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'Pike Meat Crash Spurs Toll Safety Concerns

Highway Official Questions Toll Configurations

POSTED: 7:14 am EDT October 27, 2009
UPDATED: 7:56 am EDT October 27, 2009

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A massive chain-reaction crash at the Weston toll plaza on the Massachusetts Turnpike involving three tractor-trailers and a car has spurred concerns over safety at the tolls.

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The smash-up Wednesday has one turnpike board member, Mary Connaughton, expressing her fear that signage at tolls on the highway are not properly set up and may need to change.

She told the Boston Herald that the state needs to get rid of toll booths altogether or open up the turnpike to Fast Lane drivers and capture transponder information from a suspended bar, similar to what is installed at toll plazas in New Jersey.

There have been several accidents at the toll plazas in recent years. In August, a man was killed after crashing into the Weston tolls and last November another driver lost his life near the Allston-Brighton tolls. In March 2007, a Fung Wah bus became wedged on a barrier at the Weston tolls with the driver attempting to back up and switch lanes at the last minute.

As for Monday's crash involving a meat truck, investigators said they are not certain if the toll configuration contributed to the collision.

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