What is your reaction to DNC road and rail closures?
In a move that is certain to create major headaches for Boston commuters, security officials have announced that Interstate 93 will be shut down in both directions for all four evenings of the Democratic National Convention in July, and North Station will be closed to all commuter rail and subway service. What is your reaction? Are these security precautions justified, or is the Secret Service going overboard? Do the benefits the convention will bring to the city make the inconveniences worthwhile?
Read the story: North Station, I-93 to be shut down during convention
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I think the Secret Service has gone overboard. The whole city and many, hundreds of thousands of residents of surrounding ones are going to be inconvenienced for what ? a handful of politicians and their friends ? They should have taken the Governors offer of setting up shop over at the new convention center in South Boston. Once again the many have to suffer for the benefit of a few.
Pat, Charlestown
Boot the *&%!@ Democratic convention ... NEVER!! Freedom of speech and of assembly is too important to let any threat of terrorist actions take away our Constitutional rights. Boston is where FREEDOM began and no terrorist or overzealous federal government can take it away!!! Instead, banish the morons in the Secret Service who are out to embarrass and punish Boston for hosting the convention. And for those who believe in conspiracy theories … are directed by the White House. They are totally inappropriate and nothing more than at best window dressing and false security measures. Closure of I93 and of North Station is not going to protect the citizens of Boston or convention goers from terrorists, but it is going to cause great harm to the citizens of this great city. And for the all the disruption these closures will make to the citizens of Boston, I ask ... what actual harm can be caused to the delegates in the Fleet Center by a bomb in a moving car or truck on I93 or even a bomb on a subway car or train!
Otis, Boston
So Jim thinks only rich people drive cars? Am I missing something here?
Hal, natick
I suggest that Mayor Menino and all the other politicians involved in the DNC try commuting from the North Shore area for five days in the summer. I doubt they would last one day taking public transportation. In today's Boston Herald US Rep. Michael Capuano suggests businesses "taking a week off." Is that with or without pay? jean melrose
jean, melrose, ma 02176
Is New York City going to close Penn Station during it's convention? Penn Station is under Madison Sq. Garden. Closing that would cause quite a huge disruption. From the looks of things at North Station, the trains don't seem to even go underneath the Fleet Center. Even though the Fleet Center was planned quite a few years ago, the whole idea was to be able to have political and other large conventions there. Maybe it was built in a bad location?
Dean, Waltham
The traffic into Boston is bad enough as it is. Closing 93 and North Station will cause complete chaos on the roads. Listen to Romney, move the convention to the new convention center and stop disrupting our lives. They say they will divert the trafic elsewhere, well sorry to inform you but 128, route 2, route 1, ect.. will be just as bad and so won't every other possible way into the city. This is not worth the inconvenience to the people who work or live in and around the city.
Kristen, Cambridge
NO! This is awful. Who ever made the decision to hold the DNC at the Fleet Center didn't look at the big picture. Closing the MAJOR highways and railways is a complete nightmare. There has got to be another way of solving this problem. Mitt was right.....we should have this in South Boston. We all have important lives here and they don't revolve around the DNC. Making our commute to work for one week completely horrible is not the right thing to do to the Bostians. The DNC shouldn't have been held in Boston until the city could accomodate an event of this size and nature. The least that could be done for us is ONLY closing the highways and railways after the evening commute.
Karen, Boston
Based on history, this makes sense. We always have the wrong people at the wrong time at the wrong price (Red Sox, Big Dig, Tolls, DNC). This is just another bad decision in a long line of bad decisions.
Glenn, Newburyport
It is an inconvenience, but I am excited Boston was chosen for the DNC, and think the security precautions are fair. As long as the wait for additional transportation is not too long! I am hoping the Northshore commuter rail will drop passengers off on the Orange Line, which makes for easy access to the other T lines at Haymarket, State, and Downtown Crossing. Plus, the last week of July is a time when many people take vacations or have summer hours of work, which makes for a less crowded commute.
Claire, Salem, MA
And the brilliant transportation and safety engineers are worrried about I-93 being 40 feet from the FleetCenter during the DNC ? What about during a "normal" event at the FleetCenter, such as a Celtics game or an Aerosmith concert. What prevents a truck bomb from taking out half the building then ?
Bob, Boston
