North Bank Bridge Park

The North Bank Bridge and its associated park component is the final park project in the New Charles River Basin, one that encompassed a complex public process, balancing the needs of several public agencies and numerous public constituents. The 11-acre park contains waterfront esplanades, passive open space, and special treatment to animate the underbridge pedestrian environment on both the Boston and Cambridge sides of the river. The planning process included siting a maintenance facility, and accommodating such active recreation facilities as multi-use trails, soccer fields, tennis courts and a skateboard park, much of which will be added in future phases.

The centerpiece of this project is a multi-use bridge which features dramatic curvilinear or ‘sinusoidal’ structure that provides a counterpoint to the adjacent angular geometry of the Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge. The North Bank Bridge, which provides pedestrian access across the commuter rail tracks leading into nearby North Station, finally executes Charles Eliot’s century-old vision of connecting the parks along the Charles River with those of the Boston Harbor. It was designed by Ammann & Whitney, now part of WSP.

The North Bank Bridge was opened for pedestrian use in 2012.