Section of I-93 keeps drivers in the dark

It's a major commuter artery in and out of Boston from the north. So why then is a lengthy, often jam-packed stretch of Interstate 93 bathed in darkness every night, asks tipster John Walsh of South Boston.

"Most if not all of the road lights are not working between the Zakim Bridge north to exit 29 Somerville-Medford," writes Walsh in an e-mail to GlobeWatch. "This section of roadway is so poorly lit and marked it is a dangerous and scary place to drive late at night or early morning hours. My car broke down there several weeks ago at 5 a.m. and the AAA tow truck driver could barely locate me it was so dark. When or will these lights ever be fixed or replaced? This situation has been going on for years and never gets mentioned or fixed," Walsh writes.

During two visits last week by a Globe reporter to the section of the highway Walsh writes about, the problem appeared to be even greater than he described.

From just north of the Zakim Bridge, the roadway all the way up to exit 31 in Medford, a distance of just over 3 miles, was almost entirely dark because of nonworking street lights. Additionally, most of the on- and off-ramps were dark, except at exit 28 leading to Assembly Square in Somerville, where about half the lights worked.

MassHighway, which has control over the operation and maintenance of I-93, is aware of the lighting problem along the highway, said Adam Hurtubise, a spokesman for the state Executive Office of Transportation. "These lights will be replaced," he responded in an e-mail. "Of the lights that have gone out, most went out because water got into the system and either interfered with the electrical components, or the lights failed as a result of the freeze-thaw cycle," he said. There is a two-phased effort to replace street lights on I-93 that is about to get underway. "We opened construction bids for the portion of the highway running from the Boston City Line to Roosevelt Circle (Exit 33 in Medford). I will have more specific information once a contract is awarded," he said. "For the second phase, from Roosevelt Circle to Route 128, MassHighway has hired a designer" to redesign the approximately 50-year-old technology, he said. "Advertising for construction will proceed once the design is complete."

WHO'S IN CHARGE
Luisa M. Paiewonsky
Commissioner
MassHighway
10 Park Plaza, Suite 3170
Boston, MA 02116
617-973-7800