BOSTON, Mass. — Time is running out for free flowing traffic through the Sumner Tunnel,
The 88-year-old stretch of road connecting East Boston to Downtown Boston is set to close to weekend traffic from now until Labor Day.
“I’m so sick of it. Every single week, I can’t get out of the city. I can’t go anywhere. When are they going to stop this?” one driver said to me.
The Sumner is getting a 150 million dollar make over.
The weekend closure actually started in June, but was put on hold for the Juneteenth and Fourth of July holidays.
But now the dog days of summer are here, repair work on the ancient tunnel is kicking back into high gear.
“It sucks because I drive into work and I live all the way in Somerville, so I have to take this to make it to work. So, it does make it really inconvenient for me,” another driver said.
In East Boston, detour signs are already up.
For Sumner’s repairs and its closures, there’s no turning back now.
“It’s crazy man. I have a lot of work, man. I go 3-4 times a day,” one truck driver said.
At Logan Airport’s ride sharing lot, drivers are preparing for a lot of frustrated customers.
“The passenger pay the price,” Achilles Burgo told me. “We need to take them all around Chelsea or Route 1 to bring the passengers to Boston, so this is crazy.”
But not everyone is expecting traffic Armageddon over the next few weekends.
“I think there are a few other ways to get in and out of East Boston, and it’s not a big deal,” one woman told me.
Still, for many other drivers it is a big deal and it has them asking the same big question:
“Why we always have construction?” Houssine Amchireo asked. “I just want to see one day we not going to have that.”
Right now, that’s a day, that won’t be coming soon.
Download the FREE Boston 25 News app for breaking news alerts.
Follow Boston 25 News on Facebook and Twitter. | Watch Boston 25 News NOW