Mohegan `suggests' Mass Pike lane closure for Revere casino
Mohegan's tunnel vision
Thursday, January 9, 2014
Mohegan's tunnel vision
Thursday, January 9, 2014
By: Jack Encarnacao
Mohegan Sun has filed “suggestions” to close a Mass Pike lane and force cars into a single lane approaching the Ted Williams Tunnel to ease its proposed Revere casino’s
traffic impact, even as it’s
expected to draw an estimated
average of more than 5,000 vehicles a day through the tunnel.
But a top Boston highway
expert said the mitigation proposal “doesn’t make a lot of sense.”
Mohegan’s plan for a Suffolk Downs casino, made public Monday, suggests that removing a lane on I-90 eastbound near Congress Street in South Boston would
reduce congestion by preventing drivers from slowing traffic by changing lanes — even though that would cut the roadway to just one lane in that area.
“It doesn’t strike me that a
reduction in capacity is going to alleviate congestion,” said traffic expert Jeff Larson of the Massachusetts-based Safe Roads Alliance. “It might alleviate congestion in one area. It doesn’t make a lot of sense.”
Mohegan Sun reps said the traffic proposals were in response to a state Department of Transportation request that they believe
addresses existing traffic issues, beyond any potential casino
impact.
“These were suggestions only,” Mohegan Sun said in a statement. “They are not traffic recommendations relative to anticipated
resort casino vehicle trips. Our road and infrastructure plans will not only mitigate anticipated
resort casino visits, but also
address long-standing local conditions.”
However, an application
attachment states that 44 per–cent, or more than 5,000 of a projected 12,000 average daily vehicle trips to the casino, will go through the Ted.
The plan, prepared by Boston engineering firm Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, states: “Reduce the I-90 eastbound corridor to one lane east of the Congress Street off-ramp. This would involve a right lane closure with all vehicles
moved to the left lane. It is
anticipated that this single lane will have a carrying capacity of some 1,350 to 1,500 (vehicles per hour).”
MassDOT spokesman Mike Verseckes said, “MassDOT will conduct its own in-house review to analyze and evaluate the plans. The review will determine the full scope of any potential traffic impacts created by this kind of development, and to further
determine whether these proposals will provide for the mitigation of traffic to the fullest extent possible.”
East Boston City Councilor Sal LaMattina said he worries that his neighborhood, which rejected a casino, prompting Suffolk Downs and Mohegan Sun to shift into
Revere, will still suffer the brunt of traffic impacts if the Revere
casino is approved.
“It’s ridiculous,” LaMattina said. “I don’t think that they should be closing lanes for a casino, and particularly 1-90 eastbound. ... I think it’s unacceptable. I can’t even imagine the city or the state approving something like this.”
The Mohegan Sun project still needs approval from the Gaming Commission — which also is weighing a proposal by Wynn Resorts to build a
casino on a contaminated site in Everett that experts say could be costly and time-consuming to clean up.
Mohegan Sun has filed “suggestions” to close a Mass Pike lane and force cars into a single lane approaching the Ted Williams Tunnel to ease its proposed Revere casino’s
traffic impact, even as it’s
expected to draw an estimated
average of more than 5,000 vehicles a day through the tunnel.
But a top Boston highway
expert said the mitigation proposal “doesn’t make a lot of sense.”
Mohegan’s plan for a Suffolk Downs casino, made public Monday, suggests that removing a lane on I-90 eastbound near Congress Street in South Boston would
reduce congestion by preventing drivers from slowing traffic by changing lanes — even though that would cut the roadway to just one lane in that area.
“It doesn’t strike me that a
reduction in capacity is going to alleviate congestion,” said traffic expert Jeff Larson of the Massachusetts-based Safe Roads Alliance. “It might alleviate congestion in one area. It doesn’t make a lot of sense.”
Mohegan Sun reps said the traffic proposals were in response to a state Department of Transportation request that they believe
addresses existing traffic issues, beyond any potential casino
impact.
“These were suggestions only,” Mohegan Sun said in a statement. “They are not traffic recommendations relative to anticipated
resort casino vehicle trips. Our road and infrastructure plans will not only mitigate anticipated
resort casino visits, but also
address long-standing local conditions.”
However, an application
attachment states that 44 per–cent, or more than 5,000 of a projected 12,000 average daily vehicle trips to the casino, will go through the Ted.
The plan, prepared by Boston engineering firm Vanasse Hangen Brustlin, states: “Reduce the I-90 eastbound corridor to one lane east of the Congress Street off-ramp. This would involve a right lane closure with all vehicles
moved to the left lane. It is
anticipated that this single lane will have a carrying capacity of some 1,350 to 1,500 (vehicles per hour).”
MassDOT spokesman Mike Verseckes said, “MassDOT will conduct its own in-house review to analyze and evaluate the plans. The review will determine the full scope of any potential traffic impacts created by this kind of development, and to further
determine whether these proposals will provide for the mitigation of traffic to the fullest extent possible.”
East Boston City Councilor Sal LaMattina said he worries that his neighborhood, which rejected a casino, prompting Suffolk Downs and Mohegan Sun to shift into
Revere, will still suffer the brunt of traffic impacts if the Revere
casino is approved.
“It’s ridiculous,” LaMattina said. “I don’t think that they should be closing lanes for a casino, and particularly 1-90 eastbound. ... I think it’s unacceptable. I can’t even imagine the city or the state approving something like this.”
The Mohegan Sun project still needs approval from the Gaming Commission — which also is weighing a proposal by Wynn Resorts to build a
casino on a contaminated site in Everett that experts say could be costly and time-consuming to clean up.
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