MassDOT to Test Traffic Restrictions on Mass Pike Friday Night

Drivers on the Massachusetts Turnpike may notice a few delays in the Boston area this weekend. 

The delays, though, are actually part of a test the Massachusetts Department of Transportation and the Massachusetts Convention Center Authority (MCCA) are planning to conduct to prepare for upcoming weekend lane restrictions on the highway through the Prudential Tunnel, MassDOT announced this week. 

The MCAA and MassDOT will conduct the test starting on Friday, March 7 at 9 p.m. and ending at 10 a.m. Saturday. 

Traffic will be restricted to one lane in each direction of Rte. I-90 for about two miles, according to the announcement. Drivers planning to travel along the Mass Pike through Boston are asked to use public transportation or seek alternate routes, as well as allow additional travel time through the work zone. 

Drivers can also expect closures at entrance and exit ramps in the Back Bay area during the test phase, as well as with future work taking place in the last two weekends of March and the first and last week of April. 

The timing of the road work and the lane restrictions were designed to coincide with the end of the Callahan Tunnel closure and occur prior to the resumption of steel and painting repairs on the Tobin Bridge, MassDOT said in a statement this week.

The restrictions will reduce traffic to one lane in each direction on the Massachusetts Turnpike through the Pru Tunnel on the following weekends between at 9 p.m. Friday through 5 a.m. Monday: 

• March 21-23
• March 28-30
• April 4-6
• April 25-27

A communit meeting has been scheduled for Monday, March 10 from 6-7 p.m. in Meeting Room 309 at the Hynes Convention Center in Boston. 

For more information, drivers can visit a website on the project at PruTunnelProject.info, and questions can be directed to prutunnel@prutunnelproject.info.