Completed
1999This new public pedestrian overpass bridge acts as a gateway and accessible path to a popular public beach in East Boston.
It spans commuter train tracks and a beach access road and ends on a dune like mound with landscaped paths descending to the beach.
The new bridge includes stairs and ramps leading directly to the bridge on the neighborhood side and a ramp leading directly to a raised landscaped dune on the beach side. The new bridge avoids creating areas where people can hide with the use of a open supporting structure. Site lighting of the walkway surface and below deters area youth from vandalism and from using the bridge as a local hangout. A view of the beach and community is seen from every point on the bridge creating a welcoming, safe environment.
Differing trackway and roadway fencing height requirements were translated into a playful series of waves cascading from the bridge high-point along the gentle series of ramps toward the beach. These fluid forms relate to the shapes of trains, planes, and beach structures nearby and create an animated procession across otherwise formidable barriers to the beach. The bridge gateway provides a new positive iconic image for this urban beach community.
