Infrastructure to Nowhere (The Vestigial Infrastructure Thread)

I feel like you could fill this thread with bike infrastructure. There are so many segments of bike lanes that go nowhere useful, or only run a couple blocks then just dump bikers into dangerous traffic.

How about this, from Harvard Square?
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Which just around the corner turns into this:

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I've seen lots of people go partially down that hill then backtrack when they realize it turns into an unprotected bike lane in a narrow, dark tunnel with speeding cars. I've done it myself.

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Yeah the Bike Lane they put in on Adams St between Dot Ave and Gallivan is pretty pointless - just shoots you out onto 203 without a care which is pretty dangerous even for car traffic.

btw @Brick Top thanks for sharing that. How they went about taking the park and property seems just insane.
 
The EGE said:
The Boston and Mystic Valley Railroad was an 1870s attempt by the Boston and Maine Railroad to steal suburban traffic from rival Boston and Lowell Railroad. It would have split from the B&M mainline (now the Haverhill Line) near Assembly Square, paralleled the B&L through Medford, Winchester, and Woburn, and rejoined the B&M at North Wilmington. A not-insignificant amount of grading was completed. A substantial section from Woburn Center to North Woburn was reused in the 1880s as the Woburn Loop and saw commuter service until 1959. Several other sections are still visible:
Several other never-were railroads exist across Massachusetts: the Lancaster Railroad (completed but never opened), the Hampden Railroad (same), the Southern New England (never completed, but massive grading and bridge abutments remain), and the original alignment of the Central Massachusetts Railroad (never completed; much of the grading is under the Quabbin, though some is visible). Some grading of an extension of the Medford Branch to Stoneham was completed, but seems to have been obliterated by development in the 160 years hence. Of the numerous proposed railroads and streetcar lines that were never built, a few are rumored to have gotten some grading done, but I don't know of any that are confirmed or still visible.
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I watched this documentary about a month ago. A UMass bio professor dives into the Quabbin with state police divers. Stations for the original Central Mass Railroad still exist down there. The rails were removed before the area was flooded but he finds and videos the station platforms and I think some rail ties.
 
Koopzilla24 said:
I watched this documentary about a month ago. A UMass bio professor dives into the Quabbin with state police divers. Stations for the original Central Mass Railroad still exist down there. The rails were removed before the area was flooded but he finds and videos the station platforms and I think some rail ties.
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If there were stations, they were probably from the Springfield, Athol and Northeastern, which was mostly inundated by the reservoir.
 
BeyondRevenue said:
All so some munnybros can park their private jets next to their own alternate runway
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Huh? Neptune Rd was/is directly in the line of the centerline of one of Logan's primary runways, which needed to be extended for the modern era. If the homes hadn't been demolished they'd have an absolutely terrible quality of life.

How the eminent domain was handled was terrible by all accounts I've read, but it certainly wasn't for "parking private jets next to their own alternate runway".
 
millerm277 said:
Huh? Neptune Rd was/is directly in the line of the centerline of one of Logan's primary runways, which needed to be extended for the modern era. If the homes hadn't been demolished they'd have an absolutely terrible quality of life.

How the eminent domain was handled was terrible by all accounts I've read, but it certainly wasn't for "parking private jets next to their own alternate runway".
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Signature Aviation, a private FBO, is right there. Money buys quick access. This is life. Whether it was planned that way can be debated.
Design: A tilt on 15/33 (perhaps 12/30) would have dodged that gorgeous park. Alternately, the runway could have been extended further out, but instead the Massport leaders got out their crayons and drew a big X on one of the only green areas worth a squirt at the time. Short sighted, at best, maliciously classist/racist at worst.
 
BeyondRevenue said:
Signature Aviation, a private FBO, is right there. Money buys quick access. This is life. Whether it was planned that way can be debated.
Design: A tilt on 15/33 (perhaps 12/30) would have dodged that gorgeous park. Alternately, the runway could have been extended further out, but instead the Massport leaders got out their crayons and drew a big X on one of the only green areas worth a squirt at the time. Short sighted, at best, maliciously classist/racist at worst.
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Err, that FBO is actually quite new. I think private jet parking only went into that location at Logan around 2008, with the FBO building only built around 2010. Keep in mind that the Logan economy garage is also pretty new - it only opened in 2010. Prior to that, the site of the FBO apron was the site of an open air economy parking lot, as it had been since at least 1969 per historic aerials.

Also, that runway already existed in that alignment at least as far back as 1948. 3 degrees might not sound like a lot, but in those days (and to today) crosswinds matter - 3 degrees can be the difference between an permissible crosswind component and not landing. I don't disagree that the eminent domain process could have gone much better, but I also don't think there was another viable option short of building out into the harbor. Plus - it was the 1960s. Planes were much louder then- living, or visiting a park underneath the landing path wasnt exactly going to be pleasant.
 
