(Twitter.com/MassDOT)
BOSTON (WBZ-AM) -- MassDOT Highway Administrator Jonathan Gulliver said at a press briefing Friday morning that "great progress" has been made over the past week on phase 2 of the Commonwealth Avenue Bridge replacement project--and said the Mass Pike is expected to go back to four lanes in each direction by Monday morning.
Gulliver said the work is on schedule. A couple of bridge spans that were replaced are now getting concrete, while the other span is having steel beams taken down for a new span replacement. That's the work that has been causing lane restrictions on the turnpike.
When it comes to the Pike, Gulliver says there's some mixed news.
"We have seen about a 40 percent reduction in traffic volume this week on the turnpike, however, again, because of the impacts and the lane closures, and because of the amount of people who travel through the turnpike, we have seen travel times still increase by quite a bit," he said.
So what's left? After the work on the spans is finished and the pike reopens, there's still plenty to do on top.
"We have to finish all the concrete work on top of all three spans," Gulliver said. "We have to come back in and we have to do all of the pavement on all three spans. And then we have to tie it all in with the sidewalks, line-painting, et cetera, all that finish work still has to happen."
WBZ NewsRadio 1030's Ben Parker (@radiobenparker) reports