There is talk of replacing Boston's 74-year-old Tobin Bridge, and the replacement could be a tunnel rather than another bridge.

My ears perk up when I hear talk of the Tobin Bridge since Gov. Maurice J. Tobin, for whom the cantilever truss bridge was named, was kinfolk. We are first cousins twice removed.

Governor Tobin was a first cousin to my great-grandmother Margaret Tobin (Grammy Prescott), who emigrated from County Waterford, Ireland at the turn of the 20th century.

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10 Boston News reported, "MassDOT has not ruled out replacing the state's largest bridge with a tunnel."

The Maurice J. Tobin Memorial Bridge, the largest bridge in New England, spans more than two miles from Boston to Chelsea over the Mystic River. MassDOT operates the Tobin Bridge.

WCVB-TV Channel 5 reported, "Construction to maintain the aging bridge has been ongoing for years while state officials look for future alternatives."

While some residents are skeptical of the tunnel idea, others see it as a plus for the neighborhoods beneath it.

"The Tobin cuts through a large part of Chelsea Square and downtown, so removing this elevated highway would be a good thing," Chelsea's Jim Cadden told WCVB.

The Maurice J. Tobin Memorial Bridge opened in 1951 as the Mystic River Bridge. The bridge was renamed after Gov. Tobin in 1967.

Tobin was born in Boston on May 22, 1901. A liberal Democrat, he served as the 46th Mayor of Boston from 1938 to 1945. Tobin then served as the 56th Governor of Massachusetts from 1945 to 1947.

From 1948 to 1953, he was United States Secretary of Labor under President Harry Truman.

Tobin died of a heart attack on July 19, 1953. He was 52.

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