A pair of Quincy roads are set to be named for two military generals with strong ties to the city as part of a new bridge and park project underway downtown.
City councilors Monday night voted to name two new roads being constructed as part of the project General McConville Way and General Joseph F. Dunford Drive.
“In the theme of the bridge and the park, we found it appropriate to honor two of the more modern day generals,” Mayor Thomas Koch said. “It kind of has a nice touch to it. Both of them were sons of veterans and came from pretty amazing local families.”
Koch submitted the proposals and has said the new roads will tie together the Generals Bridge and a new park behind it meant to honor war heroes from the city.
Joseph Francis Dunford Jr. was born in Boston and raised in Quincy. He is a retired Marine Corps four-star general who was the 19th chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff under Presidents Barack Obama and Donald Trump.
James Charles McConville was born in Quincy and is an active U.S. Army general who is the 40th chief of staff of the Army. He was vice chief of staff of the Army and the Army’s deputy chief of staff for personnel.
General McConville Way will stretch about 670 feet from where Parkingway meets the Ross Lot to Hancock Street.
General Joseph F. Dunford Drive will stretch about 420 feet from the other side of Hancock Street to where Revere Road meets Walter Hannon Parkway.
The park and bridge project in Quincy Center will ultimately honor seven generals from Quincy from the Army, Air Force, National Guard and Marine Corps. There are three four-star generals, three two-star generals and one one-star general from Quincy.
The Generals Bridge will span the MBTA tracks to connect Burgin Parkway with Parkingway by extending Cliveden Street through the site of the former Ross garage. Construction started in 2019.
At one end of the bridge, behind the South Shore Health/Fat Cat building and Family Dollar, there will be a park to honor the generals complete with walking paths and a fountain.
“We’ve taken a depressed area of the downtown and created first-class public space and beautiful spots to be developed and put on the tax rolls,” Koch said.
McConville, Dunford, and retired Army Gen. Gordon Sullivan, former chief of staff of the Army, will be honored with statues, which will be cast in bronze and are being sculpted in Italy.
Busts will be dedicated to Major Gen. Francis McGinn, of the National Guard; retired Air Force Brigadier Gen. Ronald Rand; Air Force Major Gen. Stephen Keefe; and Massachusetts Air National Guard Major Gen. Charles Sweeney.
The $35.6 million Generals Bridge project is both a state and city endeavor.
Construction of the bridge itself is being paid for by the state Department of Transportation at an original cost of about $10.6 million.
Associated roadwork and park construction will be paid for by the city at an estimated cost of $25 million. The money comes from the city’s district improvement financing, or DIF, program.
A dedication is planned for Saturday, Sept. 11.
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