Big Dig closures hit drivers at night

Portions of the Big Dig regularly shut down to nighttime traffic earlier than the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority advertises, confusing some motorists and lengthening the traffic jams that now frequently tie up the city late at night, a Boston Globe review has found.

During a four-week period in July and August, a Globe correspondent drove the length of the Big Dig tunnels and nearby detours at night, monitoring closing times of some of the key ramps to and from Interstate 93 and the Mass. Pike in the downtown area. The reporter found that of 137 scheduled ramp closures, 51 of the shutdowns occurred earlier than scheduled.

On average, those early shutdowns occurred 33 minutes before the scheduled time, but some were longer. On July 19, access from Atlantic Avenue in downtown Boston to Interstate 93 northbound was closed off at least an hour and a half earlier than scheduled.

Several of the observed entrances to the Big Dig adhered closely to the advertised schedule, the Globe review found. They include onramps at Congress Street and at Essex Street to southbound I-93. Both consistently closed at or about the advertised time. The Haymarket onramp, near Faneuil Hall, regularly closed later than the posted time.

Still, commuters say the early shutdowns of the key entrance points to I-93 and Interstate 90 -- the major thoroughfares in and out of Boston -- complicate and extend their trips.

The Turnpike Authority, informed of the Globe's findings, declined to provide data reflecting how closely the Big Dig adheres to its published schedule. Mariellen Burns, director of communications for the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, said she was unsure whether such information is compiled.

''We know it is an incredible inconvenience to anyone who has to commute at that hour, but the work has to be done," Burns said. ''I know it is of little consolation, but we are sorry for the inconvenience."

But Burns stressed that the tunnel work -- which includes finishing ramp construction, sealing leaks, and moving wiring -- is urgent. Turnpike officials said in June that the nighttime work inside the tunnels -- and the shutdowns -- would continue until January.

The unpredictability of the closures has left some motorists furious, and has contributed to the frustration drivers feel about nighttime congestion around the Big Dig. Michael Perrone of Quincy, who drives through Boston regularly and faithfully checked the Big Dig closings schedule, recalled being trapped in traffic on the way home from his parents' home in Wakefield because access to the southbound tunnel was cut off early.

''I felt something akin to rage," he said.

Regarding the early shutdowns of portions of the Big Dig, Burns initially said project contractors might be to blame. Later, she said Big Dig officials themselves used their discretion to close portions of the project if traffic was light and the work was urgent.

The northbound and southbound tunnels are wide open to traffic during daylight hours. But almost every night, as workers seek to finish construction inside the tunnels, thousands of cars are diverted onto city streets and secondary roads, which become clogged with bumper-to-bumper traffic.

The ramps to and from the tunnels close sequentially, beginning at 8 p.m., and the 1.5-mile-long tunnels themselves are closed entirely by about 1 a.m., reopening before the morning rush hour.

Big Dig officials inform the public about what time the closings will occur through advisories on the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority website, and through notices to media outlets, including the Globe, which prints them in the Sunday Starts & Stops column. The notices are also sent to traffic advisory services, such as SmarTraveler, Metro Networks and the Turnpike's Authority's e-Traveler.

But drivers who have tried to depend on those announcements say they are misleading. Joseph DiBenedetto, an Amtrak inspector, used to check the advisories dutifully in order to make the trip from his home in Wakefield to his night job at the train yards on Frontage Road in Boston. He said he regularly got to work late because the highway routinely closed early near Sullivan Square, and he had to take an alternate route. It was scheduled to close at midnight, but DiBenedetto said sometimes it was closed off as early as 11:30 p.m. What should have been a 20-minute trip would frequently take an hour.

''I was definitely angry," DiBenedetto said in a recent interview. ''I could feel my blood pressure rising. I thought it was unnecessary stress."

DiBenedetto said the situation has improved since the spring. But he has little faith that Big Dig officials will continue to stick to the schedule.

''I still tremble with fear as I drive into Boston late in the evening, wondering what road might possibly be closed this time," he said. ''You never know when you're coming over that last hill if there's going to be something closing the road."

The Globe found that the Big Dig's schedule was especially unreliable for three well-traveled spots: the Atlantic Avenue entrance ramp to I-93 north; Exit 20 off I-93 north leading to the Mass. Pike, and the northbound Frontage Road onramp to the Mass. Pike.

The Atlantic Avenue onramp closed earlier than the scheduled time of 1 a.m. every time it was observed. Four times the ramp shut down at least an hour early.

Exit 20 closed before the scheduled time of 10 p.m. on 15 of 17 evenings checked. The Frontage Road entrance to the Mass. Pike, also scheduled to close at 10 p.m., closed early on 13 of 17 nights.

Perrone, a project manager at the Sloan School of Management at MIT, said the lack of reliability made him question Big Dig management. He said he used to participate in community theater in Stoneham, but had to give it up because of the erratic tunnel closures. Nowadays, when he visits his parents, he makes sure to leave in the early evening.

''I feel like Cinderella, trying to get there before the coach turns into a pumpkin," he said in a recent interview.

Other drivers express frustration about the detours around I-93, saying they are sometimes poorly marked. The Globe review found that some signs are obscured by black plastic sheeting, or are too infrequent to direct motorists clearly. A reporter observed one detour sign at Congress and High streets that was upside-down for the entire four-week period.

The lack of clear signs aggravated Diane Paul of Cambridge, who was driving from Logan Airport Aug. 12, trying to head south on I-93 to Cape Cod. When, traveling on I-90, she missed the turnoff to I-93 south, she thought she would simply get off the Mass. Pike in Cambridge and take Storrow Drive east to I-93. She got onto Storrow Drive, but did not realize until it was too late that access from Storrow Drive to the tunnel was cut off.

She said she veered onto a poorly marked detour and got lost in the labyrinth of downtown Boston.

''It felt like nobody was paying very much attention to the day-to-day experience of people using the roadway," said Paul, a professor emeritus at the University of Massachusetts in Boston.

Further exasperating Paul was the heavy traffic. ''It was moving at a snail's pace," she said. ''Most of the time, it was just stopped. It was horrible."

Bill Hobbib, of West Newton, also fumed about the lack of signs after getting lost. He was headed to Logan, but was diverted from the Mass. Pike at Copley Square, and did not see any signs informing him about what route he should travel to the airport. Like Paul, he headed to Storrow Drive, but he, too, found he could not get on I-93 from Storrow. Driving around the city, and again seeing no helpful signs, he ended up near the convention center in South Boston and eventually made his way to the airport.

''If they can't even put up a lousy detour sign, it makes you question how they are doing on bigger aspects of the project," said Hobbib, a software executive, ''like the safety and the security and integrity of the architecture."

Connie Paige can be reached at cpaige@globe.com. Sean P. Murphy can be reached at smurphy@globe.com.