East Boston residents brace for ‘pure hell' when Sumner Tunnel closes

It's a date the city has been preparing for for months, and now it's almost here.

On July 5, the Sumner Tunnel will shut down for eight weeks. And East Boston residents are bracing for the worst.

"A nightmare," said C.J. Livingstone.

"Pure hell," added Judy Lyons.

About 39,000 drivers use the tunnel every day. They'll have to find a different option for nearly two months, and traffic congestion is expected to be a major hassle.

"Very fearful for emergency vehicles not being able to get to us and get us to a hospital," said Lyons.

Residents of East Boston gathered at a school gym Thursday night to meet with transportation officials.

It was an opportunity to ask questions about the project and learn more about the alternatives to deal with the anticipated traffic headache.

"They can take the Blue Line for free," said Massachusetts Secretary of Transportation Gina Fiandaca. "We have ferry service from Lynn, we have ferry service from Winthrop, we have reduced fares on the commuter rail."

The nearly-100-year-old tunnel is getting a facelift with a new ceiling, new roadway surface, repaired walls and new lights among the changes coming.

"We need to get this job done," said Massachusetts Highway Administrator Jonathan Gulliver. "It's a necessary job, I think we've seen in the past week what can happen when infrastructure goes badly, we don't want that to happen here."

For the past year, the tunnel has already been closed down on most weekends as the repair work began.

And even that has been a problem.

"On a Saturday night, if we want to go out for dinner, a 15-minute drive usually is an hour and a half just trying to get out of East Boston," said Debbie Raso.

When the Sumner closes down in July and August, it's expected that most cars will re-route to the Ted Williams Tunnel and the Tobin Bridge.

Transportation officials say the best bet will be to take public transportation to avoid the traffic trouble.

Lyons has her own plan.

"Stay in my backyard and the pool," she said.

Raso does, as well.

"Hibernating, basically," she said.