“It’s been horrible”: Drivers relieved Sumner Tunnel will reopen

BOSTON – Finally, two months of headaches, detours and molasses-moving traffic seem to be coming to an end, for now, with the Sumner Tunnel reopening Friday morning.

“It’s been horrible, pretty horrible,” said driver Avery L’Howe.

Thursday afternoon, some poor drivers from out of town never got the memo on the closure when they drove to Logan Airport.

“We didn’t know traffic was this nuts. So, this isn’t a normal thing?” asked Betty O’Donnell.

But now the near 100-year-old tunnel will reopen with critical upgrades, like 500 light fixtures, 700 concrete arches and new fireproof walls, making a dramatic improvement in its fire safety.

The governor touted the completed work on time.

“I want to thank the public for their patience with this and I thank the men and women who worked to get this done on time and in time for this weekend,” said Governor Maura Healey.

But before drivers and Eastie residents can “celebrate” the end of the closure, it’s not quite the end of the road.

The tunnel will be closed on 8 weekends starting this fall and next summer we’ll be doing this dance again with a full closure for a month.

The first of these is scheduled for the weekend of September 15 and the full schedule is currently being finalized. 

The restoration schedule can be found here.

“Well, I’m staying out of Boston–I’m going back to Andover where we’re visiting relatives and we’re not going to encounter any more tunnels,” added O’Donnell.

Many have been wondering why it’s taking such drastic closures to repair the tunnel.

Former Massachusetts Transportation Secretary and transportation expert Jim Aloisi says the last time any significant work was done on the Sumner was back in the late 1980s and earlies 1990s.

“It hasn’t been invested in since Mike Dukakis was governor and that’s a long time ago,” said Aloisi. “Just like what’s happening with the T, is happening with the tunnel, which is years of not investing in it, not dealing with it, which leads to the need to doing major repairs.”

And sadly, the end of the tunnel closure means the end of the free rides for Blue Line riders who must start paying up Friday morning.

Aloisi said the state should have continued giving riders reprieve as an incentive.

“We’ll keep advocating for it and hopefully they’ll do it next year,” said Aloisi.