Group Says I-495 Incident Shows Need To Fix Bridges

An independent group says an incident in which debris peeled off a highway overpass and smashed the windshield of a car traveling below should serve as a warning about the need to fix crumbling roads and bridges in Massachusetts.

Crews made emergency repairs to the Route 3A bridge after Tuesday's incident on Interstate 495 in Chelmsford. No one was seriously hurt.

Transportation for Massachusetts said in a statement that the bridge is among many in the state considered structurally deficient or functionally obsolete.

The group called on voters to defeat a November ballot question that would repeal a law that automatically ties increases in the gasoline tax to inflation. Revenues from the tax help fund road and bridge repairs.

Advocates for repeal say lawmakers should be required to vote on any tax hikes.

[Associated Press]