Final Environmental Impact Report - Whittier Bridge/I-95 ...

42 Prospect Street
Newburyport, Mass. 01950
December 16, 2011
Thomas Broderick, P.E.
MassDOT, Highway Division
10 Park Plaza
Boston, Mass. 02116
Attn: James Cerbone
Re: Whittier Bridge
AtECEIVED
DEC 2 0 2011
MEPA
Mr. Broderick:
,
I have been following the Whittier Bridge project for over two years now and although ' ,
the recently released Draft EIR is certainly thorough, I found the case for a new bridge
less than compelling on several counts.
1) Safety: The report claims (p. 4-27) that two interchanges within the projected work
area were on the state's top 1000 list from 13 years ago. (NOT THE BRIDGE IT­
SELF) Is this the best the department could come up with I notice that no part of
the area is on the current list of the state's top 200 dangerous locations.
2) Shoulders: The lack ofadequate shoulders is mentioned as a safety concern. Indeed
the crash rate (.73) on the northbound section from Rt. 113 to Rt. 110 is 28% higher
than the statewide average for interstate highways. However traveling southbound
the rate is 38% LOWER (.35). (Table 4-10) As the shoulders are the same, clearly
something else is responsible for the crash rate. In any case the rate is lower than
the statewide average for all roads, either urban (2.12) or rural (.86).
3) Congestion: The proposed, wider bridge would reduce peak travel time across the
span from 34.1 seconds to 30.6 seconds in 2030. (Table 3-2) This savings of3.5
seconds at peak weekend travel times hardly seems worth the projected $300 M
price tag, especially given that most ofthat peak traffic will come to a full stop
shortly after it crosses the state line and reaches the Hampton Tolls. As to the projected
'D' Level of Service for the 'No Build' solution (Table 3-3), that doesn't seem
to be a problem for the section of1-95 between 1-495 and Rt. 286 which would still
be at Level 'D' even after spending $300M (p. 5-19).
4) N-S Corridor: Neither ofthe bridges immediately to the north or south ofthe Whittier
handles more than six travell~es. The Tobin Bridge also carries three lanes in
each direction with no shoulders, while the Piscataqua to the north carries three
lanes with shoulders.
Nevertheless, the DOT's contention that making the necessary repairs to the existing