Appleton Pedestrian Bridge Comes Closer to Completion

By Dan Murphy

Construction is one step closer to completion on the $12.5-million Frances “Fanny” Appleton Pedestrian Bridge with the recent installation of a soaring arch over Storrow Drive.

“The installation of the elegant arch over Storrow Drive marks an important milestone for the completion of this critical and beautiful link to the Esplanade and the Charles River,” wrote Miguel Rosales, the bridge designer. “I am looking forward to using the 14-foot wide pedestrian bridge next fall.”

The crossing is a 750-foot-long, multi-use bridge located on the banks of the Charles River that connects Beacon Hill/Charles Circle to the Charles River Esplanade. It will become a signature bridge in the City of Boston with its 225-foot-long, steel arch span, as well as the first fully accessible, ADA pedestrian bridge over Storrow Drive. Construction on the bridge will continue until its completion in early fall of 2018.

The pedestrian bridge is named after the wife of Henry Wadsworth Longfellow, one of the most widely known and best-loved American poets of his lifetime. He used to cross the Charles River from Cambridge to Beacon Hill in the 1840s while he was courting Appleton, and the new Appleton Bridge complements the historic Longfellow Bridge as a symbol of their union.

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