Everyone knows how horrible it is to leave Gillette Stadium. Most streets other than Route 1 are closed off to event traffic — even streets that lead to I-95 like Route 140 and North/Beach/Mechanic St are largely restricted to residents — and public transit is abysmal, with only one train per direction running on weekends. I’d love to see what could be done to change this.
In the current environment where taking transit to Gillette is hardly an option, I definitely think closing off *every* local road is a bit much. Route 1 clearly can’t handle the burden of Gillette’s traffic alone — looking at Google yesterday at around midnight, the road was practically stopped all the way to 95 north and 495, while 140 and North/Beach/Mechanic had very light traffic outside of people with North St entrance passes and those parking in nearby neighborhoods exiting the stadium (despite 140 and Mechanic having easy and direct access to 95). I understand the rationale for doing this (who wants standstill traffic on a neighborhood street at midnight?) but considering that I believe Washington St and 115 allow cars after games as the primary routes for those headed to Medfield, Millis, etc, I don’t see why the others can’t either.
On the public transit front, I’d propose having shuttle buses to and from Mansfield, Sharon and Walpole stations. A positive affect of local streets being closed is that these buses would be allowed to use the streets to access the stations (Washington St to Walpole, 140 to Mansfield and Mechanic to Sharon), making this an attractive option for event attendees. These buses would be timed to connect with the Franklin and Providence commuter rail lines, inbound and outbound, allowing for attendees to park their cars at Forge Park, University Ave, or other park and ride stations, and take the train and shuttle to their events. Shuttles would depart and enter Gillette using the back exit onto North St, avoiding Route 1 entirely, allowing for a more predictable journey.
Additionally, the 34E could potentially be extended to the Walpole/Foxboro border (walking distance to the stadium) by remaining on Washington St all the way to Route 1 on event days. This probably wouldn’t be ideal as it would make an already lengthy local bus route even longer and temporarily remove service to downtown Walpole. However, an extension of this route would allow for frequent service between Dedham, Westwood, Norwood, Walpole and the stadium, and unlike the train to stadium shuttles, would only be a two seat ride for park and riders.
In the current environment where taking transit to Gillette is hardly an option, I definitely think closing off *every* local road is a bit much. Route 1 clearly can’t handle the burden of Gillette’s traffic alone — looking at Google yesterday at around midnight, the road was practically stopped all the way to 95 north and 495, while 140 and North/Beach/Mechanic had very light traffic outside of people with North St entrance passes and those parking in nearby neighborhoods exiting the stadium (despite 140 and Mechanic having easy and direct access to 95). I understand the rationale for doing this (who wants standstill traffic on a neighborhood street at midnight?) but considering that I believe Washington St and 115 allow cars after games as the primary routes for those headed to Medfield, Millis, etc, I don’t see why the others can’t either.
On the public transit front, I’d propose having shuttle buses to and from Mansfield, Sharon and Walpole stations. A positive affect of local streets being closed is that these buses would be allowed to use the streets to access the stations (Washington St to Walpole, 140 to Mansfield and Mechanic to Sharon), making this an attractive option for event attendees. These buses would be timed to connect with the Franklin and Providence commuter rail lines, inbound and outbound, allowing for attendees to park their cars at Forge Park, University Ave, or other park and ride stations, and take the train and shuttle to their events. Shuttles would depart and enter Gillette using the back exit onto North St, avoiding Route 1 entirely, allowing for a more predictable journey.
Additionally, the 34E could potentially be extended to the Walpole/Foxboro border (walking distance to the stadium) by remaining on Washington St all the way to Route 1 on event days. This probably wouldn’t be ideal as it would make an already lengthy local bus route even longer and temporarily remove service to downtown Walpole. However, an extension of this route would allow for frequent service between Dedham, Westwood, Norwood, Walpole and the stadium, and unlike the train to stadium shuttles, would only be a two seat ride for park and riders.
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