Don't Drive in Route 128's Breakdown Lane

Do you use the Route 128 breakdown lane on your way to work? Well, it's time to kick the habit.

State Police are now looking out for drivers who use the breakdown lane on Route 128.

In an effort to reduce the Route 128 bottlenecks between Route 24 and Route 9, the Mass Department of Transportation (MassDOT) added a fourth travel lane to I-93/95 along that stretch. With that addition, driving in the breakdown lane is now prohibited between Route 24 and Route 109. 

Signs along the highways and State Police patrols will inform drivers of the change, according to a MassDOT announcement Wednesday. The breakdown lane is now reserved for emergency vehicles and disabled cars. 

According to the release, drivers have been able to use the breakdown lane on weekdays at peak hours with permission from the Federal Highway Adinistration since 1986. However, with the opening of the fourth lane, that is no longer the case.

Below is the full MassDOT press release: 

Randolph-Dedham – I-93/I-95 (Route 128): State Police increasing enforcement of breakdown lane use where new fourth travel lane has opened 

MassDOT and the Massachusetts State Police are reminding drivers traveling along I-93 and I-95 (Route 128) that use of the breakdown lane on I-93/I-95 (Route 128) has been discontinued in the area where the new fourth travel lane has opened. 

In late November, MassDOT opened a section of the new fourth travel lane along I-93 and I-95 (Route 128) between Route 24 in Randolph and a point just south of Route 109 near the Westwood-Dedham line. The new lane is part of the ongoing project to eliminate an existing bottleneck between Route 24 and Route 9 in Wellesley by having four continuous travel lanes in each direction of interstate roadway from the junction of I-93 and I-95 in Reading, south to Route 3 in Braintree. 

With the addition of the new fourth travel lane between Route 24 in Randolph and a point just south of Route 109 near the Westwood-Dedham line, use of the breakdown lane on this section is now prohibited, including during weekday peak travel periods (6 a.m. to 10 a.m. and 3 p.m. to 7 p.m.). MassDOT has deployed appropriate signage to inform drivers; additionally, State Police have been patrolling this route to enforce this change. 

Breakdown lane use during weekday peak travel periods had been allowed between Route 24 and Route 9 via special permission by the Federal Highway Administration since 1986. However, upon the opening of the fourth travel lane between Randolph and Westwood-Dedham, the breakdown lane along this section is now reserved for disabled motor vehicles and emergency vehicles.  

The opening of the new fourth travel lane on the approximately 5.7 miles of interstate roadway on I-93/I-95 (Route 128) between Randolph and Westwood-Dedham is the result of four separate construction contracts totaling $136.7 million.  Two additional contracts, one currently under construction and another in the final design stages, will provide the additional lane in each direction from Route 109 to Route 9 which will complete the overall corridor widening project.

For transportation news and updates visit MassDOT at our website:www.mass.gov/massdot, blog: www.mass.gov/blog/transportation, or follow MassDOT on twitter at www.twitter.com/massdot and Facebook at www.facebook.com/massdotinfo.