Route 3 widening work wraps up

REGION – Drivers on Route 3 in Massachusetts now have three lanes in both directions all the way from Route 128 (Interstate 95) to the New Hampshire border.

The third lane opened Saturday on an eight-mile stretch on the southbound side between Interstate 495 and Route 62. That was the last stretch of the highway that still had only two travel lanes.

Some finish work still needs to be done on local roads that intersect the highway, as well as landscaping. That will be completed in the spring of 2005, according to Matt Watkins, spokesman for Modern Continental, the construction firm for the road-widening project.

The work was supposed to be completed in February, and Modern Continental was being fined $10,000 a day by Massachusetts for each day the project was unfinished.

But Watkins said completing the widening in 50 months instead of the planned 42 months was still an achievement.