What if, instead of waiting for the MBTA to fix our horrendous commuter rail situation, we started to fix it ourselves?
Adam wrote about the cluster that is the Auburndale Station project (here and here). Background: the three Newton stations on the commuter rail are all on one side of the tracks (the south side, hard by the Pike). Trains going inbound in the morning and outbound in the evening travel on the south track. Trains going the opposite direction from peak travel on the north track and cannot board or de-board passengers, so there is no “reverse-peak” service.
On top of the limited service, the stations are just horrendous. Among the problems: platforms are low-level, not high-level, meaning passengers have to climb up to board and down to de-board, which has a meaningful impact on the time it takes to get trains in and out of the station.
Transit Matters, a regional transit advocacy group, has drawn up a vision for Regional Rail, which has three key components:
- Electrified trains — more environmentally responsible and quicker in and out of stations
- High-level platforms — for easier and faster boarding, see above
- All-day, bi-directional service — to create a true inter-city travel option
Back to Auburndale. The MBTA proposed to build a new, high-level platform on the north track, with an expensive switch to move trains to and from the south track, which serves the other Newton stations. Ari Ofsevit gets into serious detail about the nuttiness of that plan. And, he noted that the money to build the switch would be sufficient to rebuild the other two stations, obviating the need for the switch. Mayor Fuller has endorsed the plan to repurpose the $11+ million and rebuild all three stations’ current single platform, putting off the construction of dual-platform stations and, therefore, the benefit of reverse-peak travel.
Let’s let the MBTA pay to rebuild Auburndale as a high-platform, two-track station and the city should fund construction of the other two stations. Now. And, pay for the balance ourselves. Conservatively assuming that a new station costs about $15 million, that’s a $30 million investment to give Newton a fighting chance at managing the transportation demand that north-side development will create.
We could wait for the MBTA. Good luck with that. Or, we could acknowledge that we live in one of the wealthiest communities in the world and that we have pressing obligations to reduce our city’s carbon emissions.
We don’t have to pay full freight. For our making a contribution, the MBTA should both contribute substantially and move the project forward in the backlog. Certainly, this would be a good way to recapture some of the wealth Newton is preparing to create for the Washington St. developer.
A substantial municipal contribution could be a great model for rail improvements through wealthier communities.
Who’s for a Prop 2 override for modern rail service?
Do we really need trains? What are the chances of shuttle buses and a car-pool ONLY lane on the freeway to downtown. This could actually be implemented in our lifetime..
I certainly like the idea of an override, its something all current residents will benefit from…
Doing it backwards (build housing FIRST and then HOPE MBTA will fix service) as others suggest is crazy given that we know the MBTA is a mess.
Most importantly IMO, these stations are not ADA-compliant, and at least Newtonville (I don’t know the others) is downright dangerous to access, with long rickety steps that are particularly dangerous in winter conditions. To me, high level platforms speeding things up a little is much less important than them making boarding possible for those in wheelchairs and easier for those on crutches, with arthritis, or with kids in strollers.
Fixing those problems would increase the number of people who can use whatever level of service is available.
@bugek I don’t think this an “or” but an “and.” Yes, we need trains AND we need lanes for buses and other high occupancy vehicles.
Not an override… bonds backed by projected future contributions by developers and new commercial tax revenue. That’s how Quincy is financing the public parts of its downtown revitalization. And that’s how you solve the chicken-egg problem of density near these commuter rail stations.
Whatever happens to those stations, we need to keep a keen eye on the MBTA to make sure they don’t make short-sighted decisions, or decisions contrary to the city’s vision for the areas around these stations.
IMHO it’s acceptable (not preferred, but acceptable) to build accessible 1-sided high-platform stations now, so long as such stations are literally half of a full station, meaning it’s easy to complete the job later. Potentially with local funding.
Two possible disasters here:
1. The MBTA proceeds with 1-sided designs that would have to be ripped out entirely to become 2-sided. This is part of what was wrong with the original Auburndale plan.
2. We allow the MBTA to improve one station at a time, and they decide to just close one or both of the other stations once the first one is done. Funding for the whole thing — preferably including 2-sided stations — should be lined up ahead of time.
Asking developers to pitch in would be a great idea. I believe New Balance paid for the Boston Landing station (or at least some of the cost).
While we’re fantasizing, we really ought to build one at Newton Corner as well.