The Mystic River (or Tobin) Bridge

It took two years to build the Mystic River Bridge (also known as the Tobin Bridge). It was officially dedicated and opened for traffic on February 25, 1950.

At just over 2 miles long, the bridge is the longest in New England and one of the longest in the country, exceeding even the Golden Gate Bridge in San Francisco.

Its roadway is forty-two feet wide. At its highest point the bridge stands at 258 feet and has a clearance of 135 feet over mean high water. Close to 30 million vehicles cross the bridge every year.

How the bridge came to be built

In 1802 the Salem Turnpike and the Chelsea Bridge Corporation were given permission to construct, maintain and operate a toll bridge between Chelsea and Charlestown. In 1803, the Chelsea Bridge was built across the Mystic. It had two draws and several lamps.

In 1873 the draw span over the north channel was rebuilt to a length of 110 feet. In 1880 the draw span near Charlestown was designated Chelsea South Bridge and the draw span near Chelsea became Chelsea North Bridge.

As manufacturing firms began to establish themselves along the shores of the Mystic, boat traffic and congestion increased. With the increase in boat traffic came an increase in openings of the Chelsea Street swing span, leading to untenable bottlenecks.

In the early 1920s, efforts were made to ease the congestion with plans for a new and suitable bridge, but it was not until World War II that the Massachusetts Highway Commission actually recommended the construction of a new bridge. With this proposal the Massachusetts Legislature authorized the creation of the Mystic River Bridge Authority.

To build the enormous bridge, neighborhoods had to be cleared away. Charlestown houses on Decatur Street and Chelsea Street were razed and in Chelsea there was similar devastation. In spite of strong efforts to block construction, including public hearings and even trips to Washington, D.C., construction moved forward.

In 1950, the first year the Mystic River Bridge opened, 8.6 million vehicles travelled over it.

In 1967 the name of the bridge was changed to the Maurice J. Tobin Memorial Bridge. Tobin wore many political hats, including Mayor of Boston, Governor of Massachusetts , and U.S. Secretary of Labor. While he was governor, between 1945 and 1947, Tobin authorized construction of the Mystic River Bridge and supported legislation to create the Massachusetts Port Authority.

In summary:

• Where is it?
  In Charlestown, spanning the Mystic River.

• When was it built?
  1948-1950

• Who built it?
  Mystic River Bridge Authority. The bridge was operated by the Massachusetts Port Authority for 60 years.

• What was it built for?
  To connect the Central Artery with cities north of Boston

• Why was it built?
  The increase in traffic that came with the end of World War II brought to light the need for a fixed span across the Mystic River. The surge in postwar traffic from the developing North Shore suburbs, combined with the frequent openings (as many as 7,000 per year) of the Chelsea Street swing span created a traffic nightmare.

• How was it built?
  Ground was broken on April 12, 1948. Residential blocks between Decatur and Chelsea streets were cleared. Unlike the old Chelsea Bridge, the Mystic River Bridge was not a continuation of Chelsea Street. It spans above. The main span construction took over 50,000 tons of steel.

• What are the future plans for the structure?
  On January 1, 2010 Massport transferred ownership of the bridge to the Massachusetts Department of Transportation.

Information for this article was compiled with information from the following sources: http://www.bostonroads.com/crossings/tobin/; http://www.olgp.net/chs/bridge/bridges.htm; ocw.mit.edu/courses/urban-studies-and.../11.../5proulx.pdf; http://www.eot.state.ma.us/default.asp?pgid=content/releases/pr123109_to... http://www.bostonroads.com/crossings/tobin/; http://www.celebrateboston.com/architecture/tobin-bridge.htm.