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Good thing the Tobin doesn't have toll booths anymore, because the elevator shaft up to them caught fire
By adamg on Tue, 06/20/2017 - 12:14am
The Boston Fire Department reports firefighters responded to the Tobin Bridge around 11 p.m. on Monday for a fire in the shaft that used to carry toll takers up to and down from the bridge's toll booths from Terminal Street in Charlestown.
Some plastic about halfway between the ground and the lower deck caught on fire in the shaft, which is in the process of being demolished, the department reports. There were no injuries in the two-alarm fire, but outbound traffic was delayed.
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Comments
( Google Maps — Tobinelevator )
You would think an elevator still has value
I mean ok, I have an unnatural fear of the Tobin Bridge. But wouldn't it be good to have some easy way to get down from it in an emergency?
Basic Safety
Never use an elevator in an emergency. (Seriously, though, I hope there was also a staircase that won't be demolished.)
Stuck
I actually got stuck up there last Memorial Day when my radiator blew on the bridge. Was able to wait in the old toll area, at least, since no other part of the bridge has shoulders. Turns out AAA can't tow from a bridge, so I had to get a police tow off the bridge, then an AAA tow from there.
Anyways, we contemplated taking the elevator down, but it was all locked up.
I hate that bridge too,
I hate that bridge too, always feels like something bad just waiting to happen.
The elevator wasn't just for access to the toll booths
The Tobin Bridge administrative offices were located underneath the toll booths, suspended from the bridge span. The elevator provided access to the offices from both the roadway level and the ground level.
Several years back, I was on a committee that held our meetings there. It was a little disconcerting when a large truck passed by overhead and shook the room.
< < s h u d d e r > >
That is SO creepy!
Tobin Offices
Way, way back in the day when I was in my late teens, I was driving my mother's stupid French car (Peugeot diesel) into Boston and it died at the toll booths on the Tobin upper deck. I guess this was before my fear of being outside on high bridges kicked in, but it was so long ago, that the toll workers took pity on me and invited me to wait for the tow truck in their offices. I also remember the constant shaking of the trucks going by. I'd never known those offices were there, and I feel honored that I was able to get the true Tobin experience.
If the offices are underneath
If the offices are underneath the bridge, I think the architectural term is troll booth.