About the project
The River Street Bridge goes over the Amtrak and MBTA lines in the Hyde Park neighborhood of Boston. Built in 1883, the bridge has been repaired many times in the last 100 years.
In May 2022, MassDOT conducted a routine inspection of the bridge. Inspectors found major deterioration to the bridge resulting in carrying capacity concerns. The bridge was immediately closed, and vehicles detoured.
We are currently advancing two parallel efforts. One will repair the existing River Street Bridge. MassDOT expects to reopen the bridge in 2024. The other will provide a permanent replacement bridge for River Street. More details on the bridge replace can be found on the bridge replacement page.

Sidewalk of the River Street Bridge looking west towards the River Street, Gordon Street, and Business Street intersection
Since 2016, MassDOT has made repairs to the bridge when needed, spending around $2.5 million to keep it safe for traffic. In May 2022, a routine inspection found key parts of the bridge had deteriorated to the point of making the bridge unsafe for vehicles. MassDOT immediately closed the bridge and detoured all vehicle traffic. Although closed to vehicles, the bridge remains open to bicyclists and pedestrians.
In August 2022, MassDOT completed the designs for the repairs. Based on the extensive repairs needed it was going to take about one year to complete everything. At the same time, MassDOT was advancing the design to replace the bridge. The schedule indicated that construction could begin as early as the fall of 2023. Based on this timeline, MassDOT chose to keep the bridge closed and not complete the repairs. MassDOT shared this information with the Hyde Park community in October 2022.
Over the past several months the bridge replacement design has continued to progress. As railroad coordination has advanced, it has created a high probability of delaying the start of construction.
MassDOT recognizes the bridge closure has real impacts on the Hyde Park community. In light of the delays, MassDOT cannot ask Hyde Park to live with a longer closure than what shared in fall 2022.
As such, MassDOT will invest in repairing the River Street Bridge. During the repairs, bicyclists and pedestrians will still be able to cross the bridge and the contractor will provide access to local businesses. While MassDOT’s intent was to reopen the bridge to all traffic in the spring of 2024, the bridge will remain closed to vehicular traffic through 2024 with an anticipated opening by the end of the year given the current access constraints encountered and subject to weather. MassDOT continues to do everything it can to speed up construction, including asking Amtrak for a power shut down every night. We will continue our outreach efforts with the Hyde Park community with regular project updates telling you what we’re working on, how much is done, and what you can expect in the weeks ahead. Our project email in-box continues to be monitored and we will get back to questions and comments.
Here is what we want you to know:
- Since MassDOT began repairing the bridge in February of 2023, crews completing the work have only been able to make progress on the structure in increments of on average an hour and a half in the middle of the night when Amtrak has available resources to provide flagger support and to de-energize the 25,000-volt catenary wires which power their high-speed trains. Amtrak’s level of safety for work performed along their right-of-way requires mobilizing specialized Amtrak electrical workers to the site to safely de-energize and the Amtrak flagger confirming that the bridge repair contractor is clear to begin their work. On the back end, time is needed for demobilizing the contractor from the site, and then re-energizing the catenary. When these required safety operations are factored in, this means that the effective time at the site is only 1.5 hours out of every 24.
- At present, the project team has completed demolition and removal of the existing bridge deck pans. Demolition and removal of the existing bridge beams and stringers is 95% complete and bridge floor beam repairs are 80% complete. Looking ahead, we need to replace 4 out of the 8 floor beams, install new deck pans, and pour the concrete bridge deck.
MassDOT continues to communicate with Amtrak and other stakeholder groups to find any additional opportunities to maximize construction hours and operations where possible. We appreciate your continued patience as we work to get the River Street Bridge reopened and ultimately replaced.
Regular updates about construction progress will be provided on this website and by emails. To sign up to receive updates via emails, visit the GovDelivery site.
Traffic and construction updates: December 22nd to January 3rd
Construction
Repairs to the River Street Bridge began in February of 2023. Since then, the project has fully accomplished the follow important elements of reopening the bridge:
- Installation of site fence to create a secure work zone.
- Removal of the asphalt wearing surface from the bridge deck.
- Installation of support brackets to relocate catenary (Amtrak locomotive power wires) cables.
- Demolition and removal of the deck pans and stringers.
- Repaired the bridge’s eastern abutment. The abutments are the granite structures at either end of the bridge on which the metal girders rest. Please see slide 21 of the March 2023 meeting presentation for more information.
- Repaired all bridge floor beams which could be repaired.
- Replaced all floor beams which were beyond the point of a successful repair.
- Replaced all bridge bearings.
- Replaced the stringers (components which connect the bridges floor beams and help support the roadway deck).
- Replaced all deck pans (components which rest between the floor beams and stringers and help support the roadway deck)
Work anticipated for the next two weeks:
- Reconstruction of the bridge’s curb and sidewalks.
- Installation of traffic markings on the River Street Bridge and through the intersection with Hyde Park Avenue.
- Repairs to the bottom cord of the bridge’s truss. The trusses are the parallel structures visible above the deck or driving and walking surface of the River Street Bridge. The bottom chord is the portion of the truss below the deck.
- Work involves trucks and small equipment running. Noise levels will be elevated slightly above normal traffic operations.
Planned work hours for the next two weeks:
- Extended daytime shifts when possible, for operations not requiring catenary power shut down, for the week of 12/22/24 only.
- Overnight – 9PM-5AM beginning during the week of 12/29/24.
- Exact overnight hours may vary based on available Amtrak support.
- 5 hours per night for operations which require catenary to be turned off.
Traffic
Two vehicle detours remain in place during the bridge closure:
- The northern (towards Forest Hills) detour uses the West Street Bridge to cross the train tracks. Summer Street carries northbound traffic. Austin Street carries traffic going south. Both streets connect to Gordon Avenue and then to River Street.
- The southern (towards Readville) detour uses the Reservation Road Bridge to cross the train tracks. Reservation Road connects to Business Street which connects with River Street opposite Gordon Avenue.
- As of 3:00PM on Friday, November 22nd, the southern (towards Readville) sidewalk on the River Street Bridge will reopen to bicycle and pedestrian traffic. Once it reopens, both sidewalks will be available to cyclists and pedestrians.
- Cyclists are asked to dismount while crossing the bridge due to limited space on the sidewalks.
All businesses in Cleary Square remain open and ready to serve you.
Hyde Park Main Streets’ website notes a wide assortment of holiday activities in and around Cleary Square.

Detour map for the River Street Bridge closure
Recognizing there are few options for a detour, MassDOT and the City of Boston worked together to set the most reasonable route around the closed bridge. To help reduce impacts to the detour route we have reached out to groups serving truckers to ask that they avoid the detour if possible. In addition, detour signs have been weather-proofed so they will stay easy to read in all conditions and MassDOT repaved the Fairmount Avenue Bridge to give drivers on this alternate route a smoother ride. In response to community requests, MassDOT has added signs further away from the bridge to help disperse traffic. Electric detour signs are routinely checked by the agency to ensure they are working as they should.
If you have questions or concerns about the detour, please contact us.