Storrow Drive, officially James Jackson Storrow Memorial Drive, is a major crosstown
parkway
A parkway is a landscaped thoroughfare.''"parkway."''Webster's Third New International Dictionary, Unabridged. Merriam-Webster, 2002. http://unabridged.merriam-webster.com (14 Apr. 2007). The term is particularly used for a roadway in a park or ...
in
Boston, Massachusetts, running east–west along the southern bank of the
Charles River
The Charles River ( Massachusett: ''Quinobequin)'' (sometimes called the River Charles or simply the Charles) is an river in eastern Massachusetts. It flows northeast from Hopkinton to Boston along a highly meandering route, that doubles bac ...
.
It is restricted to cars; trucks and buses are not permitted on it, while pedestrian access is available via walking paths on the Charles River side of the road. Boston drivers use the route for quick access to downtown locations.
[
The parkway is named for James J. Storrow, an investment banker who led a campaign to create the Charles River Basin and preserve and improve the riverbanks as a public park. He had never advocated a parkway beside the river, and his widow publicly opposed it.
]
Route description
The segment between the interchange with Route 28
Highway 28 may refer to:
Australia
* Cumberland Highway
* Mountain Highway (Victoria)
* - NT
Canada
* Alberta Highway 28
* British Columbia Highway 28
* Nova Scotia Trunk 28
* Ontario Highway 28
* Saskatchewan Highway 28
China Taiwan
* Prov ...
near Copley Square
Copley Square , named for painter John Singleton Copley, is a public square in Boston's Back Bay neighborhood, bounded by Boylston Street, Clarendon Street, St. James Avenue, and Dartmouth Street. Prior to 1883 it was known as Art Square due to i ...
and Leverett Circle, the road is officially David G. Mugar
David Graves Mugar (April 27, 1939 – January 25, 2022) was an Armenian-American businessman from Belmont, Massachusetts. He was a member of the Mugar family of Greater Boston. He was CEO and chair of Mugar Enterprises. His father, Stephen ...
Way (formerly Embankment Road), although still signed as Storrow Drive. The entirety of this segment is concurrent with Route 28. To the west, Storrow Drive ends and becomes Soldiers Field Road at its partial junction with the Boston University Bridge
The Boston University Bridge, originally the Cottage Farm Bridge and commonly referred to as the BU Bridge, is a steel truss through arch bridge with a suspended deck carrying Route 2 over the Charles River, connecting the Boston University cam ...
(Route 2
The following highways are numbered 2. For roads numbered A2, see list of A2 roads. For roads numbered B2, see list of B2 roads. For roads numbered M2, see list of M2 roads. For roads numbered N2, see list of N2 roads.
International
* AH2, As ...
). In between, westbound Storrow Drive has a junction with the Harvard Bridge
The Harvard Bridge (also known locally as the MIT Bridge, the Massachusetts Avenue Bridge, and the "Mass. Ave." Bridge) is a steel haunched girder bridge carrying Massachusetts Avenue ( Route 2A) over the Charles River and connecting Back Bay, ...
( Route 2A, Massachusetts Avenue).
Both Storrow Drive and Soldiers Field Road are maintained by the Massachusetts Department of Conservation and Recreation
The Department of Conservation and Recreation (DCR) is a state agency of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, situated in the Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs. It is best known for its parks and parkways. The DCR's mission i ...
and are part of the parkway system interconnecting the Emerald Necklace in Boston and Brookline
Brookline may refer to:
Places in the United States
* Brookline, Massachusetts, a town near Boston
* Brookline, Missouri
* Brookline, New Hampshire
* Brookline (Pittsburgh), a neighborhood in Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania
* Brookline, Vermont
See ...
. Together with Memorial Drive and the Cambridge Parkway, Storrow Drive is also part of the Charles River Basin Historic District (listed in the National Register of Historic Places
The National Register of Historic Places (NRHP) is the United States federal government's official list of districts, sites, buildings, structures and objects deemed worthy of preservation for their historical significance or "great artistic ...
). Prior to 1989, Storrow Drive also carried the U.S. Route 1 designation; US 1 is now routed concurrently with Interstate 93
Interstate 93 (I-93) is an Interstate Highway in the New England states of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont in the United States. Spanning approximately along a north–south axis, it is one of three primary Interstate Highways ...
through the O'Neill Tunnel.
Traffic issues
The road is notorious for speeding and aggressive driving because police enforcement along the road is difficult without a breakdown lane. Radio traffic reports have warned motorists about "ponding" on Storrow Drive, which occurs when snow and frozen ground prevent water from draining properly into storm drains. The underpasses also commonly flood during heavy rains, sometimes stalling low-riding cars.[Has Boston outsmarted Storrowing?](_blank)
/ref> Additional problems include narrow lanes and very limited visibility on short entrance ramps.
