Storrowing on actual Storrow Drive averted by inches

James Jackson Storrow Memorial Drive officially extends from David G. Mugar Way — near Arlington Street and the Hatch Shell — to University Road — just east of the B.U. Bridge.

The road that starts at Beacon Street, opposite and just west of Arlington Street, and ends at Charles Circle, is called David G. Mugar Way in honor of the philanthropist who funded many years of Boston's 4th of July festivities. It used to be called Embankment Road. It shows up on the 1908 Bromley Atlas, so it was built more than three decades before Storrow Drive.

The road along the river, between Charles Circle and Leverett Circle is actually part of Charles Street. It was laid out in the 1840s and '50s, and then given the name Charles Street in 1866. It was widened and turned into a highway in the mid-1950s, soon after the Central Artery ramp to Leverett Circle was built.

The mid-1950s was also when Storrow Drive was widened — it opened in 1951 as a four-lane road, but soon proved inadequate. Embankment Road was also widened at the same time, and a better connection was made between Storrow and Embankment.

The ramps under the Longfellow — where today's incident occurred — were also built in the mid-1950s, thus creating a continuous highway from Brighton (where its known as Soldiers Field Road) to Leverett Circle and the Central Artery ramp. Those ramps may have a name, but I don't know what it is. Technically, they're not part of either Charles Street or Mugar Way.

Yes, I know, most people call that entire highway "Storrow Drive", including much of Soldiers Field Road. But legally it's not Storrow.