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  1. M

    Biking in Boston

    The intersection at JFK Street appears to be a disaster every time I've been there, so using that as a positive example doesn't....seem like one to me. It's so inadequate to handle the load that it frequently causes jams stretching all the way back up to Harvard Square. That stretch is also...
  2. M

    General MBTA Topics (Multi Modal, Budget, MassDOT)

    We recently redesigned/rebuilt that section and there's 1000 other untouched corridors in the Boston area competing for limited road funding/attention/labor (including the rest of Comm beyond Packard's...). Slight tweaks/paint is one thing, but doing center running bus lanes here or any other...
  3. M

    General MBTA Topics (Multi Modal, Budget, MassDOT)

    I've lived out by Oak Square. I can't speak to the far end of the run to Watertown (although AFAIK, Galen St is basically the whole problem), but from my experience: The city's proposed plan would be pretty much sufficient to remove all severe delay that I can think of along the route (at...
  4. M

    Logan Airport Capital Projects

    I know at least part of the Alewife Brook Parkway between Alewife + the intersection with MVP is. Not much of a citation, but here's "No Trucks or Buses" a sign on street view (MA-16 + Broadway) supporting that statement: https://maps.app.goo.gl/z49Youm2aAhLX1fW8
  5. M

    Logan Airport Capital Projects

    I think the obvious problem there is "how do you get the bus from Alewife to Logan in a remotely reliable or efficient manner." Especially since the bus isn't allowed on Storrow or Mem Dr, and isn't allowed on the parkways. There's nowhere to run a bus from there other than crawling across...
  6. M

    Watertown Infill CR Station

    - Newtonville has had a bunch of recent ToD surrounding the station with hundreds of units + more likely coming (~300 units at 78 Crafts St under 40B). It's IMO, not exactly sending a great signal to developers about how much you can rely on the MBTA service continuing to exist if you're...
  7. M

    MassDOT Rail: Springfield Hub (East-West, NNERI, Berkshires, CT-Valley-VT-Quebec)

    I'm not saying you're wrong about the decline of intercity bus usage, but Daatco's service was pretty much a city commuter only service. 2019 service levels were: 3 trips per day weekdays (+1 on Fri), 0 trips on Sat, 1 trip on Sun. Mon-Thurs: Inbounds from NB were 5:00AM, 7:00AM, 3:00PM...
  8. M

    MBTA Commuter Rail (Operations, Keolis, & Short Term)

    I'll also add in that the no service to T.F. Green on the weekends is frustrating, and rather puzzling of a decision from both a transit + a "encouraging the use of PVD" perspective. Airports are not substantially less busy on the weekends, and a glance at Flightradar24 suggests Saturday has...
  9. M

    Logan Airport Capital Projects

    I don't really see the problem here. Nothing about this is arguing that they've somehow offset aircraft emissions. The building was going to be built either way. Would it somehow be better if they built the building as unsustainably as possible? Build the thing out of 100% plastic, zero...
  10. M

    North Washington St. Bridge Lights

    They are, but it will be pretty much the last thing to be built or reopened. Quick source from the 11/14/23 presentation: https://www.mass.gov/doc/north-washington-street-bridge-public-information-presentation-111423/download "Lovejoy Walkway beneath the bridge structure will not be...
  11. M

    Alewife T Station, Garage, Bus, & Trails

    Pure anectdata, and I'm not going to claim this is a large portion of ridership (but may be a more substantial amount of daily garage occupancy), but - I have started using Wonderland as airport parking. My observation based on seeing more than a few other people with suitcases the times I do...
  12. M

    Alewife T Station, Garage, Bus, & Trails

    As built, the garage had 2,733 spaces. The MBTA website says current capacity is 2,471 spaces and the possibility of "additional spaces closed for construction". Unless we're counting some of the ways they used to try to cram in extras for overflow parking (like on the loop ramps), that appears...
  13. M

    MassDOT Rail: Springfield Hub (East-West, NNERI, Berkshires, CT-Valley-VT-Quebec)

    Given that this corridor/region appears to have near-zero road delays even at rush hour, the very modest ridership projections, and the twisty nature of the rail line, reading this over....this project to me feels kind of like one of the "why are we not starting with a bus" projects. Route 2...
  14. M

    Freight and General New England RR News

    Seems unlikely to work, to me. Historically it was slow, taking nearly 24 hours to cover 730mi. The driving route is roughly 70mi shorter and takes about 10hrs. You've also got the ferry (Bar Harbor-Yarmouth NS) and flights from Boston to compete with. Halifax has pre-clearance so there's...
  15. M

    Roads and Highways General Development Thread

    I sometimes feel like a broken record here but: ....does the public support any of those ideas? An initial glance at the area and the history of this project + public opposition to prior concepts makes me rather skeptical. Nearby single-family housing neighborhoods are usually unlikely to be...
  16. M

    The Official MBTA System Map

    I think you have a good point on the visuals - after some level of accessibility, the subway map should just say "unless specifically noted, all stations on this map are accessible", and then a handicap symbol w/a prohibitory icon over it for the few exceptions. You don't need the visual clutter...
  17. M

    Cape Cod Rail, Bridges and Highways

    At least by poking around on Google Street View: The ROW is pretty much entirely unfenced and has a large section of it's run where there's lots of unauthorized pedestrian crossings at many different points, many of which have bad sight lines for both pedestrian + train operator. Pretty much...
  18. M

    Suffolk Downs Redevelopment | East Boston/Revere

    - Suffolk Downs needs a lot of infrastructure work. The "Beachmont Square" promo for the first part of the project PDF here claims "$337m in on + offsite infrastructure investment" in building out Suffolk Downs. Presumably, a good portion of that is going to be front-loaded costs that are going...
  19. M

    Other People's Rail: Amtrak, commuter rail, rapid transit news & views outside New England

    First - nice work! Hoboken-Lower Manhattan - PATH is going to be crush-loaded at peak for at least the Exchange Place-WTC leg of the journey, which most people don't enjoy even if it is only 5-10min. I do generally have the impression that the ferry route is slightly more reliable in...
  20. M

    General Infrastructure

    The Concord rotary is a bottleneck. The reason you have people taking all sort of conceptually bizarre routes to avoid it is because of the drastic difference in the road capacity of Route 2 on either side of it vs the throughput of the Concord rotary, and the degree to which that specific point...

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