Uncorking the bottlenecks

State to ease tie-ups on Route 2 with $124m makeover

Crosby's Corner in Concord and Lincoln, where traffic backs up during rush hour, will be redesigned as part of the Route 2 improvement project. The Concord Rotary will also change. (David Kamerman/Globe Staff)

Route 2, the east-west state roadway connecting the Berkshires to Boston's Back Bay, is about to be significantly improved, especially in the section flooded every rush hour with Boston-area commuters.

Bridges will be replaced, pavement will be resurfaced, but, most importantly, two major chokepoints - the Concord Rotary and Crosby's Corner in Concord and Lincoln - will be completely redesigned for better traffic flow. All told, these improvements along about 25 miles of road from Arlington to Harvard will cost an estimated $124 million and help speed the commute for thousands of area residents.

But don't expect a complete makeover. There is no overarching plan to change the eclectic highway at its core, said Adam Hurtubise, a spokesman for the state's Executive Office of Transportation and Public Works.

Traffic flow may improve, but Route 2 will remain a mix of limited-access highway and open road where intersections and traffic lights slow the daily drive. It will still be a viable alternative to the Massachusetts Turnpike and other east-west thoroughfares. But it will continue to be a tough slog as it winds through its many constituents, such as the town of Concord and its infamous roundabout.

"It is a bit of an obstacle course," said Leo Blair, chairman of the Board of Selectmen in Harvard. "We do have a lot of folks that commute to Boston every day, and there is no good time of day to hit that rotary."

The 13 improvement projects planned over the next six years are partly regular maintenance work on the highway - like resurfacings and sign replacements - and partly the fruit of longstanding public complaints about the traffic congestion, Hurtubise said. The Concord Rotary and, to a lesser extent, Crosby's Corner are the typical scapegoats for the traffic flow problems, and they are the focus of the Massachusetts Highway Department's plans.

Route 2, which begins outside Boston Common and cuts diagonally northwest across the state toward Williamstown and Taconic State Park before exiting into New York, was originally part of the New England Interstate Highway System developed in the 1920s.

Its 152 miles used to be called Highway 7, but are now part of Route 2, Route 2A, and Route 43. Even today, there's no mistaking the fact that Route 2 was developed in sections, rather than as one cohesive roadway.

In Boston and Cambridge, it runs with the regular city streets. Once in Arlington and Lexington, it becomes a limited-access highway, with eight, six, or four lanes at times and as many as 75,300 motorists driving on it daily.

The din has become a part of life in these suburbs.

"We get very few complaints about the traffic," said Carl Valente, Lexington town manager. "From time to time, we get complaints about noise from [occupants of] the homes that abut it and see the protection walls that other areas have."

Passing through Lincoln and into Concord, Route 2 becomes a four-lane highway carrying 46,000 motorists a day while varying between divided and undivided sections, with traffic lights and the maligned Crosby's Corner and Concord Rotary. Beyond the rotary, it fluctuates again from a four-lane highway with some open access to a full-fledged freeway farther west, before puttering down to two lanes and then a scenic path through the Berkshire Mountains before exiting to New York near Vermont.

Along the way, the thoroughfare switches identities, picking up names like the Cambridge Turnpike, Concord Turnpike, Mohawk Trail, Union Turnpike, George Stanton Highway, French King Highway, and Taconic Trail.

Despite its heavy load and variable conditions, the eastern part of Route 2 has been remarkably safe for motorists, according to recent data. Only two of its intersections between Arlington and Harvard made MassHighway's top 200 list for highest incidents of crashes, according to the July 2008 study of 2004-06 data.

The junction of Route 2 and Route 62 in Concord was number 37 on the list with 66 crashes, including 28 with injuries, none fatal. The intersection of Route 2 and Bedford Road in Lincoln was number 174 with 41 crashes, including 12 with non-fatal injuries.

But there is grousing up and down the stretch, mostly about traffic congestion, with the main focus of ire being the Concord Rotary. The roundabout within a stone's throw from the Massachusetts Correctional Institute, the State Police barracks, and the Northeastern Correctional Center whirls 61,000 motorists per day from routes 2, 2A, and 119 and sees long approach backups.

"The real issue is traffic flow for the morning and afternoon commutes," said Steve Ledoux, Acton's town manager. "We have a lot of commuters cutting through [Acton] to avoid the rotary, and that creates traffic backups elsewhere in town."

If MassHighway's road and bridge program isn't affected by budget cuts forced by the state fiscal crisis - and it shouldn't be, Hurtubise said - the $20 million replacement of the Concord Rotary will begin in 2013. The final design is still being determined among three proposals, but it's decided that Route 2 will remain at ground level while the cross streets will use an overpass, to eliminate backups.

Meanwhile, Crosby's Corner, which forces Route 2 motorists to make a sharp right or left turn at the Concord-Lincoln town line, will be gone earlier than the rotary. That $72 million project is scheduled to begin next year and will require construction of service roads parallel to Route 2 to handle local traffic as a bridge is built to improve safety and provide for better access for motorists.

The other projects in the $124 million package include the replacement of the bridge over the Sudbury River and rehabilitation of the bridge over Route 128. The rest of the package calls for upgrading the roadway through repaving and sign replacements, making Route 2 a smoother, clearer ride - albeit, still congested at rush hour.

The town of Concord is perhaps most affected by the traffic flow problems on Route 2.

"It really bisects the town in a big way," Christopher Whelan, Concord town manager, said. "We are overrun with commuters running through town."

Whelan said MassHighway should consider building service roads in Concord after completing the planned improvements, to cut down on the number of cross streets and traffic lights that slow down Route 2 traffic. The Concord stretch of Route 2, however, can never be a limited-access highway, like it is in Lexington, he said.

In the 1970s, MassHighway was buying up property in the town to build flyovers and interchanges for the roads that intersect Route 2, so it could be turned into a freeway. But local residents resisted the plan, and the agency sold most of the holdings to private buyers. To resurrect the plan now, MassHighway would have to buy back all that land - a pipe dream, given the current fiscal climate.

"I don't think Concord has thought about that in 25 to 30 years," Whelan said. "There are private homes and businesses located in those areas where the state would need to develop."

Brad Kane can be reached at brad.j.kane@gmail.com.