Daytime lane closures on Quincy Shore Drive and Sea Street in Quincy will begin on Monday, Aug. 19, Mass DOT announces.
According to Mass DOT, these impacts will occur each day from 7 a.m., through 3:30 p.m., and are necessary to allow crews and contractors to safely and effectively conduct construction operations. These operations will continue throughout the summer and fall months, and weather permitting, will continue into the winter.
The full scope of work includes excavating and placing new concrete sidewalks, and installing new conduit, traffic signals, and new curbing.
Signs, traffic control devices and law enforcement details will be used to guide drivers through the work zone. Drivers who are traveling through the impacted areas should expect delays, reduce speed, and use caution. All scheduled work is weather dependent and may be impacted due to an emergency situation.
For more information on traffic conditions travelers are encouraged to:
Dial 511 and select a route to hear real-time conditions.
Visit mass511.com, a website which provides real-time traffic and incident advisory information, and allows users to subscribe to text and email alerts for traffic conditions.
Follow MassDOT on Twitter @MassDOT to receive regular updates on road and traffic conditions.
Download MassDOT’s GoTime mobile app and view real-time traffic conditions before setting out on the road.
The new Wollaston MBTA Red Line station will open Friday morning after a nearly two-year, $36 million renovation project.
The new modern, fully accessible transit facility replaces the original Red Line station that was built in 1971.
Upgrades for the new station include three elevators, two escalators and two new stairways. There are also new walkways to the station and bathrooms were added. There is also energy-efficient lighting.
MBTA officials said the station will be open to passengers for the morning commute.
The old station was closed for about 20 months to make way for the new facility located on Newport Avenue near Beale Street and Brook Street.
The T also announced that although Red Line service at Wollaston will resume Friday, bus shuttles will continue running through Friday, Aug. 23.
State Rep. Bruce J. Ayers (D – Quincy) has sent a formal request to MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak, imploring the extension of shuttle bus services to Squantum Point Park to provide relief for frustrated commuters.
The letter notes the success of the bus service that has shuttled customers from the Wollaston Station area during the 2-year construction period. Ayers suggested that the success of this service could be extended from the North Quincy MBTA Station to the state-owned parking lot in Squantum Point Park, providing parking relief during the construction at North Quincy while also encouraging use of the Marina Bay Ferry.
Over 600 spots are lost at the North Quincy lot. With the Wollaston project ready to open this month, Ayers believes the shuttle buses could be used to bring relief to the North Quincy project, while also encouraging use of water transit.
“Water transportation is an economically responsible, environmentally friendly means of transit, and this area is a prime location for it,” Ayers said. “This area’s marine infrastructure makes this a unique opportunity.”
Ayers cited the “failure” of the MBTA to provide adequate mitigation for the ongoing construction along the Red Line stops in Quincy, coupled with the disruptions in service the Red Line has experienced in the past 2 months. Prior to the derailment in June, Red Line trains were running 14 trips per hour; that number is now at 10 trips per hour.
“My constituents have reached out to me repeatedly to express their frustration over the delays, overcrowded platforms, and overall lack of options,” Ayers said. “This could provide a recovery of parking spaces, as well as a reliable alternative means of transportation for those who no longer trust the MBTA. It’s a way for the MBTA to earn their customers’ faith back.”
The parking lot at Squantum Point Park consists of over 800 parking spaces, and is owned by DCR. Ayers suggests that the MBTA work out an agreement with DCR to provide free commuter parking in the lot during the North Quincy construction project.
The Marina Bay Ferry is in its 4th year of seasonal operation. It is owned and maintained by the town of Winthrop, and service from Quincy will run through November.
Along with GM Poftak, copies of the letter were also sent to Transportation Secretary Stephanie Pollack; Joseph Aiello, Chair of the MBTA’s Fiscal & Management Control Board; and Leo Roy, Commissioner of the Department of Conservation & Recreation.
A copy of the letter was also provided to The Quincy Sun. The letter appears below.
The death of a former Quincy man who was fatally injured in a physical altercation outside an American Legion Post in Squantum in January has been ruled a homicide by the state medical examiner.
Christopher McCallum
According to the death certificate filed Tuesday with the Boston City Clerk’s office, Christopher McCallum, 44, of Bridgewater, died from blunt force trauma of the head from a fall during a physical altercation. The manner of death on the death certificate is listed as homicide.
A copy of the death certificate appears at the bottom of this story.
McCallum, a Quincy native and father of three, died Jan. 28 at Boston Medical Center, one day after he was found bleeding and unconscious in the parking lot of the Robert I. Nickerson American Legion Post on Moon Island Road after police responded to reports of a “large disorder” outside the hall at 20 Moon Island Rd.
No arrests have been made in the investigation since McCallum’s death more than six months ago. The case is under investigation by the Norfolk County District Attorney’s office which has said the case remains open. Few details about the investigation have been provided.
On Tuesday, after the death certificate filing, DA spokesperson David Traub said:
“The investigation into Mr. McCallum’s death remains active and ongoing, The Norfolk District Attorney’s Office has no further comment at this time.”
McCallum’s family said they are relieved to have the finalized medical examiner report.
“We look forward to the completion of the State Police and District Attorneys Office criminal investigation. We are confident that the justice system will prevail for Chris McCallum and his family,” the statement said.
Family members have said McCallum was at the Nickerson Post the night of Jan. 26 to attend a concert and was fatally injured after midnight while attempting to break up a fight that erupted after a group of men attempted to re-enter the building after being kicked out earlier.
McCallum is survived by his wife, Kathleen “Kathy” (Doyle), and their three sons, Ryan, Michael and Christopher.
McCallum grew up on Deerfield Street in Squantum and was a was a 1992 graduate of North Quincy High School. He was captain of the Red Raiders football and hockey teams his senior year and was inducted into the Quincy-North Quincy High Football Hall of Fame in 2016.
McCallum then attended the Massachusetts Maritime Academy, where he continued playing football, and graduated in 1996. He went on to work as an engineer after college.
More than 500 people attended a candlelight vigil in McCallum’s memory Feb. 15 outside the Squantum Elementary School.
“Chris was assaulted Jan. 27 at the Nickerson Post here in Squantum as he tried to break up a fight and he suffered a fatal head injury,” Kathy McCallum told the crowd that evening. “We are extremely appreciative to the Massachusetts State Police for their unending efforts to seek justice for Chris and our family.”
Kathy McCallum urged anyone who knew what happened to her husband to come forward to investigators.
“Please clear your conscience and tell the truth – even lies of omission lead to injustice” she said.
“As our families struggle to move forward in a world without Chris, we ask that in his memory and in remembrance of how he lived, please be kind to one another.”
William McCallum, Christopher’s father, said his son was unselfish and kind.
“If anyone ever needed any help, he was the first one there to help. He’d drive 30 miles from Bridgewater to Squantum to help me,” William McCallum told The Sun at the vigil. “He’d do anything. He’d even come over on his lunch hour to help.
“He was just a great guy – and I’m not saying that because he was my son. He was just a great overall guy.”
Dan Gilmartin, a friend of McCallum for more than 30 years, remembered him as a “heck of an athlete, but more than that he was a true gentleman. I remembered him handling himself with class and dignity even as a kid. He was a big, tough guy, but he was always gentle and kind. He was always smiling and always the first one to stick his hand out to help somebody.”
According to Mass DOT, these impacts will occur each day from 7 a.m., through 3:30 p.m., and are necessary to allow crews and contractors to safely and effectively conduct construction operations. These operations will continue throughout the summer and fall months, and weather permitting, will continue into the winter.
