Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge

Iconic bridge of Boston.
Perhaps less famous than Brooklyn and Golden Gate, but no less impressive. Beautifully architectured and one of a kind, the neon lights at night is always positively anticipating for a frequent traveller of the bridge. After being a resident of the city for more than a decade, the bridge became a symbol of coming home and familiarity.
Love, Boston.

Gorgeous bridge adds character to the most beautiful city in the world Boston! I love this bridge! Great views from here of the city skyline day or night after what seemed a millennia of construction this bridge is the shining star of the city

A really cool piece of architecture and engineering. This is one of the coolest bridges to drive across and it has definitely become a major downtown Boston landmark. Signed as part of I-​93, the bridge was only built in the early 2000s as part of a major improvement project on downtown Boston roads. Not only is it cool to drive across but it adds a neat touch to any pictures taken downtown that it happens to end up in. I’m taking a star off my rating because I got stuck in horrible traffic on this road. Maybe I’m being unfair since I guess its partially my fault for driving through downtown Boston at 5 PM on a Thursday. Blah, either way that traffic sucked. If you’re planning on driving across this bridge for an up close and personal experience with it do it far away from rush hour times. Otherwise just admire it from a distance.

A Beautiful bridge! and a great drive

This is one of my favorite bridges, and I know from bridges. It’s picturesque during sunrise or sunset and quite lovely all lit up in blue at night. Taking a picture out your window as you pass under it leads to some interesting shots … but don’t do that if you’re the driver!

Heading north outta Boston you will probably drive over this bridge. It is a spectacular sight at night with its haunting blue glowing lights.
It is actually somewhat similar to the new Bay Bridge in San Francisco.

This is a gorgeous bridge. Literally this could and should be a well known landmark. I am pretty surprised that it is not. The central suspension set up is not one that I have seen elsewhere. I found it to be very very appealing.
My daughter was a little bit upset as we walked by this thing that I literally stopped to take at least a hundred photos of it from the overlook. haha
Pro Tip: There is a small park commemorating this bridge within Boston on the southern end that you can stop and take photos from. It is also very close to the Boston Garden Sports Arena.
This bridge is also very unique in that the northern end starts as would any bridge in the world, but the southern end, ends underground. So it essentially crosses over the water and dives under the surface so that the vehicles never see the city once they are across. I also like that the cables appear white (whether painted or not I am not sure) and the stanchions are bare concrete. Absolutely gorgeous and iconic.

This is my favorite bridge. When it’s alit with a special glow, usually blue, it’s awe-​inspiring. The Zakim Bridge beautified the Boston skyline.

I’ve been over this bridge a couple of dozen times and like it a great deal more than the previous version’s erector set.
I believe the Bunker Hill Bridge lends character to the area, along with the new Boston Garden, er TD Garden. I actually like the view better from the Charlestown bridge. Those steel cables and lighting really make it surreal at night.

Beautiful bridge but don’t try to drive over it.

When this bridge was first built it used to freak me the heck out because it reminded me of an octopus and that I was being swallowed alive (I know weird). But I’ve come a long way since then and I love this gorgeous piece of art.
It changes colors at night and makes me feel like I’m driving on a paved rainbow to something better on the other side. It looks good from all angels from all the different cities that it can be seen from. It commands attention and really beautifies Boston. It’s definatly a main attraction that people should see when touring the city.

This bridge is downright majestic at night!
It gives me a sense of pride having lived in Boston for over 26 years to have this bridge be our centerpiece. It’s gorgeous and unlike the other bridges around (Tobin, Charlestown). this one is new with nice smooth roads that don’t destroy my tires every time I drive on it. Depending on which way you’re driving, you’ll have a view of the TD Garden along with other great buildings in the area. I like this bridge a lot.

I love this bridge, and not just for its beauty & the safe feeling I have when driving over it, but mostly due to the fact of when it was being constructed during the infamous Big Dig & closed to the public; my late Poppy went on a guided tour of the Zakim & came home with nothing but good & interesting things to say about it. We still have pictures of him atop the Zakim in his construction builder vest & hard hat.

You can check in on a bridge?
Yes it’s true. I checked in at the Zakim Bridge.
I have nothing exciting to say about it. I was coming from Charlestown to get on to 93S. The bridge is pretty cool looking. :)
The. End.