Concert parking
During some summer night concerts at the Hatch Shell, many drivers park their cars in the outbound lanes of Storrow Drive. The free concerts and fireworks displays attract 200,000 people, and many take advantage of the free parking.[
]
Low clearance
There is an abundance of signs giving road clearance height. Despite the signs, a truck or other large vehicle will periodically get wedged under a bridge, which causes traffic to back up for several miles. In one incident a truck full of scissors became stuck and spilled its cargo, causing more than 30 cars to get flat tires.[ There is a height limit for the entire parkway. Local media has taken to referring to these kinds of accidents as a truck being "Storrowed", and the city of Boston has annual advisories in August to those renting box trucks for college move-ins to avoid the city's low-clearance parkway system, including Storrow Drive.
]
Pedestrian crossings
Because Storrow Drive is a high-speed road way, pedestrian access is limited to only the Charles River side of the road. To connect the Charles River Esplanade
The Charles River Esplanade of Boston, Massachusetts, is a state-owned park situated in the Back Bay area of the city, on the south bank of the Charles River Basin.
Description
The limited-access parkway Storrow Drive forms the southern bound ...
and Storrow Drive (a popular park and recreational area along the south bank of the river) to adjacent Boston neighborhoods, a number of pedestrian overpass
A footbridge (also a pedestrian bridge, pedestrian overpass, or pedestrian overcrossing) is a bridge designed solely for pedestrians.''Oxford English Dictionary'' While the primary meaning for a bridge is a structure which links "two points at ...
es have been constructed. Listed in order from downstream to upstream, they are:
*Blossom Street bridge (near Massachusetts General Hospital
Massachusetts General Hospital (Mass General or MGH) is the original and largest teaching hospital of Harvard Medical School located in the West End neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It is the third oldest general hospital in the United Stat ...
)
*Frances Appleton Bridge
The Frances Appleton Pedestrian Bridge is a pedestrian bridge in Boston, Massachusetts that opened on August 31, 2018. The bridge, which crosses Storrow Drive, is named in recognition of the celebrated courtship and marriage of Frances “Fanny� ...
(at Cambridge Street, next to Longfellow Bridge
The Longfellow Bridge is a steel rib arch bridge spanning the Charles River to connect Boston's Beacon Hill neighborhood with the Kendall Square area of Cambridge, Massachusetts. The bridge carries Massachusetts Route 3, US Route 3, the MBTA Re ...
)
*Arthur Fiedler
Arthur Fiedler (December 17, 1894 – July 10, 1979) was an American conductor known for his association with both the Boston Symphony and Boston Pops orchestras. With a combination of musicianship and showmanship, he made the Boston Pops one ...
Bridge (connecting to the Hatch Memorial Shell near Arlington Street)
*Dartmouth Street bridge
*Fairfield Street bridge
*Harvard Bridge
The Harvard Bridge (also known locally as the MIT Bridge, the Massachusetts Avenue Bridge, and the "Mass. Ave." Bridge) is a steel haunched girder bridge carrying Massachusetts Avenue ( Route 2A) over the Charles River and connecting Back Bay, ...
(at Massachusetts Avenue)
* Silber Way bridge
*Boston University Marsh Chapel
Marsh Chapel is a building on the campus of Boston University used as the official place of worship of the school. It was named for Daniel L. Marsh, a former president of BU and a Methodist minister. The building is Gothic in style.
While Met ...
bridge
*Boston University Bridge
The Boston University Bridge, originally the Cottage Farm Bridge and commonly referred to as the BU Bridge, is a steel truss through arch bridge with a suspended deck carrying Route 2 over the Charles River, connecting the Boston University cam ...
History
Between 1958 and 1971, Storrow Drive was designated Massachusetts Routes C1 and C9.
Early opposition
James Storrow had been instrumental in earlier projects along the Charles River, in particular the Charles River Dam. Additions to the Charles River Esplanade
The Charles River Esplanade of Boston, Massachusetts, is a state-owned park situated in the Back Bay area of the city, on the south bank of the Charles River Basin.
Description
The limited-access parkway Storrow Drive forms the southern bound ...
had been made during the 1930s only by omitting an important part of the project, a proposed highway from the Longfellow Bridge
The Longfellow Bridge is a steel rib arch bridge spanning the Charles River to connect Boston's Beacon Hill neighborhood with the Kendall Square area of Cambridge, Massachusetts. The bridge carries Massachusetts Route 3, US Route 3, the MBTA Re ...
to the Cottage Farm (Boston University) Bridge, which had provoked tremendous protest. After Helen Storrow
Helen Osborne Storrow (September 22, 1864 – November 12, 1944) was a prominent American philanthropist, early Girl Scout leader, and chair of the World Committee of the World Association of Girl Guides and Girl Scouts (WAGGGS) for eight years ...
