Long Island Bridge Explained

Fetchwikidata:coordinates
Bridge Name:Long Island Bridge
Other Name:Long Island Viaduct
Crosses:Boston Harbor
Locale:Boston, Massachusetts and Quincy, Massachusetts
Owner:City of Boston[1]
Designer:Crandall Engineering Company
Design:Warren truss
Material:Steel, concrete and rebar
Length:34501NaN1[2]
Width:30.0 ft
Builder:Bethlehem Steel Corporation
Begin:1950
Complete:1951
Closed:
(demolished 2015)
Replaces:Ferry service

The Long Island Bridge, sometimes referred to as the Long Island Viaduct, was a bridge in Boston, Massachusetts, that connected Long Island to Moon Island. Both islands are located in Boston Harbor and are connected to the mainland via a causeway from Moon Island to Squantum, a neighborhood of Quincy, Massachusetts.

History

Constructed at a cost of $2,000,000, the bridge was opened on August 4, 1951.[3] Before the bridge was opened, Long Island was accessible only by the ferry James M. Curley. The bridge was built to provide better access to Long Island Hospital, an infectious disease hospital[4] serving 1,200 chronically ill patients. After the hospital's closure, in 1983,[4] the bridge provided access to other city facilities on the island, including a homeless shelter, programs for patients with substance abuse problems, and a fire station.

A –Long Island bus service over the bridge was operated by the Eastern Massachusetts Street Railway until 1972, then by the MBTA until 1976. The MBTA resumed service with route 276 Long Island Hospital–Boston City Hospital in 1983, with route 275 added in 1994. After a weight restriction was placed on the bridge in 2007, the two routes terminated at the Fire Academy on Moon Island, with a single route 274 bus shuttling over the bridge.[5]

Closure

In October 2014, all access to Long Island was cut off for the indefinite future since the then Mayor of Boston, Marty Walsh, took the warning of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation about the condition of the Long Island Bridge being unsafe. All those living on Long Island and being serviced by recovery programs or as guests in the homeless shelter were no longer able to go there or use it for services. They were abruptly relocated elsewhere on an emergency basis.[6] [7]

In January 2015, demolition of the bridge began with the central span section being removed and ferried away in February.[8] [9] In a series of controlled demolitions, the remainder of the bridge was destroyed in March and April. By 2018, the city had committed $92 million to replace the bridge, but Quincy objected to the planned replacement.[10] In July 2022, the Massachusetts Supreme Judicial Court ruled that the Quincy Conservation Commission, which had rejected Boston's plans for the new bridge, did not have jurisdiction to overrule the Massachusetts Department of Environmental Protection approval of the plan.[11]

Further reading

Notes and References

  1. News: Abel. David. Crimaldi. Laura. Harbor bridge closing brings hunt for new shelters, services. 11 October 2014. The Boston Globe. 9 October 2014.
  2. News: Long Island Bridge Bids to Be Accepted in About Two Weeks. The Boston Globe. 25 February 1950. 9 . newspapers.com.
  3. News: Mayor Hynes Snips Ribbon, Opening Long Island Viaduct: $2,000,000 Bridge in Quincy Called Longest of Its Kind in United States . The Boston Globe . August 5, 1951 . C26 . Newspapers.com.
  4. Web site: Irons. Meghan E. . Abrupt closing of Long Island Bridge was slow to arrive . 2024-07-02 . Boston Globe . 2017-04-15 . https://web.archive.org/web/20170415092652/https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2014/12/13/bridge/CKX45L7z1CXdtMmsYkXP1N/story.html . dead.
  5. Web site: 275/276 Long Island-Boston Medical Center or Downtown: Fall August 30, 2014 - December 26, 2014 . August 30, 2014 . Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.
  6. Web site: Mayor Walsh provides update on the Long Island Bridge . November 26, 2014 . City of Boston . https://web.archive.org/web/20141204160452/https://www.cityofboston.gov/news/Default.aspx?id=17885 . December 4, 2014 .
  7. News: Boston Homeless Shelter Evacuated Following Bridge Inspection. Caesar. Chris. October 8, 2014 . Boston.com. October 9, 2014. Boston.com.
  8. McMahon, Shannon (January 5, 2015). "Boston Begins Long Island Bridge Demolition". Boston.com. January 5, 2015.
  9. Finucane, Martin. (February 25, 2015). "Portion of ailing Long Island Bridge is removed". The Boston Globe. Retrieved February 25, 2018.
  10. News: Walsh commits $50 million to Long Island bridge in new budget. Valencia. Milton. April 10, 2018 . The Boston Globe. May 2, 2018 .
  11. News: SJC ruling backs Boston in long-running legal fight with Quincy over rebuilding Long Island Bridge . John R. . Ellement . Danny . McDonald . The Boston Globe . July 25, 2022 . July 25, 2022.