Longfellow repairs may mean detours for some
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State engineers planning a $280 million overhaul of the Longfellow Bridge are now proposing to shut down the Cambridge-bound lanes to cars during repairs - a move that could shave at least a year off the construction timetable.
The closure of both lanes of the bridge that connects Boston and Cambridge over the Charles River would send motorists around Leverett Circle to cross to Cambridge using the Craigie bridges near the Museum of Science. Those bridges are now slated for renovations that could be completed in 2011, when the Longfellow work would begin.
However, the detours could pose complications for the Charles River Basin and the Longfellow, used daily by an estimated 128,000 commuters.
Among the potential snags raised yesterday: The 14 1/2-foot space remaining in the single travel lane would be narrower than emergency officials typically advise, said Mike O'Dowd, the Massachusetts Highway Department project manager on the Longfellow, who led about 40 people on a site visit to the bridge yesterday afternoon.
He said officials are hoping to accommodate the space using technology, such as video cameras to monitor backups on the bridge and traffic lights to change patterns in the event of an emergency. But state planners will have to meet with officials from Boston and Cambridge to determine whether they are comfortable with the space available for emergency vehicles, he said.
The massive overhaul of the 102-year-old Longfellow Bridge is long overdue but has been postponed by interim repairs done since the August 2007 bridge collapse in Minnesota heightened concerns about rusted spans nationwide.
STEPHANIE EBBERT
