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State looks to replace venerable Beades Bridge on Morrissey Boulevard
By adamg on Wed, 02/08/2023 - 10:19pm
The Dorchester Reporter reports MassDOT is looking at a new, $122-million bridge to replace the current drawbridge because while the bridge is not yet falling down, falling down, it is crumbling. Any replacement, which could be years away, would be coordinated with state plans to raise Morrissey Boulevard, which now floods on the regular.
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Comments
Good
The bridge is 90+ years old. It might be time.
For all of you saying that Morrissey should be ripped up owing to climate concerns (it should be road dieted), I will go along with it as long as we rip up South Bay, most of the South End, MIT, the Back Bay, the Airport, all of Everett south of Route 16, and all the other filled wetlands in Greater Boston are ripped up too.
Fair is fair and people in Dot, Quincy, Mattapan, Milton, and Weymouth that use it are just as important as you.
We should even suggest that there be little tiny gates for people on bikes to stop when the bridge goes up. It will be soooooo cute.
Also
10 points for Gaffindore for the Middle Ages English Saint reference.
This should be fun during and after construction
1 lane? (or less?) of traffic in each direction on Morrissey during the 5-10 years of construction
Dysfunctional Ashmont line
The opening of huge new apartment complexes and commercial buildings on Dot Ave and Morrissey
The new "improved" boulevard with only 2 lanes instead of 3 lanes in each direction (especially during rush hours)
Fun times!
2 lanes would be an improvement
Induced demand means every lane attracts more (out of town) cars. Morrissey is dangerous for pedestrians and cyclists. Now that there will be more residents on the bayside of the road it needs a diet.
Couldn't disagree more
I think this road diet theory is 100% nonsense. But neither of us will know who is right until and unless they do it.
And then the clusterfxxx and the finger pointing begins, according to me. We will see.
If we had real, dependable, 24/7 rapid transit, including a Neponset Station, maybe this road diet theory might have some limited merit. But we don't and I don't think we will any time in the foreseeable future.
saving lives in not nonsense
The only problem the road diet has is political, the design works.
I’d be in favor of razing the Seaport
and starting over. But keep Chickadee, which is awesome, and maybe Pier Four. They did alright there, set the building back to build a little public park on the waterfront, and I like Woods Hill. The rest can go to damnation.
You dislike the ICA?
It IS a little shameful how
It IS a little shameful how invisible the ICA is now with all the high-rises around it. It deserves to shine again.
ICA was built for Sea Level Rise
Note that the entire first floor is either entry or things that can be quickly moved or hosed off.
Loved living the Seaport
The Benjamin penthouse floors, the roof deck on the fourth floor with the pool and outdoor space, the doorman and all the staff there were incredible! The price? Not so much. The Seaport always felt like a little Manhattan. All the restaurants, shops, breweries, and high rises. Easy walk to anywhere in the city too. I still reminisce about living there.
Yeah, just like Manhattan.
Yeah, just like Manhattan. Pedestrians everywhere. 24-hour food steps from wherever you are. Ethnic restaurants of every type you could imagine. Artists, actors, and musicians doing stuff that isn't done anywhere else on earth. Historic architecture. 24-hour rail transit.
Hmm, maybe the Seaport is less like Manhattan and more like the Jersey City waterfront, except without the actual Manhattan a short PATH ride away.
I can change Seaport to Boston and everything you said
Is still true. Sounds like you should move to Manhattan - home of the highest rent in the world with the median one bed renting for $4000.
Haters gonna hate though.
Why would I move to Manhattan
Why would I move to Manhattan? You're the one who was excited about living in a neighborhood you thought was like Manhattan.
Seaport also doesn't have
Seaport also doesn't have Jersey City waterfront's ferries, light rail, commuter rail (well, that's actually Hoboken, not JC, so never mind), marginally active freight RR, public park/recreation space, shopping mall (big whoop, I know)!
But - take heart! The Seaport does come out on top in a couple of categories. Jersey City doesn't have the Silver Line, for example. And - Seaport has higher apartment rents than than Jersey City waterfront (according to RentCafe)!
Seaport has all of the charm
Seaport has all of the charm of Times Square, for sure. :)
Storrow can go
The Back Bay can just be given the Seattle Wants Flush Toilets treatment, as can the Seaport.
