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New North Washington Street bridge will look just a tad different
By adamg on Thu, 10/20/2016 - 11:44am
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.
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Comments
is it just me?
Inside-out whale skeleton? Anyone else?
It's probably me.
well
At the right angle, the top accents look more like barbed wire supports on a prison fence...
Hair clip?
Fly trap?
Where
Did they dig that up?
Dig?
I think it washed up.
Wait, what?
What happened to the bridge that complimented the Zakim? There was a design floating around about a year ago that was actually nice. This? Not so much.
Presentation from December of last year
This PDF from December 15th has the same design. There are several alternative designs proposed.
I like the wide sidewalk.
http://www.massdot.state.ma.us/Portals/8/docs/HighlightedProjects/northW...
And both bridges are designed by Rosales and Partners.
You don't have to be a bridge to 'compliment' the Zakim...
Nice obelisk component ya got there!
The first name that comes to mind ...
The first name that comes to mind when I see this is "the Fishbone Bridge" ... Which is kind of appropriate for a bridge leading to and from the Seaport.
But it doesn't lead to the Seaport
It goes from Charlestown to the North End.
Or To Bonin' In The Boneyard
I walk across it on a Sunless Saturday.
Can they finally fix that major gas leak while they are at it?
The one just before the crosswalk at the intersection of North Washington and Causeway after you cross the bridge?
They have the road torn up forever and work on it every night, but the hole just seems to be getting bigger and bigger and the gas smell getting worse.
IKR!
I guess I'm not the only one who has gotten that whiff - although I usually smell it when turning onto the bridge off of Commercial St.
I reported it and was told that it was an "ongoing issue" and "nuisance odor".
Who are the morons
doing the Charlestown urban planning?
The Bunker HIll projects will triple the current number of units from 1100 to 3200, the casino is going into Everett a mile down the road and there is this plan to re-do the rotary (which is already a game of Russian Roulette) and make Rutherford into a "grand boulevard" with shops and on street parkting.
And now this bridge will have exactly the same capacity?
Charlestown: where commuters will add another 45 minutes to their daily commutes, each way.
No Kidding
It took me one hour to get from Commercial Wharf to Pier six a few months ago.
2 Miles.
Slow walker?
It's not about cars
Let's see you walk
Carrying a few hundred pounds of building supplies.
Smugness is not pretty.
Fits on a bike
Look at all the pedicabs.
Rolls eyes
No further comment needed.
You know what?
Get rid of most of the cars and your trip by motorized vehicle would go faster.
The problem isn't the bridge width - North Washington street is the hang up.
The problem is ... TOO MANY CARS.
Too many cars?
You must work for the department of the bleeding obvious.
Of course there are too many cars. But the cars exist, and no matter how much wishful thinking, those cars are not going away. no amount of bike lanes, busses, new subway lines or praying to the patron saint of walking is going to change that.
Obvious Retort
Bullshit.
Dude, stop trying
You're just embarrassing yourself.
Historic photos
When Boston had more people?
VERY FEW CARS!
Imagine that!
You know what historic Boston also had?
Nobody.
Just marshland and a few animals.
We are not going back in time. Until somebody invents a way to fly people door to door cheaply, the roads are going to be gridlocked with cars.
How about 1900-1950?
I suspect that anon was referring to the era when there were lots of streetcars, some cars, some bikes, lots of walking.
Oh, and a peak population about 200,000 more people than now.
Bridge Width
Nothing to do with that at all.
The bridge isn't the problem
Nope. Not at all.
The North End is the problem.
Much quicker trip on a bike anyway ... or just walk it.
If they drive
And driving that to commute? Stupid.
No it doesn't
The wide sidewalks and bike lanes will accommodate much more traffic than the current bridge does today.
The zakim, a free 8 lane
The zakim, a free 8 lane highway bridge that has another 2 lane bridge attached to it, is right next to this. We don't need another highway bridge connecting these two neighborhoods.
Seriously?
Do you realize that one bridge is part of an interstate highway while the other is basically a neighborhood road (granted, a pretty large road) - one that also has a large volume of pedestrian traffic?
But maybe I'm missing something: How would you direct tourists to walk from the North End to the Constitution without the North Washington Street bridge?
I think you misinterpreted the comment you replied to
I saw it as saying that the replacement North Washington Street bridge should *not* be designed as a "highway bridge".
Adam, the first rule of the Internet is...
Don't Feed the Trolls.
I've always walked between
I've always walked between the North End and the Constitution using the pedestrian bridges over the dam locks. Never occurred to me to go up to the bridge.
You obviously don't understand the basic concept here
It's a REPLACEMENT for an EXISTING bridge that's been in place for over 100 years. Not replacing the bridge with an equivalent span - one that includes accommodation for motor vehicles - is not a realistic option here.
Thankfully the new bridge
Thankfully the new bridge will have a bus only lane, wide sidewalks and a cycle track. If you don't want to sit in traffic you have those 3 superior options for getting across the bridge.
I suggest you re-read the presentation slides
The dedicated bus lane is only an option being considered at this point. And it appears to be contingent on either the T or somebody else running additional shuttle buses between Downtown Boston and Charlestown.
