| Tobin Bridge | |
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The Tobin Bridge at sunrise from Everett, Massachusetts |
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| Official name | Maurice J. Tobin Memorial Bridge |
| Carries | U.S. Route 1 |
| Crosses | Mystic River |
| Locale | Boston, Massachusetts |
| Maintained by | Massachusetts Department of Transportation |
| Design | three-span cantilevered truss bridge, double-deck |
| Material | steel[1] |
| Total length | 11,906 feet (3,629 m)[1] |
| Width | 36 feet (11 m)[1] |
| Longest span | 800 ft (244 m)[1] |
| Vertical clearance | 135 feet (41 m) |
| Construction begin | 1948-04-12[1] |
| Opened | 1950-02-27[1] |
| Toll | $3.00 toll (auto rate) for southbound vehicles (i.e. from Chelsea to Boston). No toll northbound. |
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The Maurice J. Tobin Memorial Bridge (formerly and still sometimes referred to as the Mystic River Bridge or less often the Mystic/Tobin bridge) is a cantilever truss bridge that spans more than two miles (3 km) from Charlestown to Chelsea over the Mystic River in Massachusetts.[2] The bridge is the largest in New England.[2] It is operated by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation and carries U.S. Route 1. It was erected between 1948 and 1950 and opened to traffic on February 2, 1950, replacing the former Chelsea Street Bridge. The 36-foot (11 m) wide roadway has three lanes of traffic on each of the two levels with Northbound traffic on the lower level and Southbound traffic on the upper level.
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The bridge is a three-span cantilevered truss bridge at 1,525 ft (465 m) in total length.[1] The center span is longest at 800 ft (244 m) and the maximum truss height is 115 ft (35 m). There are 36 approach spans to the North and 32 to the South. The roadway is seven lanes wide between the shortest (439 ft; 134 m) span and the center to accommodate a toll plaza on the Southbound deck only. The Northbound toll plaza was closed in the 1980s.
The bridge was originally operated by the Massachusetts Port Authority which according to the original plan, was to remove the tolls once the $27 million in bonds used to finance the bridge's construction were retired in 1978. Instead, the tolls were increased to 25 cents to cover the closing of the Northbound toll plaza in the 1980s. Starting in the early 1990s the tolls increased sharply to help pay for the Big Dig. As of 2008, the toll is $3.00 for non-commercial cars ($2.50 with a Fast Lane or E-ZPass issued by any toll agency, and $0.30 for registered residents of Charlestown and Chelsea with a Fast Lane transponder).
In 1967, the Mystic River Bridge was renamed in honor of Maurice J. Tobin, former Boston mayor and Massachusetts governor. During his term in office (1945–1947), Tobin created Massport and ordered the construction of the Mystic River Bridge. Tobin went on to serve as Secretary of Labor under President Harry Truman before he died in 1953.
On January 4, 1990, the Tobin Bridge became infamous as the site where Charles Stuart, who was becoming the prime suspect in his pregnant wife's murder, committed suicide by jumping off the bridge.
Legislation was passed to transfer the bridge from Massport to the new Massachusetts Department of Transportation, effective January 1, 2010.[3][4]
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