Preparations begin to widen Route 128

The state has begun preparations for a 5-mile widening project of Route 128 from Randolph to Dedham as part of a $48.5 million reconstruction, officials said this week. Traffic will not be disrupted during the early stages. Significant construction is set to begin in spring 2009 and continue until summer 2011. Patrick administration officials said the addition of an extra lane in each direction, for a total of eight lanes, will ease congestion on the well-traveled road. The work will be done in conjunction with several bridge replacement projects, including the Neponset River Bridge, the Amtrak/MBTA Bridge, and the University Avenue Bridge.

The federal government said $5 million in disaster aid is available to the shellfishing industry in Maine, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire after this year's red tide outbreak. Shellfishing areas were shut down along the New England coast after the toxic algae bloom started in May off Massachusetts and spread north. Eating shellfish with high levels of the toxin can cause potentially lethal paralytic shellfish poisoning. The National Marine Fisheries Service said yesterday that Maine and Massachusetts are eligible for up to $2 million each in aid, while New Hampshire is eligible for up to $1 million. (AP)

Almost a quarter of state representatives have signed on to legislation to block toll increases by the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority. The legislation - filed yesterday by Representative Steven M. Walsh, a Lynn Democrat - would strip the power of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority to set toll rates. The authority's board of directors gave tentative approval last week for large toll increases, but the plan won't become final until February or March, after a series of public hearings and a second vote. The legislation - cosponsored by 36 lawmakers, mostly from Boston's western and northern suburbs - would prevent any changes in toll rates until Dec. 31, 2009, or until "comprehensive transportation reform legislation" is approved. The bill is unlikely to be taken up this year, but Walsh said he hopes to lay the groundwork for swift passage in early January.

A Weymouth man drove his pickup truck into the Charles River yesterday after he sneezed and lost control, State Police said. Andrew Hanson, 42, went off the road and down the embankment into the water off Soldiers Field Road near North Harvard Street in Boston, State Police Lieutenant Eric Anderson said. When State Police arrived, Hanson was sitting on the side of the road, at about 1:30 p.m. He was taken to Beth Israel Deaconess Medical Center with minor injuries, Anderson said. No charges have been filed, Anderson said. The State Police marine unit and dive team, Boston fire and emergency, and the Department of Recreation and Conservation responded.

A firefighter was injured late last night battling a two-alarm fire burning in a 2 1/2-story wood frame building on Nobscot Road. Fire crews called a second alarm shortly after 11 p.m., Jeremy Solomon, a city spokesman said. The injured firefighter reportedly fell through a floor that collapsed. The extent of the firefighter's injuries were unknown, and his name was not released. There were no reports of civilian injuries, Solomon said. The Newton Fire Department could not be reached for comment last night. A dispatcher at the Newton Police Department refused to comment.

Electricity was restored to much of Braintree yesterday after an outage left three-quarters of the town without power. The 45-minute outage affected about 8,400 power customers. The outage was caused by a National Grid contractor who was digging and struck one of the town's primary transition lines, said JoAnn Stak Bregnard, marketing and programming director for the Braintree Electric Light Division. Town officials were not aware that National Grid was digging in the area, Bregnard said. The outage occurred about 8:15 a.m., said Bob James, Braintree's director of emergency services.