Winthrop Ave. Bridge Slated to be Replaced

The  MBTA and Pan-AM Railways (formerly B&M Railroad) will be replacing the bridge on Route 145/Winthrop Avenue over the railroad tracks in Stage 1 of a  larger project. Some work is being done now. On May 29 at 8 PM the bridge will close in both directions and traffic will be detoured over a 2-day weekend period. Pedestrian traffic will also be re-directed to the east bound side with temporary signalized pedestrian crossings. The affected section of the Commuter Rail will also be closed; the contractor is developing a busing plan for MBTA/Keolis review and approval.

The project is a long awaited one that is touted to make huge improvements to the Bell Circle area. City Council President John Powers said it’s been more than a long time to have the bridge replaced.

“Now the trucks won’t be going through Bell Circle,” Powers said.

On Monday, June 1 at approximately 5 am, the roadway will re-open with reduced capacity. Rte. 145 will be reduced from three travel lanes in each direction to 1 travel lane in each direction for a 5-day period. Both travel lanes will be operating on the remaining section of the east bound bridge. Existing traffic signal system phases will be modified during this period to attempt to minimize adverse traffic impacts. During this time, contractor will continue with bridge construction and roadway work on the west bound side; all construction operations will be protected with temporary concrete barrier. At the end of the 5-day period, the bridge will again be shut-down for the weekend starting Friday, June 5 using the detour. During this time, bridge and roadway construction will be completed. On Monday, June 8, Route 145 will re-open at full-capacity; three travel lanes in each direction.

After the two weekends of road closures after Memorial Day, there are no anticipated roadway closures through the work-zone to Labor Day due to restrictions on railroad closures and increased traffic volumes from beach traffic. Through this time, the contractor will be coordinating utility relocation & continuing construction operations using temporary lanes closures during the standard hours of operation.

In an effort to minimize adverse impacts to the Commuter Rail line, this project will be coordinating with District 6 Silver-Line Construction project. Both projects will require railroad closures with busing in place on the dates described below.

Stage 2 of the project is Route 145 east bound (destination Revere Beach); it is the same demo/installation sequence and detour as Stage 1. It is scheduled to begin on Friday, November 6 at approximately 8 pm, and complete on Monday, November 16.

There are no anticipated roadway closures through the work-zone from following the Stage 2 shut-down. General construction operations may continue weather permitting. Final paving and landscape work is scheduled to complete in spring 2016.

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