First phase of North Washington Street Bridge opens on Saturday

The first phase of the North Washington Street Bridge opened on Saturday morning, in hopes that it will help alleviate traffic between the North End and Charlestown.

The years-long project has been plagued by delays.

All traffic will switch over to the new bridge this weekend, according to MassDOT.

Starting Monday, crews will start demolishing a temporary bridge created for the project. After the demolition the second half of construction will start, which is slated to be done by early 2025, according to Mass.gov.

Previously, parents of some Boston students had been growing more and more concerned that kids had to dodge cars and trucks to cross the street.

"The anxiety is unreal," said Katy Fleming.

The merging has led to long delays that back up into the intersection, blocking lanes of traffic and crosswalks.

"It is frustrating, and I think that is the key piece, it is really frustrating," Fleming said. "People get frustrated. When drivers are angry and upset, they kind of tend to rage through this intersection, they press on the gas and the walk signal is there and and even these buses are flying in the bus lane."

Fleming has started an Instagram account documenting her daily route crossing the street as she picks her kids up at school.

"It is a bunch of us moms who document what happens to and from school," she said.

Peter Furth, a professor at Northeastern University, has been studying the traffic issues and says he met with officials at the Massachusetts Department of Transportation Tuesday in an effort to find a solution.

"There is a real problem, you see the problem with people blocking the box 109 pedestrians not getting through," Furth said. "That flow goes down to a trickle, so hardly anybody is getting through, I've calculated about 700 cars an hour getting through, that's all."

Furth says he believes a light in the intersection needs to be better timed.

"Yes, there is a solution," he said. "Fix the traffic signal timing, and it needs a non-conventional timing, which people are not used to."

Fleming is just hoping for a solution before there is any tragedy.

"We get it, it is Boston, we are frustrated, driving stinks, which is why we are all walking," she said.