Morrisey should be transitioned to being a local road serving local addresses (few alternatives), not a throughway, until it no longer accesses anything anymore.
The state should build a
The state should build a fixed bridge for $10 million and give the Dorchester Yacht Club $50 million to move. Net savings, $62 million.
Don't forget the savings of
Don't forget the savings of not having to pay a bridge attendant to raise and lower the bridge.
The $50k the city saves
will increase its bond ratings while eliminating another blue collar job.
bikes
anyone who has "ridden" a bike over it knows it is virtually impossible.
wide sidewalk and bike lane please.
if it weren't that stretch of morrissey, i could easily bike all the way up into boston and feel relatively safe. (i live off neponset near an entrance to the bike path and the park.)
That and the gas tank side easement will go a long way
I believe the gas company has agreed to allow a path connecting from Tenean to Morrissey. That would eliminate the need to ride up Freeport, under the highway, across the high speed exit from 93 and get you beyond the bridge by providing a safe route.
If they get that and Morrissey done you'll have a very nice ride from Mattapan Square to Castle Island with other good connections from the south. That would be a huge boon to both commuters and recreational/family cyclists (I dream of a leisurely ride punctuated with a hot dog from Sully's & Simco's at either end).
Dangerous Biking? Sure. However,
For now, just ride on the sidewalk.
I used to do it as a 14 year old. It was fine. I did it last year. It was fine.
There are no pedestrians on Morrissey save for the occasional UMass student walking from the lights to Grampian Way to get up to Savin Hill. Any BC High kids, even if they live in Dot, go to JFK.
Just ride on the sidewalk for now. No one will tell on you.
A widening of the roadway with a Netherlands type dike would keep the roadway, allow more bikes and pedestrians, and protect Clam Point, Glover's Corner and parts of Fields Corner from sea level rise.
It has been done before. People do know that the Memorial Drive "Embankment" and the wall between Storrow Drive and Back Street are seawalls, right?
Little confused John
Cyclists need to follow all the rules of the road or follow some rules of the road?
The rule allows for sidewalk riding in that location
It is legal to ride on the sidewalk in Massachusetts, except in business districts. The definition of business district is a bit subjective, but I don't think anybody would consider that forlorn stretch of Morrisey Blvd to be a business district. Like John, I ride on the sidewalk there, and it's the only place in the entire city where I will do so.
Oh for sure its a subjective definition
A gracious gesture from John for sure but does seem like he sees it as illegal. Little inconsistent with previous comments he's made about cyclists breaking the law.
My any definition, it's not a commercial area
And unlike the others, I've only gone over that bridge on foot for the past decade or so. I mean, I love that stretch, but mainly because of how isolated it is. Running the Harborwalk, I have no real conflicts with motor vehicle traffic from the offramp by the bridge until L Street going via Columbia Point. So long as a cyclist doesn't yell at me for using the sidewalk, I'm cool with them using it (to be clear, no cyclist has ever said anything bad to me on that run, and that includes going back to Mattapan Square.)
You want to bike Southbound?
Go use the hardly used bike lane in Dot Ave which pretty much runs parallel to Morrisey.
that's why cycling is so dangerous
We use Dot Ave every day but you pretend it is hardly used.
Yup.
I’d use it more, if it was safer.
So would lots of other cyclists.
we are there, but you drivers
we are there, but you drivers don't "see" us
Missed opportunity
...to title it "venerable, vulnerable Beades Bridge"
Also: a bridge crumbling in Massachusetts? I'm shocked!
superior option:
eliminate Morrissey Boulevard, replace with greenspace and actual walkable/bikeable infrastructure.
The ocean will reclaim Morrissey in a matter of a couple of decades anyway, so why keep throwing money away on yet another of the city's Urban Renewal monstrosities?
Urban Renewal?
It was built in 1927.
We need a Neponset to JFK Gondola, and a new Authority
Southeastern Massachusetts Elevated Gondola Management Authority
In addition
Nothing was “renewed” in the area.
Simple physics....
Given how people typically drive on that road, you could remove the bridge now and most people would make the jump. Problem solved. :)