massdot

Wrong-Way Driver Detectors Being Installed on Some Mass. Highway Ramps

MassDOT is installing the detectors as part of a pilot program that's expected to be complete this coming spring

NBC Universal, Inc.

Wrong-way driver detectors are being installed and tested on more than a dozen highway lanes and ramps throughout Massachusetts, as part of a $2.6 million pilot program by the state's department of transportation.

This week, there will be overnight lane and ramp closures on some highways, as crews work to install the systems aimed at curbing wrong-way crashes.

Through Friday morning, drivers should expect the lane and ramp closures from 10 p.m. until 4 a.m. on the following roads:

  • Bernardston: I-91 northbound and southbound, exit 50 at Route 10
  • Burlington: I-95 northbound and southbound, exit 50B at Middlesex Turnpike
  • Danvers: Route 128 northbound and southbound, exit 43 at Route 62
  • Plymouth: Route 3 northbound and southbound, exit 13 at Long Pond Road
  • Webster: I-395 northbound and southbound, exit 1at Route 193

MassDOT says that there will be signs, police and message boards to help people navigate the work zones. Drivers should expect delays and slow down through these areas while work is going on.

This pilot program will install wrong-way driver detectors at 16 ramp locations throughout the state, and is expected to be completed in the coming spring.

Massachusetts State Police said Monday night that wrong-way drivers can create very dangerous situations on roads and highways in the Commonwealth.

This move comes ahead of the holiday season when impaired driving is on the rise.

“It’s the deadliest time on the roads. The night before Thanksgiving until New Years," said Mary Kate DePamphilis, the program director of Mothers Against Drunk Driving (MADD) in Massachusetts.

She says wrong-way crashes and driving under the influence often go hand in hand.

"I worked with a victim just this year unfortunately who lost their fiancé to a wrong-way driver, impaired in Western, Mass.," she said. "It’s extremely tragic.”

According to AAA, the state has been heading the wrong way with wrong-way driving. Between 2015-2018, the rate of fatal wrong-way crashes increased by more than double the national rate. The state has also seen a number of wrong-way crashes in recent months, including one in Hopkinton in August when a man died after his car was hit by a drunk driver traveling the wrong way down I-495.

“If you’re having just one drink, that’s not going to do it," DePamphilis said. "You need to be completely sober and that way you won’t have any tragedies this holiday season.”

Contact Us