An independent study commissioned by Senator Anthony Petruccelli indicated that regardless of whether a casino is built at Suffolk Downs Racetrack, costs to improve the infrastructure along the Route 1A corridor from the Sumner-Callahan tunnels to Copeland Circle in Revere would cost the state almost $500 billion.
Some of the study’s findings, conducted by John Vitagliano of Seagull Consulting, have been highlighted by Petruccelli in the Senate Transportation Committee’s version of the Transportation Bond Bill.
“I’m asking the Executive Office of Transportation to take a good hard look at significant improvements that need to be done along the Route 1A corridor,” said Petruccelli. “These infrastructure improvements have been part of the lower North Shore transportation improvement study since 2000, and it’s merely a coincidence that now we are talking about the possibility of a full-scale casino at Suffolk Downs, which is situated along this strip.”
Rush hour traffic has long been a problem on Route 1A, and anyone who uses the road during his or her commute is familiar with the gridlock that occurs southbound in the morning and northbound in the afternoon.
“I want to look at the big picture--whether there is a casino or not--and see if its feasible to make some of the changes first suggested in the 2000 study,” said Petruccelli. “We’ve gotten the ball moving on some of these projects in the past but has not been a major priority of past gubernatorial administrations.”
While the focus of the study expands on the 2000 lower North Shore transportation improvement study, it does in fact include potential traffic impacts a casino might have on Route 1A from Eastie to Revere.
“A local casino would have a major traffic impact...because casinos are among the heaviest traffic generators compared to other possible uses [of Suffolk Downs],” Vitagliano wrote in his study. “Casinos generate constant high traffic volumes from 8 a.m. to midnight, seven days a week.”
Even before a casino was discussed, and like the lower North Shore transportation improvement study suggested back in 2000, traffic along Route 1A needs to be addressed now. Furthermore, Vitagliano suggests that if a casino is added to the congestion that already exists along Route 1A, impacts could be felt as far north as the Route 1A-Route 60 interchange in Revere.
In his study, Vitagliano suggested widening Route 1A from Curtis Street in East Boston to Mahoney Circle in Revere. This would include taking property and cost $40 million; widen Revere Beach Parkway in Revere, Everett and Medford at a cost of $90 million; perform a Copeland Circle grade separation in Revere that would cost $75 million; perform a Mahoney Circle grade separation in Revere that would cost $30 million; perform a Brown Circle grade separation in Revere that would cost $25 million; install a Route 1A to Route 16 connector on Railroad Ave. in Revere at a cost of $45 million; construct a haul road in East Boston at a cost of $20 million; build a Route 1A-Chelsea Street Bridge connector in East Boston that would cost $40 million; perform a Route 1A/Boardman Street grade separation in East Boston that would cost $10 million; build a Route 1A-Route 16 interchange that would cost $15 million; perform a Revere Street grade separation in Revere that would cost $10 million; improve traffic signalization along the Route 1A corridor at a cost of $5 million; and finally mitigation for traffic impacts on the local communities would be $15 million.
The total cost of the improvements would have a price tag of $420 million, according to Vitagliano.