Historic span may get bridge to future
The Northern Avenue Bridge, which decades ago was considered too difficult to repair and too expensive to operate, may get a reprieve, thanks to the $3 million earmarked for refurbishing it that was included in a major transportation bill approved last week by the US House of Representatives.
The outlook brightened for the historic span, which is one of two remaining swing bridges in Massachusetts and the pedestrian link to the South Boston waterfront.
The funding was included in this year's reauthorization of legislation that identifies US transportation priorities for the next six years. If the Senate signs off on the bill, the future would be secured for the 646-foot bridge across Fort Point Channel -- one of the oldest steel-framed operable swing bridges in the world.
Once a busy bridge for vehicles, the bridge built in the early 1900s has rarely opened in recent years and is now limited to pedestrian traffic.
Mayor Thomas M. Menino at one point favored tearing down the rusting bridge, but changed his mind even after it was supplanted by a span named after the late Evelyn Moakley, wife of the late South Boston congressman, J. Joseph Moakley.
US Representative Stephen F. Lynch,Moakley's successor, had sought $25 million in federal funds for the bridge a few years ago, but last week he hailed the $3 million included in the latest legislation. "This federal funding is the first step," Lynch said in a press release.
Some changes to bus routes
Thirteen MBTA bus routes serving Dorchester, Hyde Park, Mattapan, Roslindale, and Roxbury were altered starting yesterday, Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority General Manager Michael H. Mulhern announced. Some routes will see an increase in service, and some of the lightly used bus routes will be discontinued. The changes are a result of suggestions received by the MBTA, he said, and will be made at no cost to taxpayers.
The changes include:
Routes 40 and 50 will get new hourly Sunday service.
Route 24 will run more frequently on Saturdays.
Route 26 will serve Blue Hill Avenue and Morton Street when Route 21 is not in operation on weekdays and Saturdays.
Route 27 will run less frequently midday on weekdays and Saturdays.
Route 30 will have more service in the morning rush hour and serve Forest Hills all day every weekday.
Routes 31, 36, and 39 will provide more service to downtown early Sunday morning.
Route 32 will have more service in the morning rush hour.
Routes 33 and 40 will run later on weekdays.
Route 42 will operate to Dudley Monday through Saturday, operating more frequently for parts of the day.
Passengers can call the MBTA at 617-222-3200 for more details.
Can't get there...
The Mass. Pike east between Exit 22 (Prudential/Copley) and South Boston will be closed from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. tomorrow through Friday morning and from 11 p.m. to 7 a.m.
Friday through next Sunday morning.
Direct access to the Ted Williams Tunnel from I-93 north, Frontage Road, and South Boston will remain open.
The Frontage Road northbound onramp to the Mass. Pike west at the Broadway Bridge will be closed from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. tomorrow through Friday morning and from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m.
Friday through next Sunday morning.
The ramps at Exit 20 (Mass.
Pike/Logan) from I-93 north to the Mass. Pike will be closed from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. tomorrow through Friday morning and from 10 p.m. to 7 a.m. Friday through next Sunday morning. The lefthand ramp from Exit 20 to Frontage Road northbound and South Station will remain open.
The Mass. Pike west in South Boston will be closed from 12:01 a.m. to 5 a.m. Tuesday through Friday and from 12:01 a.m. to 7 a.m. Saturday and next Sunday. The onramp to the Mass.
Pike west from D Street will also be closed.
The onramp from Congress Street to I-93 north in South Boston and Exit 24 (I-93 north) off the westbound Pike will be closed from 11:30 p.m. to 5 a.m. tomorrow through Friday morning and from 1 a.m. to 7 a.m.
Saturday and Sunday.
I-93 south over the Charles River will be closed from 11:30 p.m. to 5 a.m. tomorrow through Friday morning and from 1 a.m. to 6:30 a.m. Saturday. The onramps to I-93 south from Storrow Drive, the Tobin Bridge, and City Square will also be closed.
The Storrow Drive onramp to I-93 south will be closed from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. Tuesday through Friday and from 11 p.m. Friday to 7 a.m. Saturday.
I-93 north at Exit 20 (Pike/ Logan) will be closed to all traffic from 11:30 p.m. to 5 a.m. tomorrow through Friday morning and from 1 a.m. to 6:30 a.m. Saturday.
The ramps at Exit 20 to the Mass.
Pike, and the onramps to I-93 north at the Massachusetts Avenue Connector and Broadway will also be closed.
The underpass from Storrow Drive east to I-93 north and the Tobin Bridge will be closed from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. tomorrow through Friday morning, and from 1 a.m. to 6 a.m. Saturday.
The Haymarket onramp to I-93 south and the Callahan Tunnel will be closed from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. tomorrow through Friday morning and from 11 p.m. Friday to 7 a.m. Saturday.
The Essex Street onramp to I-93 south will be closed from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. tomorrow through Friday morning and from 11 p.m.
Friday to 7 a.m. Saturday.
The Haymarket onramp to I-93 north will be closed from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. tomorrow through Wednesday, from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. tomorrow through Friday morning, and from 11 p.m.
Friday to 7 a.m. Saturday.
The Sumner Tunnel onramp to Storrow Drive will be closed from 9 a.m. to 3:30 p.m. Thursday and Friday. Sumner Tunnel access to I-93 north will remain open.
The ramp from the Tobin Bridge and Rutherford Avenue/ City Square to I-93 south and Storrow Drive will be closed from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m. tomorrow through Saturday morning.
The Atlantic Avenue onramp to I-93 north will be closed from 1 a.m. to 5 a.m. Tuesday through Friday morning and from 1 a.m. to 6:30 a.m. Saturday.
The Rutherford Avenue onramp to the Tobin Bridge will be closed from 11 p.m. to 5 a.m.
Tuesday through Saturday morning.
The Sumner Tunnel onramp to I-93 north will be closed from 9 a.m. to 2:30 p.m. tomorrow through Wednesday, from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. tomorrow through Wednesday morning, from 11:30 p.m. to 5 a.m. Wednesday through Friday morning and from 11:30 p.m. Friday to 5 a.m. Saturday morning.
The Sumner Tunnel onramp to Government Center and Haymarket will be closed from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. tomorrow through Thursday morning, from 11 p.m.
Thursday to 5 a.m. Friday morning and from 11 p.m. Friday to 7 a.m. Saturday morning.
The Congress Street onramp to I-93 south and MassPike west will be closed from 10 p.m. to 5:30 a.m. tomorrow through Saturday morning.
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