Boston University Bridge

Okay — I have no great love or hate for the B.U. bridge per se, but I do walk across it every day and I DO have problems with some of the self absorbed idiots who use the sidewalks on the bridge, sidewalks that are bordered on one side by the bridge and on the other side by a railing. In no special order, they are:
1. Runners, who treat pedestrians like obstacles, who come up suddenly from behind while you’re walking, running really fast and cutting really close, or who like to run two or three abreast, taking up the entire sidewalk, not one of them having the courtesy to drop back to accommodate people who are walking on the side WALK.
2. Bicyclists, who, despite recent bridge renovations costing millions of dollars and despite the construction of bike lanes on both sides of the bridge, still ride on the sidewalks because OOOOH, they’re AFRAID to use the bike lanes. They too treat pedestrians like obstacles, ride fast, swerve around people, and they do this at night too, without having lights on their bikes no less. I tried to get out of the way of one of these fools once, jumped to the side, unknowingly stepped into the path of another bicyclist who was coming up from behind me, and that individual threatened to throw me off the bridge. Nice.
3. Groups of gawking, photo taking, selfie-​taking, hand holding people walking on the sidewalk, taking up the full width of it, so that others can’t get by. (A plus though: some of those who can’t get by and who also get annoyed are the aforementioned sidewalk hogging jerky bicyclists and runners, yay!)
4. Graffiti «artists» who think it’s cool to spray paint their crap all over the recently renovated and painted bridge, inflicting eyesores on everyone else. I mean, why the need «dudes», to paint in big letters on the sidewalk or bridge itself, things like «WAM BAM»? Are you INSANE?
5. Dog walkers using those stupid retractable leashes that allow them to be on one side of the bridge sidewalk while their freaking dogs are on the other side. What do you do, jump over the leash? Crawl under it? Cut it with scissors?
Oh, and here’s a little story. While walking over the bridge today, I passed two wanna be bad ass twenty something anti-​social types, wearing chains, nose rings, punk hairdo’s, etc. They were leaning over the railing, admiring the view I thought, but as I passed them I heard one of them say to the other, «Hey, let’s go man, I’ll never hit a target.» The were trying to spit on people who were rowing below them on the Charles.
On the plus side: views from the bridge are spectacular, glorious sun rises over Boston, surreal scenes involving fog, or ice and snow in winter, colorful scenes of rowers and boaters on the Charles, ducks feeding and bobbing in the water with their rear ends pointing at the sky; doesn’t totally cancel out the effects of bad behavior from some who use the bridge — but it helps.

Really Unilocal?We are really reviewing bridges now?

The fact is, if I didn’t need you to get places, stupid bridge, I’d say eff it, fall in the water!
I’m captivated by your endless deconstructing and construction. It’s been YEARS now. I’m literally, captive, in my car. STUCK in the friggin rotary, AGAIN.
Sometimes you aren’t really closed when you say you will be. Sometimes you stop traffic to PUT UP FENCES (REALLY, couldn’t do that at night while the bridge was «closed»?) in the middle of lunch hour.
Most days I would love to tell the BU Bridge to «suck it»… but, It’s the easiest way to get to where I need to go, most days… and so, I suck it up and take the plunge everyDAMNtime.

It seems now for about 4 years there has been some kind of construction here. It’s pretty heartwarming to know that our tax money pays for cops on a daily basis to help navigate the clusterfuck that is the BU bridge/​Comm Ave intersection where cars come at you from 6 directions to bottleneck into one lane to get to Cambridge. Then on the Cambridge side, the party continues… this is where they get greedy… Cambridge can’t decide if there should be an intersection or a rotary just after the bridge… so they throw both in there.
If you are a thrill-seeker…try walking over this bridge during rush hour. If you have a total death wish… try bicycling over it at that time. Good luck suckas.

I might just be the coolest person ever: The BU Bridge actually broke down while I was on it… on a bus!!! The bus didn’t break down, the bridge did. I can say I never felt more awesome than that very day.
That was four years ago. Right after that incident, the bridge was under construction. I figured they were really quick to take care of the issues. They must put a lot of precision and care into those repairs, as four years later it appears they are still working on it! Wow!

