[3] In 1949 it was renamed for Boston University, which lies at the southern end of the bridge, after a group of students went to the State House to propose a name change.

State Senator John E. Powers sponsored the legislation in May 1949; it passed unanimously.

Several plans were discussed for the area; had the expressway been built over the river, the bridge would have been demolished and replaced with a high-level highway overpass, while if the road had been constructed as a tunnel, the bridge would have been left standing as a crossing for surface route traffic.

This bridge, formerly owned by CSX Transportation, was purchased by the Commonwealth of Massachusetts for the MBTA in 2010.

The long-postponed Urban Ring mass transit project is expected to include a bridge at or near this location to carry the planned route across the Charles River.