Somerville infrastructure going to hell

[nvidia99999.livejournal.com]

"State inspectors are looking for loose concrete on an overpass on the McGrath Highway in Somerville, after debris fell from the bridge earlier today.

Adam Hurtubise, a spokesman for the state Department of Transportation, said inspectors will remove any loose material to prevent another fall.

He said an engineer hired by the agency was performing a routine inspection of the bridge when he heard the debris shatter. Hurtubise couldn't say exactly when the fall occured.

A chunk of concrete about half the size of a cinder block fell from the bridge, Hurtubise said. It was last inspected about a year ago. "


http://www.boston.com/yourtown/news/somerville/2010/01/debris_falls_from_mcgrath_high.html


PS. Interesting SN thread regarding this: http://www.thesomervillenews.com/main.asp?SectionID=2&SubSectionID=2&ArticleID=3000

Comments

[somervilleguy.livejournal.com]

It is ugly as hell but it does serve a purpose since traffic coming from Highland/Broadway can cross over Washington st with ease.

[ron_newman]

But I wonder if a rotary (like at Powderhouse) could work just as well for that intersection.

[treacle-well.livejournal.com]

You think the Powderhouse rotary works well?

[arrowintwolakes.livejournal.com]

Well it's certainly very exciting.

[sparkgrrl658.livejournal.com]

XD

[avacon.livejournal.com]

Especially when people take left turns into it! (Yes, I've seen this...)

[ron_newman]

Yes, it seems to move traffic efficiently, never is backed up much, and has many crosswalks for pedestrians.

[arrowintwolakes.livejournal.com]

And it raises heart rates significantly, so it's good for health too!

[chenoameg.livejournal.com]

I would like powderhouse more if it were a proper rotary; no stop signs and no traffic lights except for pedestrian triggered ones.

(Ooh, what if we had a rotary for cars and an overpass for bicycles and pedestrians? That would be fun!)

[ron_newman]

The signals at Powderhouse are in fact triggered only by pedestrians.

[smammy]

But there are stop signs rather than yield signs on each entrance.

Rotary, Roundabout, Circle

[jimmyfergus.livejournal.com]

I recently discovered they're all different things... Wikipedia tells all.

Anyway, a roundabout is the only one of the three worth having, where every entrance is a yield, no lights etc.. It's so much more efficient than four way stops it's not even funny, though the efficiency starts to break down on busy roads. Still, I think Powderhouse would work well.

Powderhouse is fully within the definition of rotary, IIRC.

Circles are some weird abomination.

</pedant>

[ratushebarl.livejournal.com]

OTOH it fucks the Washington traffic severely, as well as all the other God knows how many roads that debouch into the area. I biked through this intersection most summer days for the last two years, as well as walking and driving there some hundreds of times, and holy cow it sucks in every way. None of the traffic patterns, the light sequences or the crosswalks make any sense at all. I think overall it's meant for a sort of bisected rotary, but whatever it's trying to do, you can't actually do that.

I don't suppose it has to be that way, I'm sure an overpass can be there and work, but let's not pretend this one is it.

[somervilleguy.livejournal.com]

Thats all true but it's really not the overpass the fucks everything up. It's the planning or lack of it below the overpass. All the turns and switch backs are there and frankly there is no need for most of them.

[ratushebarl.livejournal.com]

I'll buy that for a quarter.