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Comments
D'oh!
Just in time to close again when they replace the bridge itself??
http://charlestownbridge.com/2014/11/21/n-washington-st-bridge-to-be-rep...
Unfortunately, Yes
Months later, but, unfortunately, yes. I had this very question during the community meeting last night, and they're re-doing this crossing (to be higher, and thus flood proof), which will mean again closing it for some period of time.
But hey, we get a year or three of use out of this before then, and it can be handy.
It's like the old joke about playing the piano
I never knew you could before.
Full Path Along the Water?
I haven't done much research on this yet, but I'm wondering if anyone is aware of plans for a full path along the water between Nashua Street Park and Lovejoy Wharf.
Currently, the Commuter Rail tracks cause the paths along the river to dead end on either side, forcing you up Nashua and North Station to Causeway, to then connect back at Lovejoy. A pedestrian bridge over the tracks would be an ideal continuation.
A pedestrian bridge over the
You mean like the one currently in place between the MOS and the North Washington Street bridge?
Well yes, like that, except
Well yes, like that, except on the other side of the river. Right now, if you're traveling east along the Charles on the Storrow side, you get stuck once with a surface crossing of 28, and then you hit a total dead-end at the end of Nashua Street Park.
You could opt to cross 28, then take it over the river past the MOS up to North Point Park, next taking the new North Bank Bridge (the bridge you're referring to) over the tracks, before returning to the Storrow side of the river via either the North Washington St. bridge or over the New Charles River Dam. But that's a rather ridiculous detour to need to make, wouldn't you say?
There is a DCR plan for this, yes
as well as for a pedestrian drawbridge attached to a replacement for one of the current railroad drawbridges. These were mandated as part of Big Dig mitigation but I don't know what stage of planning they are in, or whether the South Bank bridge assumes demolition of the now-vacant former Spaulding Rehab hospital.
One other obstacle to a full path along the water
is the Coast Guard base, a pretty essential facility that I doubt is going away or moving any time soon.
Thanks!
Thanks for the details on this. I suppose the name "South Bank Bridge" should have been obvious, but it's good to know that's what I should look for!
As for the old Spaulding, isn't that being renovated now? So, hopefully any South Bank Bridge plan didn't require that building to go! It looks like this document on 125 Nashua St. talks about the possibility of the bridge, so that's something.
http://www.bostonredevelopmentauthority.org/getattachment/3484bdd8-8700-...
As far as the Coast Guard building goes, no argument there. It's somewhat crummy for the Harborwalk to kick out to Commercial up there, but I'd say the Harborwalk along there isn't phenomenal anyhow, traversing the wharfs as it does. As well, that bump out doesn't force you to cross streets or pass through something crowded like the North Station area.
Personally, I'm most interested in a better connection from the edge of the North End to the paths along the Charles. With this change, we're halfway there, but the other half (a South Bank Bridge) is definitely still needed.
Yes, but don't hold your breath
There are long term plans plans to add a path there called the South Bank Bridge, but I think it's unlikely to happen any time soon. There's not much info online, but here's the closest I could find to a source (there's a sentence about it at the bottom). The article claims that DCR has funding, but I don't believe that's correct.
There are also long term plans to add a pedestrian path attached to the commuter rail drawbridge, providing a new connection across the Charles. I believe this would be done around 2025 as part of scheduled repairs to the rail bridge.
Thanks!
Thanks for the link and details! I've walked along both sides of the Commuter Rail tracks, and it the current dead ends just seem ridiculous. I hope it will eventually be rectified.