Talk:Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge/Archive 1

Archive 1

Span

What is length of main span?

Tabletop 06:08, 26 Mar 2005 (UTC)

227.1 m (745 feet), according to the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority's web site. - Gregory Arkadin

A complete replacement?

Not so much. The double-decker still exists - it's just truncated. Now runs, and continues to be referred to as upper/lower decks, from Sullivan Square to the Zakim's span. --Raj Fra 03:35, 26 March 2006 (UTC)

No, there was a relatively short steel truss double-decker bridge across the Charles river, which was removed entirely; the previous bridge was fed from the north by a double-decker viaduct. Exactly where the viaduct ended and the bridge started wasn't so obvious when southbound on I-93, but it was very obvious when heading north on the (now demolished) elevated central artery. Most of the viaduct remains, and it now attaches to the north end of the Zakim bridge. --Sommerfeld 19:18, 31 August 2006 (UTC)

Buckner

I removed the following:

"A local nickname for the bridge is the "Bill Buckner Bridge," due to the fact that the towers look like legs straddling the bridge and as "all traffic seemingly passes through the structure’s legs," a reference to Buckner's infamous error during Game Six of the 1986 World Series.[1]"

While this is properly referenced with a link to an 2003 article in a New Hampshire newspaper, this is not a local nickname for the bridge. At best, someone on talk radio referred to it as such while making fun of it.

Thanks, BCorr|Брайен 18:57, 15 August 2006 (UTC)

I've heard the Insanely Too Long Name bridge referred to as the "Buckner Bridge" a lot more often than I've heard the Longfellow called the "Salt and Pepper Bridge." In either case, it's more of a cute play than a commonly-used nickname. It's a lot broader than a single throwaway reference. --Jnik 01:20, 2 September 2006 (UTC)

Everyone I know calls it the Buckner. November 2006

Well, as long as we're exchanging anecdotes: I've never heard anyone refer to it as the "Buckner Bridge," but I do hear lots of people refer to it as the "Bunker Hill Bridge" — which, obviously, is a legitimate truncation of its formal name. (And by the way, if somebody with a photographic eye wants to add a couple of new pictures to this article, that'd be swell. The current photos aren't great.) Cribcage 19:32, 12 December 2006 (UTC)

I too have never heard it referred to as the Buckner Bridge. As the name section notes, it is most commonly referred to (by radio traffic updates and web/cell traffic information services) as the Zakim Bridge. Does the Name section deserve a discussion of the naming controversies that surrounded the naming? Purplemouse 19:27, 16 January 2007 (UTC)purplemouse

It was cited in The Washington Post. I've heard it A LOT too. The reference should stay. --PatrickD 02:08, 7 February 2007 (UTC)

That's a misrepresentation. Your link isn't an article published by the newspaper, it's a transcript of an online chat hosted by a Post columnist. What's worse, the Buckner reference you "cited" isn't even made by the Post columnist himself. It was made by an anonymous reader claiming to be from Washington, DC. Cribcage 07:37, 26 February 2007 (UTC)

Googling "Buckner Bridge" reveals 250 hits, many off-topic. Most of the hits are blogs or newspaper articles referring to blogs or other unsubstantiated conversation. As a compromise, I have reworded the note to mention the nickname as a joke. Purplemouse 04:00, 18 February 2007 (UTC)

Widest Prior to 2003?

Isn't it still the widest cable-stayed bridge in the world? Raime 03:04, 27 June 2007 (UTC)

Appearances in popular culture

I suspect the first appearance in a film was in Spartan_(film) released in 2004. There is a driving sequence using the northbound lanes of the new tunnel, and when the car emerges onto the bridge it is notable that there is no southbound traffic, since the southbound lanes weren't open at the time of filming. Should the film be listed, at least? Huw Powell (talk) 21:13, 6 September 2008 (UTC)

I'd rather remove the whole section as basically irrelevant, but others seem to feel otherwise. - Denimadept (talk) 23:22, 6 September 2008 (UTC)

Visual request

Whether it's a map, diagram or photo, this article could use something showing the configuration of travel lanes, and the relationship to Storrow Drive, Leverett Circle, and I-93 north and south of the crossing. -- Beland (talk) 21:01, 5 December 2008 (UTC)

Insular

Isn't that a POV? - Denimadept (talk) 20:57, 15 January 2011 (UTC)

No, part of the community's history has been its insularity. Whether it was "the code" - an unwritten rule about not speaking out against the Irish mafia, its strong distrust of outsiders and many other events throughout its history, Charlestown has always been know for this. --Jeremy (blah blah • I did it!) 21:02, 15 January 2011 (UTC)

You wanna get the bridge's name right?

Title of article: "Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge"

Official name, in inset: "Leonard P Zakim-Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge"

The number of errors is not even one. --Jim Luedke Jimlue (talk) 18:54, 23 March 2011 (UTC)

It is a simple case of semantics, in the grand scheme of things a missing hyphen is not the end of the world and does not make the article inaccurate. --Jeremy (blah blah • I did it!) 19:51, 23 March 2011 (UTC)

Agreed. We could get rid of the hyphen and everything after it, with no loss. - Denimadept (talk) 21:17, 23 March 2011 (UTC)