Traffic & Transit

MassDOT Changes Length Of Sumner Tunnel Closure This Summer

The tunnel carrying vehicles from Logan Airport and East Boston to I-93 will close fully starting July 5.

The 24/7 closure of the Sumner Tunnel will only last from July 5 to Aug. 5, one month less than planned.
The 24/7 closure of the Sumner Tunnel will only last from July 5 to Aug. 5, one month less than planned. (Haley Cornell/Patch)

BOSTON, MA — A planned two-month closure of the Sumner Tunnel this summer has been reduced, with MassDOT now planning to keep the artery only closed for a month.

The closure will still begin July 5, cutting off one of two driving routes from Logan Airport and East Boston to I-93 and the Mass Pike, and will end by Aug. 5, transportation officials revealed Tuesday.

This summer's work will focus on rehabilitation of the roadway inside the tunnel. Last summer's closure lasted two months, with construction crews focusing on rebuilding the ceiling and other parts of the tunnel.

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"It is a credit to the work and engineering of our MassDOT colleagues and the contractor that we’re able to significantly cut the extended closure in half for this summer," State Highway Administrator Jonathan Gulliver said in a news release Tuesday.

MassDOT will still move close the tunnel on weekends all summer, except around holidays. Those will last from 11 p.m. on Fridays until 5 a.m. the following Monday.

Find out what's happening in Bostonwith free, real-time updates from Patch.

The state is still putting lots of alternatives in place for the closure, including free Blue Line and ferry rides, select free buses, discounted parking and reduced Commuter Rail fares along the Newburyport-Rockport line.


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