A 10-second shift between two streetlights was all it took to reduce congestion around Atlantic Avenue, city officials say.

Why it matters: Boston's efforts to optimize streetlights to help move traffic through intersections faster helped reduce congestion, says Michael Lawrence Evans, the city's director of emerging technology.

State of play: The intersection bordering the North End is one of at least 60 areas where Boston officials have updated traffic signals at intersections under Google's Project Greenlight to cut down on inefficiencies that slow traffic.

• The partnership, which began last year, lets Boston use AI and Google Maps driving trends to identify traffic hot spots and implement recommended efficiencies.
• The city kept the green light running seven seconds longer at one streetlight, and extended the green time at another nearby by three seconds, Evans tells Axios.

By the numbers: Boston and its partners are monitoring congestion across more than 900 intersections.

• These changes led to an average 13% reduction of traffic across the 114 intersections they've updated, Evans says.

Zoom in: Boston has tweaked signals in 18 neighborhoods, with the most changes in Back Bay and Dorchester, per data shared with Axios.

• That includes multiple points along Columbia Road, including at Pond, Devon and Annabel streets.

Other hot spots include Massachusetts Avenue at Belvidere Street (Back Bay) and at Frontage Road (South Boston) and Beacham Street and Broadway in Charlestown (near the Everett casino).

Reality check: This alone won't solve Boston's traffic problem, and the lag time it cuts down on doesn't happen overnight.

• The system sends a few recommendations each week, which city engineers need to review before implementing.
• One-third of the intersections being monitored aren't connected to the city's project management center. At those intersections, the timing of the traffic lights needs to be manually changed, Evans said.

Have you noticed any traffic changes at these intersections? Reply to this email and let us know.

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Firefighters pulled up to the Gabriel House in Fall River on Sunday night to see people banging on windows begging for help, officials said.

The latest: Nine people were killed and 30 hurt in the fire at the assisted living facility.

• One person remains in critical condition, Fall River Fire Chief Jeffrey Bacon said yesterday.

State of play: Officials are investigating the cause of the fire.

• Fall River opened a shelter for the residents who were displaced, and officials notified the Red Cross, Bacon said.
• Gov. Maura Healey said she offered Mayor Paul Coogan "the full assistance of the state."

Zoom in: The fire was contained to one wing of the building, but it sent smoke throughout the facility.

• Residents broke through windows to escape the smoke, per the Globe.
• Firefighters pulled dozens of residents out of the building, NBC Boston reported.

What they're saying: "Smoke kills more people than fire does every day in America," Bacon told reporters.

• "The lesson that can be learned here is listen to your smoke detectors … because smoke is a deadly force."

Gabriel House is owned by the company Gabriel Care, whose owner is listed as Dennis Etzkorn on state corporate filings.

• Calls and texts to Etzkorn by Axios were not returned yesterday afternoon.

What we're watching: Authorities will investigate whether the facility had any code violations, which is standard during a fire investigation, Bacon said.

• The Gabriel House advertises security monitoring, including a "24 hour emergency response system with 24 hour awake, alert staff" as part of its basic services plan, per its website.

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Twenty-four states, including Massachusetts, are suing the Trump administration over its pause on school and after-school program funding. (The Hill)

The feds slipped Harvard a six-figure research payment last week despite the Trump administration's $2.2 billion funding freeze. (UHub)

• The payment reimbursed Harvard about $373,000 for work on a project focusing on emerging biological threats.

🦟 Two mosquito samples in West Roxbury tested positive for the West Nile virus last week. (Boston.com)

ICYMI: Two Boston men drove a U-Haul to the commuter rail tracks in Somerville to throw out some junk. Then their truck got stuck, police say. (UHub)

• The men, who were photographed by neighbors, got court summonses.

Tens of thousands of people are expected to protest the Trump administration again on Thursday, the fifth anniversary of the death of civil rights leader and former congressman John Lewis.

Why it matters: Lewis was one of the most vocal critics of President Trump during his first administration. Trump's 2017 inauguration was the first that Lewis missed during his three-decade tenure in Congress.

By the numbers: 56,000 people RSVP'd for more than 1,500 events across the country as of Friday, organizers said.

• Dozens of those events are in Massachusetts, including Boston, Brookline, Plymouth and New Bedford.

What they're saying: "Good Trouble Lives On is a national day of action to respond to the attacks on our civil and human rights by the Trump administration," the protest website said.

• "Together, we'll remind them that in America, the power lies with the people."

The other side: "Nearly 80 million Americans gave President Trump a historic mandate to Make America Great Again and he is delivering on that promise in record time," White House spokesperson Liz Huston said in a statement.

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CNBC ranked Massachusetts the 20th-best state for business, up from 38 in 2024.

The highs: Education (of course), technology and innovation, access to capital and quality of life.

The lows: Cost, always.