Thursday, 4:30 PM
New U-turn ramp on Pike closes after crash
By Noah Bierman, Globe Staff
The U-turn lane on the Massachusetts Turnpike at the Allston-Brighton tolls – which just opened Saturday – was severely damaged last night when a tractor-trailer smashed into it because the driver could not handle the sharp curve.
The crash just before midnight closed the lane to traffic this morning after the truck, which blew two tires, destroyed 50 feet of the guardrail. The lane reopened a little after noon.
The truck driver was not supposed to be using the $1.6 million ramp, said Mac Daniel, spokesman for the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority. The lane is only open to taxicabs and commercial vehicles with three axles.
Eric Lamarque, 26, of Quebec, Canada, was charged with using the lane illegally, an illegal U-turn, and hauling a trailer without registration, Daniel said.
The lane is designed to allow commercial traffic to flow from the Back Bay to South Boston and the airport without using city streets.
Officials had originally planned to delay opening the ramp until January, when a systemwide toll increase is scheduled to take effect. They said they did not want to have to set tolls for the ramp, only to raise them in a few months.
But after the Globe published a story about the artificial delay, the authority received complaints from the public and agreed to open it earlier.
Daniel said the crash does not signify a design flaw: The road is not supposed to carry long tractor-trailers and the driver tried to make too tight of a turn.
Daniel said there is concern at the Turnpike that unauthorized vehicles will try to use the lane. A police officer is assigned to monitor the lane until 11 every night.
New roads are always under evaluation during their first few months of operation. Daniel said it is too soon to decide whether there will be adjustments on the ramp.
