BOSTON – Drivers west of Route 128 will still have to pay to use the Massachusetts Turnpike where all-electronic infrastructure will replace tollbooths next October, though switching from human collectors to machines won't cut costs as much as originally forecast, Transportation Secretary Stephanie Pollack told lawmakers on Wednesday.
Saying the nearly $300 million in western Turnpike bonds from two decades ago will be paid off in January 2017, Pollack said the highway is "far" from a state of good repair and while the state will hold hearings the plan will be to "leave the tolls up."
Boston's residential real-estate market showed gains in September while single-family home sales statewide jumped 25 percent, the best performance for the month in 10 years, data released Tuesday show.
Home sales in the Hub climbed almost 15 percent during the quarter that ended in September compared with the third quarter of last year, and surged almost 22 percent statewide for the period, the Warren Group said Tuesday. The Boston-based publisher of Banker & Tradesman, which focuses on real estate markets and businesses, said condo sales jumped almost 20 percent across the state last month compared with a year ago.
