Half of Longfellow Bridge to close from Summer 2013 to Fall 2016
Massachusetts department of transportation
Half of Longfellow Bridge to close from Summer 2013 to Fall 2016
According to the Mass. Department of Transportation, its board of directors approved a construction contract for final rehabilitation of the Longfellow Bridge. During the construction, according to the Boston Globe, the bridge will only accommodate one lane of cars traveling from Cambridge into Boston. One outbound lane will be a feature of the finished bridge, which will have wider bike paths and sidewalks. For the first phase of the project, slated to last from the start of this summer to Winter of 2014 or 2015, Cambridge-bound traffic will be redirected to the Craigie Bridge, which sits next to the Museum of Science. For the remainder of the project, the opposite side of the bridge will be closed, but vehicular traffic will still be restricted to flowing inbound. The Red Line will also be truncated at both ends of the bridge for 25 weekends once construction begins, said the Globe. Shuttle buses will be available to carry citizens across the river during these weekends, and temporary track will be put in place to allow the train to run at normal capacity on the weekdays.
The rehabilitation is part of the Patrick-Murray Accelerated Bridge Program, which will remove Longfellow and other bridges from the “structurally deficient” list. The project also includes the construction of a new pedestrian bridge over Storrow Drive. According to the Globe, the construction project must be completed by Sept. 30, 2016.
— Bruno B. F. Faviero