Back in January, the state Dept of Transportation released a 5 year Capital Improvement Plan that included some details of their long range vision. Those details were none too clearly spelled out but the report did include this intriguing map. The map shows a new MBTA line running from Riverside along the Mass Pike to West Station in Brighton. This new West Station would be in today’s train yard at the Mass Pike in Allston. From there, the map showed a new “Grand Junction” line running through Cambridge then back across the river to North Station. These new lines would be built around “diesel multiple units” (DMU’s) – independently powered subway vehicles running on commuter rail lines.
The first piece of that puzzle was intended to be West Station in Allston. It was going to be built as part of an upcoming project to redesign the Turnpike’s Allston exchange.
This week the Boston Globe reported that the state DOT has decided to drop West Station from the highway project. It sounds like step #1 in a future new Riverside-Brighton-Cambridge-North Station connection just got pushed back by at least a few years.
“The first piece of that puzzle was intended to be West Station in Allston. It was going to be built as part of an upcoming project to redesign the Turnpike’s Allston exchange.”
Yes, but from there, wouldn’t it make more sense to link it to Central Square or some similar location? It’s heading that way anyways.
The map showed one stop in Cambridge near Kendall Square before going to North Station. I believe the route of that proposed “Grand Junction” line was along an existing unused railroad right-of-way.
@Jerry. You are right. A good portion of this planned route was along a railroad right of way. This is disappointing. It would have gone some way to modifying the fact that our regional public transportation system works well as long as there’s a more or less direct route if you are planning to go from a point A to a point B. The problem is that any deviation from a direct route usually involves multiple transfers to reach a destination. It often takes up to 2 hours just to go a distance that an automobile could travel in less than half an hour.
Jerry- you beat me to it. I was planning to post on this as well. MassDOT seems to think just getting the highway part of the project approved is a stretch, but missing out on this huge and relatively inexpensive opportunity to bolster public transit would be irresponsible. There’s more bad news. Today, the Globe reported that the other proposed station in Brighton will be delayed by two years.
Newton has a vested interest in seeing all of this happen. Newton’s local officials and state representatives should step up to push these projects forward. More stops and more frequent service over the inner part of the Framingham/Worcester line could bring real mass transit to the north side of Newton and help alleviate traffic. Without stops in Allston/Brighton and a transfer to Cambridge, that’s less likely to happen.
The Grand Junction Railroad is still in use for freight and for non-revenue equipment transfers.
This is very disappointing.
Very disappointing.
Short-sighted and disappointing.
Would these updates have also required ADA compliance with the Newton commuter rail stops? Would be nice to see a regular schedule of stops in Newton to downtown, so the folks on the north side of the pike have a public transit option downtown other than the bus.
ADA at Newton stations is handled separately.
The Boston Globe featured an op-ed column by Paul McMorrow of Commonwealth Magazine, decrying the decision to drop mass transit from the project. That was one of the main justifications of the project to start with.
As he points out, the expensive @280 million dollar project is only worth doing on that basis. Spending that kind of money to just improve the highway makes no sense.