I-93 HOV Boston, MA

Location

Boston, MA

Installation

Permanent

Type

HOV Access Control

About this project

The I-93 Southeast Expressway is one of the more congested roads leading into and out of the Boston downtown area. Since the 1990s, MassDOT has been using a moveable barrier system called the Road Zipper to create 6 miles of contraflow lanes on both directions of I-93. In 2015, MassDOT took a step forward to increase the safety and efficiency of the traffic control operation required as part of this managed lane facility. A series of Automated Warning Signs (SwiftSign) and Automated Warning Gates (SwiftGate) from Versilis were installed to automate the daily lane closures.

Challenge

An HOV managed lane operation requires extensive traffic control to open and close the access points
Standard traffic cones used to delineate the closures offer a limited surface of reflective material and their visibility is sometimes an issue
Lane closure signage and delineation provide the first level of safety during the motorist’s approach to the new road layout, and often times there is very little or no protection for workers who deploy the traffic control

Solution

In the summer of 2015 Versilis installed a demonstration system on the south side of the moveable barrier to allow MassDOT to evaluate the efficiency and safety benefits of the automated lane closure solution. The system consists of 6 SwiftSigns and 9 SwiftGates, all activated and retracted by a single handheld remote control. After a 1 month trial, MassDOT was satisfied with the performance of the solution and the advantages it brought to the motorists and the DOT. MassDOT is evaluating the installation of the solution for the north side of the HOV.