Longfellow Bridge
It's always Labor Day weekend along the Charles
By adamg - 11/29/11 - 7:14 amMassDOT reports a truck got stuck under the Longfellow on Memorial Drive around 6:00 a.m., shutting the road, of course. And not just any truck: A big-ass truck.
Go figure: There really is a reason the T warns you not to lean against doors
By adamg - 10/6/11 - 5:43 pmRed Line train hits worker on Longfellow Bridge
By adamg - 6/30/11 - 9:08 pmRed Line service was stopped in both directions; traffic a mess as well.
AlertNewEngland reports the worker appears to be conscious. The worker was extricated not long after rescue crews arrived. Channel 7 reports he suffered only minor arm injuries.
Woman pulled out of Charles at Longfellow; massive search launched after she told rescuers she threw kids in river
By adamg - 4/1/11 - 10:43 pmDive and search teams from the Boston and Cambridge fire departments and State Police raced to the Charles River at the Longfellow Bridge late Friday after a woman pulled out of the water said she had thrown her kids in the water - and troopers spotted children's clothing near where she jumped. But reported that State Police discovered the children safe at home with family - in Florida - about 30 minutes later and the search was called off.
Task force looks at reducing car lanes on Longfellow to give pedestrians, bicyclists more room
By adamg - 10/5/10 - 7:30 am
One possible outbound Longfellow realignmentA state task force meets Wednesday to consider possible options for re-aligning the venerable bridge as part of the state's $255-million repair program.
The session to consider three options begins at 6:30 p.m. in the Shriners Hospital auditorium, 51 Blossom St.
Options range from keeping the current two car lanes in both directions to shrinking car lanes to one in each direction - and reducing their widths. According to a draft report, most task-force members would prefer to go down to one car lane outbound from Boston to allow for wider bike and pedestrian lanes.
The task force rejected a proposal for "flexible" lanes that would be restricted to bicyclists only at certain hours, in part because task force members realize Massholes would attempt to drive in the lane during those hours.
Regardless of road configuration on the bridge, the task force agrees the state needs to reconfigure the approaches for cars, pedestrians and bicyclists at Charles Circle, and that the state finally build the missing 500 feet of a walkway under the bridge on the Cambridge side. One proposal calls for construction of a new pedestrian bridge linking the Longfellow to the Esplanade.
Here's a thought: When the state rebuilds the Longfellow, narrow the roadway and give more space to walkers, bicyclists
By adamg - 8/2/10 - 7:02 pmForLeft considers two alternates for a rebuilt Longfellow - one of which has only one traffic lane in each direction:
... I love the idea of cutting down on car traffic and [putting] benches on the walks. This is a chance to really change the urban environment. ...
Red Line train forced to get pushy as other train stalls on Longfellow Bridge
By adamg - 7/6/10 - 5:01 pmIf it works and one train can push the dead inbound train off the bridge (or rather, down the tracks to the next station), should mean some relief for people stuck in a train in the sun with no air conditioning on the hottest day in eight years. If not, they could always make a break for it. Unfortunately, that would do little for people waiting in sweltering stations - or the trains behind the trains on the bridge, such as JJ Leslie, who tweets:
I am stuck on a train behind the disabled RL train. In the station at Central. People are getting very angry. Bad feeling.
Drunk van driver crashes into Red Line train
By Ron Newman - 2/19/10 - 9:43 amThis morning around midnight on the Longfellow Bridge, according to Boston.com. Note to Globe: Red Line cars are not "subway trolleys".
Trapped in a train on the Longfellow Bridge
By adamg - 2/5/10 - 9:41 pmJJ Leslie was among the unfortunate who spent more than 30 minutes in a dead inbound Red Line train on the Longfellow tonight. He live-tweeted the experience:
Court rules that merely sitting next to a gun doesn't mean you own it
By adamg - 1/14/10 - 11:08 amThe Massachusetts Court of Appeals today reversed a Boston man's gun-possession conviction because prosecutors failed to prove he owned the gun in the friend's car he was driving at the time - or that he even knew the weapon was there.
