The Boston Police and City of Boston had to shut down the Rutherford Avenue tunnels last Wednesday morning, Sept. 19, after heavy rains flooded the roadway and rendered it impassable.
There was no clear indication when the road closed, but at some point in the early morning Police had to close the underpasses at Sullivan Square as water had reached a point as to make it impossible to pass through.
This, of course, severely impacted commuter traffic coming from Rt. 99 and from Somerville and Cambridge.
Backups were recorded as far back as Rt. 99 in Everett and into Assembly Square as well.
The water was caused by the heavy rains on Tuesday and into Wednesday morning, and the flooding did quickly recede.
By around 9:15 a.m. on Wednesday, the tunnels had re-opened to traffic.
Boston Water and Sewer (BWSC) told the Patriot Bridge that they responded slightly after the waters had receded.
There was a worry that the nearby pump station had failed, but a spokesman said that wasn’t the case.
After an inspection, they found the pump station had worked correctly. However, BWSC said they would continue to monitor the situation in the coming weeks, particularly during rain events.
“Because there is a significant amount of ongoing construction activity locally, BWSC will be monitoring the area in coming weeks and months to make sure construction-related debris does not impede the function of nearby catch basins and drains,” said Stephen Mulloney of BWSC.