Sumner Tunnel Restoration Project

The Sumner Tunnel, originally constructed in 1934, is showing its age with spalled concrete, a rough roadway surface, missing wall panels, and sections of exposed rebar. Life safety systems also need to be modernized. The Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) is undertaking a full-scale rehabilitation of the tunnel to allow it to serve the Commonwealth for another 75 years. To achieve the rehabilitation, MassDOT must close the tunnel on weekends in 2023 and 2024 with a full closure of the tunnel between Independence Day and Labor Day. Impacts from construction and detoured traffic will fall chiefly on the vulnerable and historically underserved communities of East Boston and the near North Shore.

HSH is developing the detour routes and temporary signage plans for the closure. HSH is also ensuring that the community is aware of the project across a range of languages and historically under-served groups, and that those communities have the opportunity to offer meaningful commentary on detour routes and other potential traffic mitigations. HSH’s work has been central to allowing MassDOT to receive a Categorical Exclusion from the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), allowing the project to be advertised for design/build procurement in June of 2021.