Bill Russell Bridge | North Washington St.

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PaulC

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I know there are other thread asking if this bridge will be repaired or replaced. Here is some current news:

This bridge replacement project is in the early design stages, a process that is expected to wrap up within the next couple of years, according to Jayasinghe. That process will include a public review portion, which has not yet begun.

After the city completes the design process, MassDOT will advertise the project for construction—but, again, that work is several years away.
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As for what the new bridge will look like, the city engineer said one thing is certain: it will be a vast improvement on the existing structure.

The North Washington Bridge connects Charlestown and the North End, carries a portion of the Freedom Trail linking to the USS Constitution and Bunker Hill and lies in the shadow of the Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge, making it an important city feature.

As Jayasinghe put it: “We want that bridge to have some personality."
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http://charlestown.patch.com/articl...he-north-washington-alford-st-bridge-projects
 
As for what the new bridge will look like, the city engineer said one thing is certain: it will be a vast improvement on the existing structure.
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... but I like the way it looks.
 
It may be, but that doesn't preclude replacement. I was involved as an engineer with replacing a historic bridge out in Washington state. All that was needed to satisfy SHPPO was documentation and recording of the old structure prior to demolition.

Hey, on the new bridge I would like to see a center reservation for light rail, or at least design the bridge strong enough and wide enough to accommodate a light rail reservation in the future. I think it's inevitable that someday light rail will run from Charlestown down the RKG via this bridge.
 
Until 1975, this bridge had a 'center reservation' for the Orange Line.
 
Ron Newman said:
Until 1975, this bridge had a 'center reservation' for the Orange Line.
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Technically it still does, but it's just disused and makes people who don't know its purpose scratch their heads.



I'm interested as to how this will impact the 92, 93, 111, 426, and 428. I ask this as someone who will likely be using the 426 and 428 every day starting in May. And also as someone who thinks the 111 sucks butt as it is.

Perhaps the 111, 426, and 428 could be diverted over the Zakim and come out at Clinton St, but the 92 and 93 get really shafted.
 
I'm also wondering if this will take into account the foresight to leave Lovejoy Wharf as a viable place to reactivate ferry service should it ever be deemed desirable.
 
Would the state need to build temporary on and off ramps from the Zakim to Charlestown while this bridge is replaced?
 
The new bridge is likely to have a movable span. While railway tracks and movable spans are not fully incompatible, the tracks and wires add cost.
 
The current bridge hasn't opened in many decades. Why might this be needed for a new bridge?
 
stellarfun said:
The new bridge is likely to have a movable span. While railway tracks and movable spans are not fully incompatible, the tracks and wires add cost.
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Uhh, why would the new bridge have tracks and wires?
 
Ron Newman said:
The current bridge hasn't opened in many decades. Why might this be needed for a new bridge?
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Charles River locks. Rising sea levels. Navigable waters of the United States.

If the locks weren't there, or is someone wasn't proposing ferry service from Lovejoy wharf, then one could argue for a fixed span.
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The suggested light rail line; light rail by definition has tracks.
 
There was MBTA ferry service from Lovejoy Wharf during the Big Dig, and it had no trouble getting under the current North Washington Street bridge.

Does anyone here know when the bridge last opened?
 
There are projections that m.s.l. at Boston will be 0.7 meters higher in 2050 than current.
 
They need to close those open grates on the sidewalks , crossing that bridge was a test on my Acrophobia.
 
metal grates + rain = very slippery and dangerous condition for bicycles (and probably for motorcycles too)
 
It's probably feasible to make the new bridge a couple of feet higher where it would cross the active channel, which is at the truss portion of the existing bridge.
 
Right now there's an on-ramp to the southbound Zakim in the place you mention, but no off-ramp from the northbound Zakim to Charlestown.
 
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