Best entrance to a $ 14 billion dollar project that I’ve ever driven on.
As congested as this bridge can sometimes look the traffic generally moves pretty well. I can’t say I remember being stuck on this bridge in much bumper to bumper traffic without an accident stalling traffic ahead.
I tell you what is always a challenge though. Entering and exiting that O’neill tunnel on a sunny day is tough. It feels as though I’m driving blind during the adjustment period my eyes make in the lighting.

As someone who reviles the Zakim Bridge, I know I’m in the minority. My disdain for it arises from the way it totally perverts the concept of form vs. function. To understand what I mean, compare the Zakim Bridge with it’s adjacent sister, the Leverett Connector Bridge.
Both bridges were designed and built as part of the massive «Big Dig» project. Now that it’s supposedly «completed», I’m sure many people think these two bridges are one and the same; they are located right next to one another and both serve the same function of carrying traffic over the Charles River. But not only are they two completely separate bridges, the Leverett Connector Bridge was built and opened to traffic towards the start of the Big Dig, while the Zakim Bridge was one of the last structures to be completed.
The slightly older sister is humble and practical. It has a simple yet graceful steel «box beam» girder design that for the most part, uses standard construction practices and materials. It’s form is true to it’s function with no unnecessary frills or decoration. Clean and pure, it does it’s job without pretense and will likely require minimal maintenance in the years to come.
By comparison, the flamboyant and conceited younger sister screams out for attention like a spoiled child. Remember, these two bridges perform the exactly the same function; the Zakim bridge is wider and has more lanes, but they both are essentially the same length and with the same height and clearance for river traffic beneath them.
But ironically, the Zakim Bridge’s form is also true to it’s function. The gaudy towers and cables are indeed integral to it’s physical structure. The grand perversion is that such a design was used at all, when all that was really needed was another bridge similar to the Leverett Connector. The reasons why it was built this way is a long story that I won’t get in to here, other than to say it was for political purposes rather than for legitimate engineering requirements.
I won’t argue that it’s not pretty, but that’s all superficial, like a phony «Miss America» smile. Because of it’s unique and extravagant style, the Zakim Bridge cost many times more than it’s sister to build, and will require vastly more maintenance in the years to come. There’s also unforeseen problems that have already occurred, like ice accumulating on the cables in winter and then falling down into traffic. (The Leverett Connector Bridge would never do such a thing!)
Worst of all (and this is where it really gets ugly), because so much money was spent on the Zakim Bridge (among other things), there was not enough left to complete the public parks and mass transit projects that were promised as part of the Big Dig mitigation.
So, it’s a bridge that looks nice on TV and seems impressive at a distance, but once you truly understand how it works and what it does, the Zakim bridge loses all of it’s charm. Meanwhile the Leverett Connector Bridge sits silently next to it’s noisy sister, perhaps content knowing that it’s own superior beauty remains true, if but hidden deep within it’s heart.

Lenny Zakim was a great guy and this bridge is a fitting tribute to all the good work that he did in his too short lifetime!
It’s a beautiful piece of architecture and functional too, in spite of all the corruption in Boston building the Big Dig.
I don’t see a way to attach additional pictures here, so I’ll just say that if you look at my profile you will see a number of pictures that were taken when we got a private tour of the Zakim Bridge while it was still under construction in 2002.

Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Memorial Bridge is indeed the world’s widest cable-​stayed bridge and the most distinctive achievement of the Big Dig. I drove on this bridge with my former love’s aunt, uncle and cousins which is beautiful at night. It is an engineering marvel where tax payers actually see where their hard earn money goes towards.

This is a cool bridge. Period.
When I was living in JP, and commuting to Malden, I watched the bridge being built. Every day it got bigger, and bigger, it was hard to imagine what the final project would be like when completed.
I love how they light up the bridge at night, with the pink and purple lights. I do think they should experiment with different colors of lights, like orange at Halloween, red and green at Christmas and rainbow colors at Gay Pride.

This bridge was intriguing during the day but downright gorgeous illuminated at night. Get a great view of it from the ID Garden stadium or North Station T stop.