After a recent spate of fatal wrong-way crashes, the state is installing new traffic detection and wrong-way prevention devices on Route 128 aimed at stopping motorists from heading in the wrong direction.
Workers began installing the state-backed “countermeasures” on Route 128 between Peabody and Gloucester on Tuesday.
The daytime highway work will take continue Mondays through Fridays from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. “until further notice,” according to a Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT) advisory. The work is weather dependent and the schedule is subject to change without notice, MassDOT said
The work will require temporary closures of shoulders along the highway to enable work crews to install signage “safely and effectively.”
John Goggin, a MassDOT communications analyst, said much of the work will take place on or adjacent to highway ramps and placement was identified through a “corridor assessment” of Route 128 between Peabody and Gloucester.
“This is part of our statewide deployment of wrong-way driving prevention,” he said. “On Route 128 that will consist of upgraded signage and pavement markings.”
“The assessment evaluated existing conditions at each interchange and identified proven countermeasures and design enhancements intended to improve driver awareness, reinforce right-way driving and reduce the potential for wrong-way movements,” he said.
Besides upgraded signage and pavement markings, Goggin said those improvements include slotted pavement markers and guardrail reflector enhancements.
“The specific treatments at each location are based on existing ramp conditions and are intended to provide drivers with clearer and more conspicuous visual guidance, particularly at decision points where wrong-way movements could occur,” he said.
Wrong-way deaths
Goggin said the work is aimed at saving lives and preventing crashes such as the June 30, 2025, crash that injured five people and led to death of new Gloucester High School graduate Christopher Dailey, 18.
Reading resident Laurence Hayes, 81, pleaded guilty Thursday in Gloucester District Court to charges related to the crash and was ordered by the court to serve five years house arrest. His driver’s license was suspended for 15 years.
Other wrong-way crashes claimed the lives of Jeremy “J Cole” Cole, an Endicott College police officer, killed when an accused drunken driver struck his car as he traveled home to New Hampshire on Interstate 95 on Nov. 27, 2024.
More recently, Massachusetts State Police Trooper Kevin Trainor, 30, died after a wrong-way driver slammed his Jeep into Trainor’s police cruiser on Route 1 on May 6. The Salem native was on his way home to Georgetown when he responded to a call about the wrong-way driver.
“When our comprehensive legislation to combat wrong way driving became law at part of the fiscal year 2027 state budget in July, it made clear that our Commonwealth was committed to doing everything possible to prevent the types of tragic accidents that took the lives of Sgt. Cole, Chris Dailey and Trooper Trainor,” state Senate Minority Bruce Tarr, R-Gloucester, said.
Tarr said the MassDOT roadway improvements will be noteworthy.
“The effectiveness of these devices has been proven by similar deployments in other states and through a recently competed MassDOT pilot program,” he said. “Their installation represents real significant progress that will make our roadways safer and honor those whose lives have been lost to wrong way driving by dramatically reducing the odds it will happen in the future.”
Highway project updates
During the highway work project on Route 128, signage, law enforcement personnel and message boards will be in place to guide drivers through the work areas.
Drivers traveling through the work zones are being advised to reduce speeds and use caution.
For information about current traffic conditions, travelers are encouraged to:
— Download the Mass511 mobile app or visit www.mass511.com to view live cameras and learn about travel times, real-time traffic conditions and project information. Users can subscribe to receive text and e-mail alerts for traffic conditions. Drivers are also being reminded to seek such information before setting out on the road.
— Commuters may also dial 511 and select a route to hear real-time conditions.
— Travelers may also follow @MassDOT on X, (formerly known as Twitter), to receive regular updates on road and traffic conditions.