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Point of order: it's 30 degrees, not 3, but certainly agree with the point that runway alignment considers prevailing winds.
 
Here's another (somewhat morbid) one:

It's possible to walk north from Lovejoy Wharf, hang a left at the dam, go underneath the Zakim, and end up on a pedestrian path next to the North Station tracks that dead ends right at the MBTA drawbridge:
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Here's a street view image of the path taken from a boat: https://goo.gl/maps/PvK42vXf5RYSaT1L7
Here's a view of where the path dead ends: https://goo.gl/maps/7GArgsHLRWyTL6Rr5

The path simply dead ends at the bridge; it is not used by MBTA employees to service the bridge or access the tracks. So in that regard, it is infrastructure to nowhere.

This is somewhat morbid because this path is likely where Zachary Marr fell to his death into the Charles. Some local blogger walked the path shortly after his death and wrote a somber post about it, along with some photos.
 
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Brick Top said:
Here's another (somewhat morbid) one:

It's possible to walk north from Lovejoy Wharf, hang a left at the dam, go underneath the Zakim, and end up on a pedestrian path next to the North Station tracks that dead ends right at the MBTA drawbridge:

Here's a street view image of the path taken from a boat: https://goo.gl/maps/PvK42vXf5RYSaT1L7
Here's a view of where the path dead ends: https://goo.gl/maps/7GArgsHLRWyTL6Rr5

The path simply dead ends at the bridge; it is not used by MBTA employees to service the bridge or access the tracks. So in that regard, it is infrastructure to nowhere.

This is somewhat morbid because this path is likely where Zachary Marr fell to his death into the Charles. Some local blogger walked the path shortly after his death and wrote a somber post about it, along with some photos.
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Theoretically I think that's supposed to eventually connect to the (currently unbuilt) South Bank Bridge and a new pedestrian crossing of the Charles either on or next to the drawbridge (which is in progress for a replacement - unclear on if that project still includes the pedestrian walkway or not?). So certainly unfinished, perhaps not abandoned in the same way that say - ramps for the inner belt are?
 
millerm277 said:
Theoretically I think that's supposed to eventually connect to the (currently unbuilt) South Bank Bridge and a new pedestrian crossing of the Charles either on or next to the drawbridge (which is in progress for a replacement - unclear on if that project still includes the pedestrian walkway or not?). So certainly unfinished, perhaps not abandoned in the same way that say - ramps for the inner belt are?
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The proposed South Bank bridge (shown in green) is supposed to cross the tracks well south of where the current walkway heads towards the bridge:
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The pedestrian path across the drawbridge is currently proposed for the west side, not the east side, although it's all up in the air and could theoretically be moved to the east side, or even be on both sides!

(See the final page of: https://www.mass.gov/doc/part-2-recommendations-sections-g-h/download)
 
Brick Top said:
The proposed South Bank bridge (shown in green) is supposed to cross the tracks well south of where the current walkway heads towards the bridge:
View attachment 36362

The pedestrian path across the drawbridge is currently proposed for the west side, not the east side, although it's all up in the air and could theoretically be moved to the east side, or even be on both sides!

(See the final page of: https://www.mass.gov/doc/part-2-recommendations-sections-g-h/download)
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In my dream scenario where the 4 tunnel NSRL is complete, the dead head parking at North Station gives way to a new neighborhood, that rail bridge is open to local traffic and that walkway is an at grade connection from the North End to the Esplanade.
However, as with most of our incomplete infrastructure, right now we have to be content with something suicide inducing.
 
BeyondRevenue said:
In my dream scenario where the 4 tunnel NSRL is complete, the dead head parking at North Station gives way to a new neighborhood, that rail bridge is open to local traffic and that walkway is an at grade connection from the North End to the Esplanade.
However, as with most of our incomplete infrastructure, right now we have to be content with something suicide inducing.
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I like your scenario, but it seems that with a 4 track NSRL, North Station and tracks over the Charles will still be needed to an extent, as well as South Station. Just my own guess based on discussions on here over the years
 
Electric T has no need other than the occasional Game Night special. Amtrak should find two platforms sufficient. Opinions from the past are based on "feelings" and not data
 
Tallguy said:
Electric T has no need other than the occasional Game Night special. Amtrak should find two platforms sufficient. Opinions from the past are based on "feelings" and not data
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I’m saying 4 because future Boston will need it. Also the phrase “You only get to go to the well once” comes up in political speak often enough to give me reason to bake it in to any planning, realistic or otherwise.
 
Tallguy said:
Electric T has no need other than the occasional Game Night special. Amtrak should find two platforms sufficient. Opinions from the past are based on "feelings" and not data
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Whether N Station and S Station will be needed with a 4 track NSRL has been an ongoing debate on here for years, so I defer to previous discussions
 
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