traffic moves with ease on the first day of school
By Andrew Ryan, Globe Correspondent
Traffic flowed smoothly this morning on most major roads as the congestion never materialized that officials had feared could grip the city with continued Big Dig detours on the first day of school.
"In a word, traffic this morning has been 'uneventful,'" said Cindy Campbell, of Smart Route Systems, a traffic monitoring firm in Cambridge. "There's nothing out of the ordinary today at all. It is actually lighter than normal."
In Boston alone, the first day of school brings more than 500 buses onto roads as 60,000 public school students return to classes. Officials had feared that the spike in traffic from the buses and parents driving their children on the first day could jam roads with continued closures from the fatal collapse of the Interstate 90 connector tunnel in July.
For the past month, officials have been urging people to take public transit and stagger commute times. They attributed the relatively smooth flow of traffic earlier in the week to those warnings and to a month of preparation, as well as additional service on the commuter rail, subway, and ferries.
On July 10, several ceiling tiles cascaded into the Interstate 90 connector tunnel in South Boston and killed Milena Del Valle, 38, who was being driven to Logan International Airport by her husband. The main route to the airport from the city was shut to traffic for more than a month after the accident.
This morning there were pockets of normal congestion and scattered accidents, but nothing significant. Campbell attributed the light volume to some people heeding warnings from officials and taking public transportation or staggering their commuting times. The first week in September is also still a vacation week, Campbell said, which also may have eased congestion this morning.
"I think next week it will be heavier, but we're not expecting gridlock," Campbell said. "I think next week will really be the test."