, the wife of the now deceased James Storrow, supported a group opposed to the highway, it was dropped;[ part of the funding was to have come from a million-dollar gift from her. Soon after Helen Storrow's death in 1944, a new proposal for the construction of the highway was pushed through the Massachusetts Legislature. In spite of still strong opposition, and through some dubious parliamentary procedures, the bill approving construction of the highway and naming it after James Storrow was passed in 1949.
]
Construction
Construction took place in the years 1950–1951. As part of the attempt to preserve park land, any land used by the highway had to be replaced by reclaiming new land along the shoreline. Storrow Drive was officially opened in a ribbon cutting ceremony by Governor Paul A. Dever on June 15, 1951.
An on-ramp leading from southbound Massachusetts Avenue to eastbound Storrow Drive was constructed but later removed, leaving an island of greenspace between the inbound and outbound carriageways. Overpasses to Fenway via Charlesgate and in the vicinity of Massachusetts General Hospital were completed a few years later; the Arthur Fiedler Footbridge was completed in 1953. In 1960, high-pressure air from a sewage tunnel under construction caused a geyser-like eruption and damaged the roadway near the BU bridge. The pedestrian overpass near the Longfellow Bridge was constructed in 1962. A "Reverse Curve" sign near downtown was vandalized to say "Reverse the Curse", a reference to the Curse of the Bambino; the sign was removed after the Red Sox
The Boston Red Sox are an American professional baseball team based in Boston. The Red Sox compete in Major League Baseball (MLB) as a member club of the American League (AL) East division. Founded in as one of the American League's eight ...
won the 2004 World Series.
Future
The Storrow Drive Tunnel, through which Storrow Drive runs along the Esplanade
An esplanade or promenade is a long, open, level area, usually next to a river or large body of water, where people may walk. The historical definition of ''esplanade'' was a large, open, level area outside fortress or city walls to provide cl ...
just north of Clarendon, Berkeley and Arlington Streets, has been deteriorating since it was built in 1951. By mid-2007, the Department of Conservation and Recreation determined that repairing the tunnel may be impossible because it was not waterproofed when it was built, and damage in the intervening years has been significant. Consequently the tunnel may have to be rebuilt at a cost upward of $200 million, a project that would require closing critical sections of Storrow Drive to traffic.
Despite the chaos this project would cause to drivers, it also could present an opportunity for the city to improve the area. For example, former Boston Mayor Thomas Menino proposed covering Storrow Drive near the pedestrian Arthur Fiedler
Arthur Fiedler (December 17, 1894 – July 10, 1979) was an American conductor known for his association with both the Boston Symphony and Boston Pops orchestras. With a combination of musicianship and showmanship, he made the Boston Pops one ...
Bridge, replacing the old overpass
An overpass (called an overbridge or flyover in the United Kingdom and some other Commonwealth countries) is a bridge, road, railway or similar structure that crosses over another road or railway. An ''overpass'' and '' underpass'' together for ...
with a wide, ground-level park space that would better connect the green space of Boston's Public Garden with the Esplanade.
Other plans for the road propose closing it to traffic on Sunday mornings in the summer, much as is done across the river on Memorial Drive in Cambridge. This would create a recreational area for walking, biking and roller blading on weekends, though this has been criticized as unnecessary due to the presence of the nearby Esplanade paths and the existing Memorial Drive road closure. Regardless, Storrow Drive east of Massachusetts Avenue is usually closed to traffic and open to pedestrians and cyclists during the Independence Day
An independence day is an annual event commemorating the anniversary of a nation's independence or statehood, usually after ceasing to be a group or part of another nation or state, or more rarely after the end of a military occupation. Many ...
(July 4) celebration at the Esplanade.
Exit list
Mileposts continue east from Soldiers Field Road. The entire route is in Boston
Boston (), officially the City of Boston, is the state capital and most populous city of the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as the cultural and financial center of the New England region of the United States. It is the 24th- mo ...
, Suffolk County.
See also
* Memorial Drive, on the opposite side of the river in Cambridge
* Charles River Bike Path
The Charles River Bike Path is a mixed-use path in the Boston, Massachusetts area. It is named after the cardiologist Paul Dudley White, a prominent advocate of preventive medicine. His research led him to proclaim frequently "''I'd like to put ...
* Charles River Reservation
* List of crossings of the Charles River
This is a list of the crossings of the Charles River from its mouth at Boston Harbor upstream to its source at Echo Lake (the four tunnels crossing the inner portion of Boston Harbor are not included). All locations are in Massachusetts.
__TOC_ ...
References
External links
Storrow Drive on Steve Anderson's BostonRoads.com
Recorded Youtube Video, Storrow Drive: Boston, MA Freewayjim, 2012-09-21
{{coord, 42, 21, 08, N, 71, 05, 19, W, region:US-MA_type:landmark_source:kolossus-dewiki, display=title
Streets in Boston
Parkways in Massachusetts
U.S. Route 1