What Concerns You About Longfellow Bridge Detour?

Fair warning: commuters from Boston to Cambridge may want to avert their eyes for the remainder of this post.

Starting Saturday, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation will be putting in place a detour so Phase I of construction on the Longfellow Bridge rehabilitation project can begin.

What does that mean? There won't be any Boston-to-Cambridge vehicle traffic on the bridge for the next 14 months. Cambridge-to-Boston traffic will continue, as will pedestrian and bicycle traffic and MBTA Red Line service over the bridge.

Until September 2014, traffic will be detoured from Charles Circle to Land Boulevard using Leverett Circle and Monsignor O’Brien Highway.

The entire project to rehabilitate the famed "salt and pepper shaker" bridge will last three-and-a-half years.

An image of what the detour will look like can be seen above.

At a public meeting on the rehabilitation project last week, local businesses, hospitals and other leaders expressed concern over the project and its impact, according to the Boston Globe. Some urged transportation officials to keep a lane of traffic open on the bridge in both directions.

In addition, the Globe reported that while Red Line service will be maintained during the process, there will be 25 weekends during the entire project where bus diversions will take place between Kendall/MIT and Park Street, with a stop at Charles/MGH. Five of those diversions will take place this year. Boston-bound traffic will also be detoured those weekends, according to the Globe.

That last piece of news makes your Beacon Hill Patch editor, who lives in Porter Square, a bit uneasy.

What concerns you the most about the detour of the Longfellow Bridge starting Saturday? Are you a commuter who uses this route everyday? Are you worried about bus diversions for the Red Line? Are you a business owner who may be impacted by this? Leave your thoughts in the comments below.