Just got a press release that says that starting at 11 a.m., crews will begin replacing outdated MBTA system maps - some of which are now 40 years old:
One of Boston's busiest stations, Government Center station is the first to showcase three brand new maps including: a line map identifying current stations along the Green Line that will replace a sign with outdated Green Line stops; a system map depicting connections to the subway and key routes; and a neighborhood map identifying places of interest in the surrounding Government Center area that has not been updated since station modernization in 1967.
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Historical artifacts underground
By Othemts
Mon, 09/21/2009 - 9:25am
There's one map in Government Center that's a treasure. Not only is out of date but it has several buildings proposed in the sixties that were never built. There's also a pedestrian footbridge on the map that crosses Congress Street at Dock Square (I can only imagine that being monumentally ugly, so I'm glad it was never built).
I'm all in favor of accuracy but I'm still going to miss this map. It's a highlight of Boston By Foot tours.
Ooh, where is it?
By adamg
Mon, 09/21/2009 - 9:29am
I have to go see this historic occasion, so I can get there early to snap that.
It's on the Green Line level of Gov't Center station
By Ron Newman
Mon, 09/21/2009 - 9:39am
I don't remember exactly where, but it's on one of those vertical panels. It shows, among other things, a never-built long and narrow office building occupying the space between Congress and Union streets, where the Holocaust Memorial and Curley statues now are. It is based on a Boston Redevelopment Authority map.
It also shows what the Hurley-Lindemann (State Service Center) was originally supposed to look like, with a tower where the Edward Brooke Courthouse now iw.
Cool, thanks
By adamg
Mon, 09/21/2009 - 9:39am
Now off to put some freshly recharged batteries in the camera ...
Directions
By Othemts
Mon, 09/21/2009 - 9:39am
It's along the Green Line Inbound track all the way down at the end where the trains screech into the station. It's next to a staircase that comes up from the Blue Line.
IIRC, at least one map at Government Center Green Line level
By roadman
Mon, 09/21/2009 - 9:39am
still shows the 'A' line to Watertown.
Coming soon
By Mark-
Mon, 09/21/2009 - 10:29am
The T has a bad habit of making temporary announcements on permanent signs. I love the note on many of these permanent maps that such-and-such station "will become" handicapped accessible - during 1991.
They also make a lot of permanent announcements on temporary signs. Some signs pointing the way to downtown landmarks look like they were handpainted for a one day sale at Filene's Basement.
The "hand-written" signs
By Spatch
Mon, 09/21/2009 - 10:59am
The "hand-written" signs started around the time of the DNC in 2004, if memory serves. They're not very professional-looking but at least they're big, they're clear, and they're not riddled with spelling mistakes.
The T maps with the "soon-to-be accessible" markings are also the ones that say the E Line to Forest Hills has been "temporarily" suspended, which I think is the same official status as the Watertown A Line.
There used to be several oldschool Orange Line maps around -- one in State, one I think in Copley even -- that still list Dudley, Northampton, etc. as stops. I'd like to have one of those signs, honestly, tho I know they'll just go to scrap.
In the past when the T has replaced old permanent maps
By roadman
Mon, 09/21/2009 - 11:13am
with new permanent maps, they usually overlay the old map with a new one attached with pop rivets, and don't bother to remove the old map first.
Let us all hope they don't decide to use decals for the new maps.
And Spatch is correct. The cheezy handwritten signs did first appear as a 'temporary' measure for the DNC in 2004.
What they did this morning
By adamg
Mon, 09/21/2009 - 12:08pm
They slid out the old system map (which was on top of a "permanent" even older spider map) and slid the new one in. However, the neighborhood map was just taped on top the old one.
The T apologizes for the inconvience at State Street
By adamg
Mon, 09/21/2009 - 12:20pm
how long have they been
By anon
Mon, 09/21/2009 - 2:14pm
how long have they been working on state street. I think I remember being that way for at least 15 years.
Now what about replacing
By joe c
Mon, 09/21/2009 - 11:08am
Now what about replacing them on the trains, I wonder? We have old Red Line trains that have built-in maps with newer maps stuck on them from 10-20 years back that are peeling off, and Green Line trains with a bunch of non-existent stops either scratched off or covered with what looks like White-Out.
Ah yes - the stops on the BC line that were "temporarily"
By roadman
Mon, 09/21/2009 - 12:12pm
removed as an experiment in 2007. Funny how removing those stops hasn't resulted in faster service on the BC line as the T claimed would happen.
Old Station Maps in Copley and Arlington
By Laura
Mon, 09/21/2009 - 12:24pm
The renovations in these stations uncovered some maps showing the Red Line ending at Harvard and the old elevated stops on the Orange Line. They do have the Braintree line, and the A line is missing, so my guess is they're from the 1970s or early 1980s.
I do wonder if any unsuspecting tourists have tried to use those to navigate.