Lane reopens on Longfellow Bridge

(David L. Ryan/Globe Staff/file)

By Andrew Ryan, Globe Staff

A lane reopened on the Longfellow Bridge this afternoon that had been closed since June after repairs were completed beneath the Boston-to-Cambridge side of the span over the Charles River.

Transportation officials also lifted a restriction that had barred large trucks from using that side of the bridge, allowing two lanes of traffic to again flow from Boston to Cambridge.

However, the inside lane of the Cambridge-to-Boston side of the bridge will remain closed for another three months while crews replace steel supports, brackets, and other hardware. Trucks over 20 tons will continue to be barred from using that side of the Longfellow, according to the Department of Conservation and Recreation, which owns the bridge.

Roughly 50,000 vehicles a day commute over the Longfellow, a four-lane bridge that also supports the MBTA's Red Line tracks. The deteriorating 102-year-old structure was so in need of repairs that in late June officials closed the inner two lanes, barred large trucks from the span, and forced Red Line trains to slow to 10 miles per hour while crossing the bridge.

In the last year, the state has spent more than $1 million on inspections and roughly $7 million on repairs to the Longfellow. The work has included the repair of railing brackets and the replacement of more than 254 jack beams and 220 stringers. Speed restrictions on Red Lines trains were eased in August.

(John Bohn/Globe Staff/file)

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