T he State Street Bridge—looking spiffier than remembered thanks to new pavement, fresh road markings and refashioned side barriers—reopened a week ago, about four years and $23 million late. Spanning the Mill River between Upper State Street and Fair Haven, the restoration project became official policy in 2008 when the Board of Alders approved it.
That same year, on September 13, there was other bridge news: a restoration project had just been completed, this one spanning the Quinnipiac. Though it cost $21 million and took nearly six years, it was actually five months ahead of schedule.
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The Ferry Street Bridge was back. Built in 1940 as part of the New Deal, Ferry—an arched bridge flanked by a couple of pragmatic cement towers, with a central section that rises to accommodate passing sea vessels—doesn’t have the high-design flash of its downriver neighbor, the Q Bridge, or a memorable floating house like its neighbor to the north, the Grand Avenue Bridge.
Ferry’s best aesthetic charms are subtler. They aren’t the first things you see. Cool red wine-colored railings notwithstanding.
Written and photographed by Dan Mims.
