The Beacon Hill Times reports the new North Washington Street Bridge, bedeviled by construction problems, will open to vehicle and pedestrian traffic on Dec. 9. Only one side of the bridge will be open to traffic in both directions - with final completion not expected until December, 2024, since contractors first have to take down the current temporary bridge to complete the inbound side of the permanent bridge.
From MassDOT handout
MassDOT officials said tonight workers are busy fixing defective welds on the new North Washington Street Bridge and that they should be done by the end of December, letting non-repair construction resume in January - with a goal of switching three vehicle lanes and sidewalks over from the current temporary bridge in December, 2023. Read more.
MassDOT has announced two public online meetings to discuss the bridge, and we're going to be optimistic and assume they're not going to go to all the trouble just to announce that the project is still dead in the water. Read more.
NBC Boston reports state officials and the contractor still have no idea when work can resume. Work to replace the old bridge came to a halt last fall after the discovery of bad welds in the foundations of what was supposed to be a state-of-the-art swoopy 21st-century span.
The Charlestown Patriot-Bridge reports that "several recently installed beams" were not welded correctly in the new bridge between the North End and Charlestown.
An irate citizen files a 311 complaint from the Constitution Marina in Charlestown about the construction crews working on the new North Washington Street Bridge: Read more.
Adam Castiglioni has been watching crews disassemble the old Charlestown Bridge, also known as the North Washington Street Bridge, between the North End and Charlestown. Today, he reports: Read more.
Live Boston was up early this morning and so was one of the first people to drive over the new, temporary North Washington Street Bridge, which will ferry traffic between the North End and Charlestown until the more permanent bridge is finished: Read more.
MassDOT said today it will be a temporary bridge next to the North Washington Street bridge next year so that people can continue to get between the North End and Charlestown until the old bridge is permanently replaced by 2023. Read more.
The Boston Transportation Department alerts us:
Traffic Advisory starting tomorrow:
Maintenance requires lane reduction on the North Washington St Bridge. Drivers should expect outbound delays. The outbound travel lane adjacent to the curb will be closed to traffic to allow repair work to take place. Seek alternate routes.
If you're willing to go through the security checkpoint, Boston Public Works has put some scale models of the new North Washington Street bridge up in the City Hall lobby.
Tons of photos and renderings of the current and replacement bridges.
The North End Regional Review shows us the proposed replacement for the old bridge between the North End and Charlestown. The city hopes to begin replacement in 2016.
The stencil on the Charlestown Bridge looks official, so it must be, right?
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