Longfellow Bridge Repair Project Delayed
Longfellow Bridge photo by Ed Uthman via Flickr/Creative Commons
Have you finally adjusted to the new traffic routes in place as a result of the Longfellow Bridge repairs? Well, good, because they are going to remain in place until at least December 2018, two years later than originally planned.
Cambridge State Rep. Tim Toomey broke the news on social media Tuesday when he was touring the bridge with Beacon Hill State Rep. Jay Livingstone.
Correction to last tweet: Longfellow reopens Dec 2018 (not Oct). Full completion of all associated project work expected Oct 2019. #CambMA
— Tim Toomey (@TimToomey1) July 28, 2015
Colleague @jaylivingstone and I received tour of Longfellow Bridge rehab project and update on progress to date (1/2) pic.twitter.com/OyGuxq6xhm
— Tim Toomey (@TimToomey1) July 27, 2015
The slow pace of the project is being attributed to the complex and historic nature of the bridge’s design. The individual blocks that make up the stone and steel crossing, including the hundreds in the four iconic salt and pepper towers at the center of the structure, have been painstakingly removed from the bridge during the $225 million repair process.
Traffic on the bridge has been limited to one Boston bound lane since the start of the project in the summer of 2013. The reconstruction of the bridge is part of a broader $3 billion state program that identified dilapidated bridges in dire need of repairs. To date the program has restored 167 bridges across the state, lowering the number of structurally deficient bridges in Massachusetts from 543 to 416.
The Longfellow Bridge was completed in 1906, making it younger than some of its counterparts along the river.
