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Imagine if the Blue Line had been extended to Brighton
By adamg on Thu, 03/25/2021 - 9:52am
Vanshnookenraggen maps every single Boston-area subway expansion proposal since the 1890s - some of which got built, and some, like extending what is now the Blue Line from downtown to Brighton, didn't.
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Comments
Orange Line
I've always wished the Orange Line extended to Roslindale and West Roxbury - every other subway line extends to or past city limits.
or a DMU
How about we just get a DMU from FH to Needham, add a stop at Millenium for access to playing fields, bird watching, canoeing, etc...
Agreed...
Rail service to one of the city's larger green spaces will promote greater access and equity.
While adding a stop at Millennium, the T might as well add a few more: one between Baker and VFW to allow walking-distance access to the VA Hospital, another at Walworth St, and a third at South St/Archdale Rd. The dense station spacing would be no worse than what currently exists between Highland and West Roxbury. If the line is double-tracked, DMUs/EMUs can run frequently enough on the Boston section (10 minutes peak, 15-20 all day) to the extent that the 35/36/37 buses can be eliminated entirely.
But if it takes 4 weeks for the T to replace a couple of switches at Wellington, there's only so much we can dream about...
Solution looking for problem
To run frequent service, there's really no reason not to extend the Orange Line. The connection SW of FH is as simple as simple could be (it's the same ROW) and it's grade-separated out through Westie. There are two bridges which would need new spans, stations to upgrade for accessibility and new platforms, but the right-of-way is pretty easy and traction power is relatively cheap. Plus, one-seat-ride to LMA and Downtown with a bit more frequency than the Needham Line.
+1 for a Millennium Park indeed, but maybe put it at or east of the VFW parkway so it's close to the VA as well.
(This elides the question of whether you run the Orange Line to Needham, or the Green Line, or both, or run the Green Line to Hersey and have a bike path across the Charles between Westie and Hersey, or run the Green Line around the Westie, etc.)
What about HP? Always left
What about HP? Always left out. If that were the case, it would be the only neighborhood without subway services.
In a perfect world, south of Forest Hills
Running the Orange Line to Readville would be my first choice. The transit demand on the Hyde Park Ave corridor is incredible, and there is a lot of room for transit oriented development.
My second, pie in the sky, move would be to tunnel down Washington Street to the Dedham Mall, with the line being motivation for a redevelopment of the mall area.
Last would be converting the Needham Line to Orange Line running. I'd say that West Roxbury likes being that bit of removed from the transit system, even though they won't stop griping about being in Zone 1 (which is a distance issue.)
Zone 1...
is not a distance issue.
The 2014 MBTA Blue Book shows West Roxbury at 8.0 miles from South Station, and Quincy Center at 7.9 miles (see page 75). Quincy Center is 1A, and West Roxbury is Zone 1. Any reasonable person will tell you that 0.1 miles should not cost $4.10 one way, or $124 per month.
You may say that Quincy Center has competing subway service, and that the CR is cheap because it's less convenient. Well, it costs $4.10 each way to go the extra 1.4 miles between Forest Hills and Roslindale (Zone 1, and only 6.4 miles from South Station). It is certainly less convenient than the 9 crowded bus routes that serve the Washington St corridor between Forest Hills and the Square. So that rules out the "competition" explanation.
It's hard to find a more egregious example of overt class-based segregation...
I know they did that when
I know they did that when they were redoing Wollaston Station because it was not Handicapped accessible. I don't think Quincy is any of a better class from Roslindale.
You could be like HP Ave that has one super crowded bus route.
I do think Readville should not be zone 2. It is in the city of Boston. I live in Wolcott but the commuter rail is just out of my budget when I commuted
Agreed...there is no way that
Agreed...there is no way that a 2 person household should be paying more than $5k a year to take the CR from Roslindale.
I can imagine Boston would've
I can imagine Boston would've been a world-class city instead of a stagnating provincial backwater clogged with traffic where everyone is fighting over scraps downtown because the outlying residents want to pretend to be living a suburban lifestyle with inner-city property values. Going long on cars through highway spending while ignoring rapid, accessible transit sure paid off.
This! I hear about how HP is
This! I hear about how HP is a nice small town. What? It is in a city. This is not a small town. Time to move out of the small town vibe.
Are you forgetting about the
Are you forgetting about the major T expansions from the 50s through the 80s?
Green Line D, Blue Line to Orient Heights and then Wonderland, Red Line to Quincy and then Braintree and Alewife, Orange Line to Oak Grove?
The Southwest Corridor is of questionable utility compared to the old Elevated and E to Arborway, but it was intended to be an improvement.
There have been major expansions of Commuter Rail service as well.
Then there’s the Silver Line. I hate it, but it was a big investment, again with the intent of improving transit.
I fucks with these maps bruh
I fucks with these maps bruh
Cartophilia
Both DeLorme and Rand McNally have treatment centers for this affliction.
No shaming
There's nothing wrong with being able to finish the countries of the world no outlines quiz on Sporcle.
But in Rand McNally...
they wear hats on their feet and hamburgers eat people!
A wonderful job of assembling
A wonderful job of assembling a lot of history and documentation in one place. I look forward to a a more thorough read when I have time.
-
I would question one of their data points (though only a minor quibble). The A branch rails actually weren't pulled out until 1999. Prior to that, they might have been paved over.
The A line was only paved
The A line was only paved over for a long time- broke a caliper in my car crossing those daily when I lived in Brighton Center in mid-90's
Recall the Globe had an op-ed piece in early 90's about the idea of the Blue Line extending out from Bowdoin out towards Brighton/ Watertown/ Newton that fascinated me at time
For more info on Transit history sign up for BPL talk March 30
Steven Beaucher, the co-founder and proprietor of WardMaps LLC and the author of the new book Boston In Transit will be talking about the history of Boston public transit in a virtual book talk from the Leventhal map library at the Boston Public Library March 30 at noon.
To sign up for this free online talk go to:
https://www.leventhalmap.org/event/steven-beaucher-on-boston-in-transit/
What could have been...
I think the Riverside line ( D branch ) should have been converted over to the Blue Line. The A branch perhaps could've been restored up to Brighton Center or Oak Square in Brighton.
blue line
This is more of a thin blue line town than a long blue line town.
NIMBY
Wonderful history of NIMBY
A Blue Line drop in Downtown
A Blue Line drop in Downtown Chelsea would really alleviate all the clogged buses in the city. It is a little crazy that we are so dense and urban abd so close to Downtown but don't get nearly the service from the MBTA that other far flung less populated areas get.
A Blue Line run up to Lynn and into Salem would also be a game changer for the entire shore. Downtown Lynn attached to a subway would end up being the coolest place in the Boston area. Think Davis square before before it got over welmed by gentrification
Blue Line to Chelsea
Did the T extend the Silver Line into Chelsea? Is that working out?
The SL3 has remained busy
throughout the pandemic, and appears to be the busiest of the SL branches right now through the South Boston Transitway.
I actually would like to see the T increase the frequency it runs, as it can often be overcrowded, especially while trying to do social distancing.