Alert: Commonwealth Avenue Overpass work begins

Tonight, on your way back to West Campus, you may encounter a large pedestrian detour in addition to the loud crackle of power tools, shredding concrete. From July 27, until August 14, 2017, the Massachusetts Turnpike overpass bridge on Commonwealth will be completely closed. This means no vehicle of any sort will be able to use the bridge for three weeks. And yes, unfortunately this does means the MBTA Green Line between Blandford stop at East, and Babcock Street at West will not be running.

Now I know you have a lot of questions. How will I walk to class? Or what if I need to use the T? Well luckily, the city has foreseen all of our concerns. For walkers and cyclist, traffic guards will be directing pedestrians across sectioned areas of the bridge. For cars, concise detours have been clearly marked by MASSDOT. As far as the green line, there will be shuttle buses provided, covering the BU West and BU Central stops in the Westbound direction.

The construction, which now may seem like an inconvenience, will actually make transportation on Commonwealth Avenue much more convenient. The new developments will improve bike lanes, sidewalks, MBTA Trolley area and the eastside of the Turnpike Bridge. The construction will be what is known as “Accelerated Bridge Construction”. So, what would normally be a four to five year undertaking, will instead be a two phase project. This week marks the start of phase one.

So be excited about all the noise! You get to witness the revolutionary transformation of our Charles River Campus, the majestic University that we call our home! Okay… so maybe construction is not as glamourous as I’m attempting to make it sound. So to give you better advice, on your noisey detour to work, instead of becoming irritated, remember to be grateful that the construction is only temporary. This too shall pass.

For more information, please visit the University’s website dedicated to the project.
– Jillian Lattimore (COM ’19)