Commonwealth Postpones Comm Ave Deck Replacement
Major construction near BU Bridge now set to begin in summer 2017
Originally scheduled for a massive renovation during summer 2016, a section of Comm Ave and its supporting deck will now be replaced a year later, in summer 2017, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation has announced. Photo by Vernon Doucette
The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) has announced that it will postpone by one year the replacement and upgrading of a heavily trafficked stretch of Commonwealth Avenue on the Charles River Campus. Major construction between the BU Bridge and Carlton Street is now scheduled to begin in summer 2017 rather than 2016.
“MassDOT is replacing the Commonwealth Avenue superstructure, also called the deck, due to its deteriorated condition,” says MassDOT spokesperson James Kersten, noting that the original deck is now 50 years old. The project’s delay means a reprieve for drivers and pedestrians this summer, but the campus will face significant traffic and pedestrian detours for the next two summers, 2017 and 2018, during the prefabricated deck’s installation. The BU Bridge will be closed for about three weeks for each of the two summers while the outbound and inbound sides are removed and replaced. The project will affect the intersection of the BU Bridge and Essex and Mountfort Streets, with the corners of the construction area at the Mass Pike (I-90) and the sidewalk areas of the BU Academy, the Engineering Product Innovation Center, 808 Comm Ave, and the grassy area at the Comm Ave entrance to the BU Bridge.
The project is expected to be completed by fall 2019, a MassDOT spokesperson told the Boston Globe Monday. MassDOT attributed the delay of the nearly $82 million project to design errors by the company overseeing construction of the replacement deck. According to a February 29 MassDOT press release, the commonwealth’s Highway Division became aware of errors in the design of the steel girders in January, but turned down a proposal by the contractor, Walsh Construction Company, to move the start of the installation to fall 2016, opting instead to wait until the following summer. MassDot had chosen the original summer dates because the Boston Red Sox would be out of town, BU would not be in full session, and traffic volume in the area is 15 percent less in summer months than in fall.
“It should also be noted that MassDOT did consider other options, including terminating the contract for cause and rebidding it; ultimately these options were rejected as we did not want the project delayed beyond the one year,” says Thomas Tinlin, MassDOT highway administrator.
The delay means a temporary respite for drivers using the Mass Pike (I-90). MassDot is currently reconstructing the I-90 median adjacent to Commonwealth Avenue, which has included performing advance work for the Commonwealth Avenue deck roject. That had required reducing the Mass Pike from four lanes to three. Because of the postponement, the Mass Pike will be opened back to four lanes starting June 30, 2016. All four lanes will remain open until the beginning of the first shutdown, now scheduled for July 2017.
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