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Whittier Bridge Statistics |
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58 years old |
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1,346 feet long |
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73,000 vehicles/day (current) |
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81,000 vehicles/day (2012 projected) |
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The John Greenleaf Whittier Bridge was built in 1951 over the Merrimack River. It
has served as a key link in the highway transportation network of the Commonwealth
for over half a century. It was originally designed to relieve some of the traffic
congestion of Route 1 and acted as a replacement for the Route 1 drawbridge in downtown
Newburyport. The through truss bridge was built in the style of the Cape Cod Canal
bridges, and was named for the poet and abolitionist John Greenleaf Whittier.
The goal of the Massachusetts Department of Transportation's (MassDOT) Whittier Bridge/I-95
Improvement project is to bring the Whittier Bridge up to current safety standards
by creating a structure that can accommodate the traffic flow along Interstate 95.
The project will improve the bridge by adding a high speed shoulder and breakdown lane
in each direction and increasing the travel lanes in each direction from three to
four. MassDOT is undertaking the project under the Commonwealth's Accelerated
Bridge Program.
About the Project presents
an overview of the plan and the schedule and introduces the team. Detailed information
about meetings and project updates is located in
Meetings & News. Current and background documents, information about other
related studies and meeting summaries are available under Project Documents. If you would like more information,
want to submit a comment or question or to be added to our email or U.S. Mail distribution
lists, please visit the Contact Us
page.
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