Craigie Drawbridge

The Craigie Drawbridge, which sits by the Museum of Science on the Charles River, will no longer be lifted during weekday rush hours under a new order from the US Coast Guard.

The problem? The tunnels. Extra traffic is hitting Leverett Circle and the adjoining roads hard, and the bridge needs to stay down to make traffic run smooth. It's effective immediately and will stay this way until Sept. 30.

Here are the exact rules:
The bridge will not be lifted to allow for the passage of ships from 6:00 a.m. – 10:00 a.m. and 3:00 p.m. – 7:00 p.m., Monday through Friday.

On Saturdays and Sundays, the bridge will be closed to vessel passage between noon and 8:00 p.m. However, the bridge will be opened to allow vessels to pass every hour on the half-hour, starting at 12:30 p.m. At such time, the bridge will remain open long enough to allow all queued vessels to pass, and will close immediately afterwards.
The only exceptions allowed will be for emergency or other government vessels, such as police, fire, USCG, etc.

These changes have been announced due to the closure of various Big Dig tunnels, which has resulted in markedly increased traffic volume over the Craigie Drawbridge. The frequent opening of the drawbridge during rush hour and on weekends was exacerbating the congestion problems already being experienced.