Officials push state for Route 1 improvements

SAUGUS – Officials in Saugus, Malden and Revere say they cannot wait another five years for the state transportation department to begin funding the Route 1 Improvement Project.Since 2011, Saugus has partnered with the two cities, lobbying state officials to include the Route 1 project in earlier transportation improvement programs. So far, efforts to accelerate the process have been to no avail, but city officials indicate they’re putting pressure on the state to move forward with the work.”We keep seeing a succession of four- and five-year plans, and it keeps getting left out,” said Saugus consultant Paul Rupp.Saugus Town Manager Scott Crabtree, Malden Mayor Gary Christenson and Revere Mayor Daniel Rizzo have repeatedly cited the morning and afternoon traffic gridlocks along the 2.4-mile stretch from Copeland Circle in Revere to the Route 1/Route 99 interchange in Saugus.In a Sept. 5 letter to the state transportation department, they explained that commuters are “subjected twice daily to horrific traffic jams that last on average three solid hours.””It’s maddening to people,” said Rupp, adding that future economic development is being hurt as well.According to documents released by the project’s engineering/construction firm CDM Smith, Copeland Circle has the second-highest crash rate in the state with 122 accidents during the past three years.Copeland Circle to the Route 1/Route 99 interchange currently consists of four lanes, with two lanes each on northbound and southbound sides.The first phase of the $165-million project will consist of increasing the number of lanes to six, with three on each side. Project plans also aim to construct a bridge above the Route 99 ramp, providing a smoother connection to Route 1 north from the right lane rather than the left lane, where traffic moves much faster. Similar connections are also sought from Route 1A to where Route 16 west merges with Route 1 in Revere.”The new lane configuration would match the existing highway configuration to north and south of the project area,” CDM Smith representatives said in a statement. “This configuration would immediately improve traffic flow and safety.”In July 2012, Sen. Thomas McGee, D-Lynn, and then-Rep. Kathi-Anne Reinstein, D-Revere, had successfully included $10 million in the 2013 transportation bond bill for project design.Yet the Route 1 Plan was once again left out of the Draft 2015-2018 transportation improvement plan.In response, the three communities have requested a meeting with the Project Selection Advisory Committee to “discuss a path to resolving one of the state’s longest standing transportation problems” before the new plan takes effect.While the meeting has yet to take place, Rupp remains hopeful that the state will respond.”It’s only a couple of weeks out,” he said of the request. “It doesn’t seem all that unusual.”Area between Copeland Circle and the Route 1/Route 99 interchange: