Coming down the track, a Four Corners upgrade - The Boston Globe: "North Allston-Brighton, which once had three rail stations and the A Line trolley, also sees commuter trains fly by without stopping, and Harvard University and the city of Boston support a new commuter rail station in that neighborhood, although the city has not endorsed a site.
Vineet Gupta , Boston's transportation planning director, said stopping the commuter rail in Allston-Brighton would be cost-effective.
'Everybody is interested in seeing something happen there, and while it's in its infancy we're confident a design will emerge,' Gupta said.
Harvard has proposed a West Station on its Allston Landing South rail yard, near its Allston campus (where Harvard plans a massive expansion). The university has no 'hard plans' and is awaiting a state Executive Office of Transportation analysis, said Kevin Casey , director of government relations. The station could be tied to the proposed Urban Ring, a circumferential transit route that would link seven communities with the T's rapid transit lines and the booming Longwood medical area.
But mass transit advocate Charlie Vasiliades, a lifelong Brighton resident, said residents prefer a more central Brighton station, located where the old Brighton station stood near Market Street, near the current New Balance headquarters. That site offers better bus connections and room for parking, he said.
'Allston Landing would be convenient for Harvard, not for residents,' he said.
State Senator Steven A. Tolman , a Brighton resident and former railroad worker, said an Allston-Brighton station 'makes all the economic sense in the world.' Tolman bristled at the notion that commuters from Worcester or Framingham would complain about a longer"
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I live in North Allston. I hear the commuter train whistle almost every moring just before 6am as is sails past our neighborhood. (Why? Is there a cow on the track?) I hear the whistle because I am up early. My commute to the China Town / South Station area takes almost 1 hour. (66, 86, or 70 bus (I stand at Charlesview and take whichever comes first) to Harvard Square or Central Square + Red line to South Station). Usually, I am packed in like a sardine for the entire trip. Also, I see the same people all the time (i.e. lots of people seem to do this or a similar route). The commuter train also goes to South Station. If Allston-Brighton resident could take it, we could all be in Back Bay in less than 10 min. or South Station in less than 15min.
ReplyDeleteI would be happy with any Allston/Brighton stop but, as an expert on Allston public transportation, I propose the follwing:
The station should be located at the Barry Controls building (between New Balance and the Sports Depot). Barry Controls seems to be available. The site is close to Brighton Landing. There would be plenty of space to develop parking lots and/or residential buildings, etc. A covered brige over the Pike could allow Harvard to run a shuttle bus up/down Lincoln Street for its staff and students (very little traffic on Lincoln). Harvard might balk, but face it, the Harvard campus will be so big that it will have shuttle buses all over it anyway. Genuine compromise by Harvard could really help the neighborhood...
The traffic on cambridge st is bad enough. If a station is built at the Everett street location there will be signifigantly more traffic. Building the station at the Cambridge st location would keep the additional traffic down by having direct access to I90. Guest st and Braintree St would need signifigant improvements for the additional traffic. The current intersection of harvard & cambridge st by the sports depot is already a nightmare for traffic at commuting hours.
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