Tobin Bridge

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The Tobin Bridge at sunrise from Everett, Massachusetts

The Maurice J. Tobin Memorial Bridge (formerly and still sometimes referred to as the Mystic River Bridge) is a cantilever truss bridge that spans the Mystic River in Massachusetts between Charlestown and Chelsea. It is operated by the Massachusetts Port Authority and carries U.S. Route 1. It was erected in 1948 and 1949 and opened to traffic on February 27, 1950, replacing the former Chelsea Street Bridge. The 36 ft (11 m) wide roadway has three lanes of traffic on each of the two levels with Northbound traffic on the lower level and Southbound traffic on the upper level.

The bridge is a three-span cantilevered truss bridge at 1,525 ft (465 m) in total length. The center span is longest at 800 ft (244 m) and the maximum truss height is 115 ft (35 m). There are 36 approach spans to the North and 32 to the South. The roadway is seven lanes wide between the shortest (439 ft; 134 m) span and the center to accommodate a toll plaza on the Southbound side only. The Northbound toll plaza was closed in the 1980s.

According to the original plan, Massport was to remove the tolls once the $27 million in bonds used to finance the bridge's construction were retired in 1978. Instead, the tolls were increased to 25 cents to cover the closing of the Northbound toll plaza in the 1980s. Starting in the early 1990s the tolls multiplied exponentially. Presently the toll is $3.00 for cars ($2.50 with Fast Lane, and $0.30 for registered residents of Charlestown and Chelsea with a Fast Lane transponder). By contrast, drivers crossing the newly-built Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge into Boston from the northwest do not have to pay a toll.

In 1967, the Mystic River Bridge was renamed in honor of Maurice J. Tobin, former Boston mayor and Massachusetts governor. During his one term in office (1945–1947), Tobin created Massport and ordered the construction of the Mystic River Bridge. Tobin went on to serve as Secretary of Labor under President Harry Truman before he died in 1953.

On January 4, 1990, the Tobin Bridge became infamous as the site where Charles Stuart, who was becoming the prime suspect in his pregnant wife's murder, committed suicide by jumping off the bridge.