Avoid this bridge at all costs. They have been doing construction on it for the past 6 months and it takes over 30 minutes to get across.
It’s also heinous.

I hate driving on this stupid bridge. Why is there always construction going on yet nothing changes?! The bridge is so narrow that pedestrians often have to get off the sidewalk and walk in the street and as though the road isn’t narrow enough, I’m just about ready to hit them!
I technically could just walk, but chances are, I’ll get hit by a passing car.
(Disclaimer: I fit the stereotypical female Asian driver.)

Sort of gets me where I need to go sometimes.
I prefer the shitshow that is the Mass Ave bridge usually, though.

Oh, this is a bridge? I’m sorry, I mistook this for a garbage fire in Jersey.

Skanks in Uggs

Wow. What a friggin awesome bridge this is.
I’ve walked across it, jogged it, driven it. Hell, I even biked it once. YOU NAME IT! There aren’t many other ways you can traverse a bridge!
There were 3 times in college that come to mind. I was rowing in the Head of the Charles Regatta. The graf on the underside of the bridge, as well as the chants and sayings on the accompanying railroad bridge, can do wonders to a rowers mindstate.
Let out a resounding «hell yeah» to whoever ok’d the construction on the bridge to add some space for our beloved bikers. The sidewalks are bigger now too. Hallelujah.
At night, the views of the city are magical. I believe it was voted one of the Top 10 Sexiest Views in some informal list in The Improper Bostonian a while back.
I think that about does it for my review of the BU Bridge. I want to thank Unilocal for letting me review a bridge. I’d also like to give Tom E, a fellow reviewer of the great BU Bridge, a hearty clap on the back for his upcoming wedding on Wednesday!

«The Little Guy»
The BU Bridge means a lot to me. The rusty old dude has been my gateway between work and home, Boston and Cambridge for 2 years. I’ve risked my cycling bum on this crossing well over 1000 times and each and every time it’s the same feeling:
struggle, change gear, rise, watch for potholes, watch for potcraters, stick finger up at that bad driver, swerve the loose rubble, get stuck behind a truck and… turn to the side… it’s Boston — an amazing view. Good morning Boston! Good evening Boston!
I looked through my photo directory last week and I think I’ve got at least 100 shots taken on different days from this wonderful vantage point. Sunset catching the gold roof of the State House… CLICK, pink clouds over the Pru… CLICK, a fully iced-​over Charles… CLICK, the CITGO sign in dense fog… CLICK, the Hancock tower at night… CLICK. It’s without any doubt the best place to catch sunset in this town. (and if you know how, you can get to the rail bridge below and take a wonderful seat for the show just above the water).
…and then my bike picks up speed, freewheeling now, down past more horrid potholes, cars coming too close for comfort, one of two horrendous traffic intersections coming up and I’m off to work or home.
I hope this iconic bridge-​above-​a-​bridge stands firm for years to come. That’s not a given with the way it looks right now :\

Everybody join hands and sing!
BU Bridge is falling down,
Falling down,
Falling down.
BU Bridge is falling down,
My fair lady.
At a minimum, what’s left of the Boston University Bridge is in dire need of multiple coats of Rust-​oleum. In places, however, it’s just too late: some railings are so corroded, they’re eaten straight through, leaving only pitted and jagged stumps that crumble at the faintest breath; chunks of concrete rubble litter the sidewalks and the roadway; and giant metal plates cover lord only knows what. Jersey barriers and cyclone fencing supposedly keep you from getting too close to the worst spots but if you inadvertently stumbled and scratched yourself, which shouldn’t be too hard, you’d want to go immediately to the nearest emergency room for a tetanus shot.
Like everything else, the BU Bridge must eventually succumb to the forces of entropy but I’m certain that a single MIT student with a basic knowledge of engineering, a medium-​sized hacksaw and a little determination could take care of the job himself and thereby do us all a favor.

I drive over the BU Bridge fairly often and it hasn’t collapsed under me yet, so that alone is worth the two stars! The turn onto