The presentation slides were
The presentation slides were from April, the bus lanes plans are more solid since then.
Will it have a bus lane?
Will it have a bus lane?
The lane diagrams and renderings say nothing about buses. For example, see page 38 -- cars in all 4 lanes.
Then buried on page 69, it says:
"POSSIBILITY for dedicated bus lane
Purpose
• Dedicated bus lane providing expedited service INBOUND"
[emphasis added]
So it hasn't been decided yet? And what about outbound?
What exactly will happen, they'll build 4 regular lanes, and then have a big public fight about restricting one of them to buses? Should we assume it will be as poorly designed, marked, and enforced as the Essex Street bus lane on the Silver Line?
the DOT PDF that Adam linked
the DOT PDF that Adam linked to is 6 months old.
there is a bus lane, that option was chosen.
you can see the diamond pavement markings and solid line separating the bus lane in the pics on DPW twitter acct.
Could you provide a link?
Could you provide a link?
Good
Maybe all the driving commuters can find a different way into the city and we can take these areas of the neighborhood back, making them safe and enjoyable for pedestrians, bikes and residents.
Stegosaurus
It will need some Jurrasic Park colorings...
Did not know the El used to run on this bridge
Page 6 of the second link. Pretty cool.
The Purely Decorative Eyelashes Are A Terrible Idea
It would be nice if they served some useful function, such as providing a modicum of shelter to pedestrians. Instead, the custom steel components do nothing but increase the cost of construction. It might be different if the state had a track record of properly maintaining things, but everyone knows it will soon become dirty, rusted, broken and ugly.
At least the pigeons will like it — the eyelashes have lots of places for them to roost.
Reference:
Just two years old — Wonderland bridge crumbling, handrails broken and missing.
They will drip right onto people below
When piled with accumulated snow and ice that begins to melt. As cool as it looks, this will be a problem, just as it is with the awning at One Washington Mall, next to City Hall.
north end greenway
It doesn't appear in the render, but I wonder if they didnt have in mind something like what the N End Greenway was supposed to be: trellis-y and full of lush vine action. Which is sort of is.
Its dumb, but also consider that it may be incomplete shelter as a deterrent for loitering and variations thereof.
So You're Saying It's Just There To Tease? — A "Shelter Mirage"?
I suppose that's not unlike the so-called "bus shelters" at Haymarket, Kenmore Square and along the Silver Bus route on Washington Street. Something pleasant to look at by people driving by in cars, yet simultaneously so unpleasant for actual users that the "riff raff" is kept out of sight.
Shade
Mitigation for the heat island effect on the Charles River and the neighbourhood.
If vegitated, the light attenuation is seasonal.
I bike that bridge almost daily and the summer heat load is considerable.
sure
just like short walls, borders and ledges that have spikes or other "decorative iron work" in them. a city with a voluntarily unattended homeless problem and a penchant for image maintenance knows better than to create spaces hospitable to those who have nowhere else to go.
( there's no way to delete double-posts, so I turned over the duplicate )
Reminds me of
the new mall at the (NYC) World Trade Center
Those 7' wide separated bike
Those 7' wide separated bike lanes... UNNNF
TV Antenna
Reminds me of those old TV antennas (antennae?) that used to be on roofs years ago. Every once in a while you still see one.
Interesting
I like it. The design makes me thing of a horizontal version of the Zakim Bridge. While the extra steel adds to the cost, building a bridge that is stripped down, rudimentary, without any design other than vertical supports and flat surfaces is boring. Boring architecture - bridges included - is as exciting and interesting as pile of mud.
A Bridge's Actual Structure Can Be Beautiful Unto Itself ≠ Prax
Providence, Rhode Island
Wonderland Ⓣ Station
That's one thing — and I'm not opposed to spending a reasonable amount of money to choose esthetically pleasing designs. The eyelashes are something quite different — they're not part of, nor do they even represent the structural forces in play on the crossing.
They have no function and provide no tangible benefit to anyone (except the contractors, of course). At the end of the day, the eyelashes are nothing but a needless adornment — someone's idea of "style" that nips at the heels of "going too far". Gaudy? Pretentious? Tacky?
To me, it is the epitome of Prax.
Why not just build a simple
Why not just build a simple bridge that will not look like a turd in no time and cost way less?
Explain "way less"
You are assuming that this is "extra stuff" and it is expensive. Can you support these assumptions?
Knowing that bridge and it's use and design life and heat hump problems around the expansion joints, I'm betting that the heat mitigation will save on maintenance and make it more useful and attractive to non motorized users.
If heat mitigation is the
If heat mitigation is the goal there are cheaper materials that could be used.
Maybe
Read the reasons this design was selected - there were considerations of locks, flood control, neighborhood demands, etc.: http://www.massdot.state.ma.us/highway/HighlightedProjects/NorthWashingt...
But...
they're going to paint them white!
Then, Why Not Go All The Way? — Make It An Actual Covered Bridge
( no need for snow removal )
The arch would be there anyway
All these comb-over things are are projections from that arch.