South Bay Interchange
{{about|the interchange in downtown Boston, Massachusetts|South Bay, Dorchester, Boston|South Bay, Dorchester, Massachusetts}}
{{other uses|South Bay (disambiguation){{!}}South Bay}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Use American English|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox road junction
|country=USA
|name=South Bay Interchange
|image=
|image_caption=
|maint=Massachusetts Department of Transportation
|location=South Bay, Boston, Massachusetts
|coord={{coord |42.346|-71.060|display=inline, title|type:landmark}}
|roads={{jct|state=MA|I|90}}
{{jct|state=MA|I|93}}
{{jct|state=MA|US|1}}
{{jct|state=MA|MA|3}}
|type=
|const=1997–2003
|opened={{start date|2003}}
|height=
|other_names=
|mapframe-zoom=15
}}
The South Bay Interchange is a massive interchange in downtown Boston, Massachusetts, in the US. The interchange consists of Interstate 90, the Mass Pike Extension, and the Interstate 93 concurrency with US 1 and MA 3 south of the Thomas P. O'Neill Jr. Tunnel.{{cite web|url=http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/realestate/fltmanual/fltappend14.pdf|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20100529014018/http://www.fhwa.dot.gov/realestate/fltmanual/fltappend14.pdf|url-status=dead|archive-date=May 29, 2010|title=Land transfer agreement with the United States Postal Service|year=1997|publisher=Federal Highway Administration|page=2|accessdate=10 December 2009}}
The interchange dominates the South Bay parcel, a 10-acre (40,000 m2) site between Chinatown and the Leather District. It is roughly bounded by Kneeland Street, Hudson Street, the Massachusetts Turnpike mainline, and the Interstate 93 mainline. Currently owned by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT), the area is taken up by a major highway interchange between 90, 93, and local streets. There were original plans to re-develop the area with a {{convert|600|ft|m|adj=mid|-tall}} office tower, but no such project has taken place.
History of the site
{{unreferenced section|date=January 2025}}
The South Bay parcel, as well as the adjacent Chinatown and Leather District neighborhoods, sit on filled land. Once part of South Cove, a portion of Boston's South Bay, it was filled in 1833 by the South Cove Corporation, who built an intermodal train/sea station as part of the Boston and Worcester Railroad. This development included residential and commercial area, and what was considered at the time to be the largest hotel in the United States. Throughout most of the 19th century and the early half of the 20th century, the district was made up of rail yards serving railroads entering Boston from the south and west.
The rail yards and terminus attracted leather and garment businesses, which constructed the commercial buildings in the adjacent Leather District. Similarly, the railroad served as an immigrant gateway, a role which it played beginning in the late 19th century for many Asian newcomers, particularly Chinese.
In the 1950s, the Massachusetts Highway Department displaced much of the rail yards to build the John F. Fitzgerald Expressway (the Central Artery). Later the South Bay interchange connected the Central Artery to the Massachusetts Turnpike. The intersection has since been reconstructed by the Big Dig, with tunnels to South Boston and Logan Airport.
Interchange construction
The interchange was constructed beginning in the late 1990s as a major feature of the Big Dig project. By using a variety of methods including soil freezing and tunnel jacking to maintain adjacent subway, freight and commuter rail operations, engineers were able to avoid major interruption of existing traffic flows. The name South Bay originates from the state of the area prior to nineteenth century land reclamation efforts which filled an area of marshes and brackish water that was an estuary of Boston Harbor with dirt from nearby high ground.{{cite web|url=http://www.nce.co.uk/boston-tangler-a-mass-of-tunnels-and-viaducts-is-being-constructed-to-make-a-crucial-interchange-in-the-middle-of-boston-without-interfering-with-the-smooth-flow-of-traffic/839849.article|title=Boston tangler |last=Parker|first=Dave|date=January 8, 1998|publisher=New Civil Engineer|accessdate=10 December 2009|location=London}}
Gallery
{{Gallery | mode=traditional | state=expanded | align=left | height = 250 | width = 250 | noborder=yes | whitebg=no
| File:South Bay Interchange.jpg
| alt1=Overlooking South Bay Interchange toward the south-southwest from One Financial Center in Boston.
| Overlooking South Bay Interchange toward the south-southwest from One Financial Center in Boston, with the Great Blue Hill visible in the background
| File:Boston traffic re-routed Ted Williams tunnel, 2006.jpg
| alt2=Traffic detoured onto I-93 at the South Bay Interchange after the Big Dig ceiling collapse.
| Traffic detoured onto I-93 at the South Bay Interchange after the Big Dig ceiling collapse.}}
{{clear}}
References
{{Reflist}}
External links
- [https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/publications/research/infrastructure/geotechnical/05159/index.cfm Design and Construction of Driven Pile Foundations: Lessons Learned on the Central Artery/Tunnel Project] Federal Highway Administration
{{BostonMA}}
Category:Transportation in Boston