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I put together a YouTube video that, I hope, tries to make a case for Bowker/Pike Ramp alternatives in a bit of a dynamic, entertaining way. Seeing a lot of the ideas were discussed here (and Charlie_mta gets a video credit), I am sharing the link if anyone is interested. Link to the YouTube...

Thanks Jeff! I appreciate that. 'If they can fit' is of course the big question! The Mass DOT itself is proposing a Pike EB ramp in the same spot as shown here, though implemented in a different manner (i.e. shifting the whole of the Pike onto Newbury), so that implies they think a ramp itself...

Ok, I've added Charlie's idea with my refinement (above), and stuck in most of the other stuff I had been talking about earlier. This is what I would put forward to improve Pike access and improve area traffic flow, with the hope that this helps enough that the Bowker could be removed ....

Charlie, I am really liking your EB Pike onramp plan, the more I look at it and play with it. I refined it a bit to remove the westbound ramp, and then I realized you could also potentially reduce the length of the 1-way Ipswich by adding roadway from Charlesgate East westward out towards...

Charlie, what if you made that westbound downramp to Ipswich into an upramp to the Bowker, and angled it at the top toward the Pike onramp? Instant Pike eastbound access, direct from Fenway Park, and an alternate path from the Longwood Medical Area to the Pike eastbound (a major goal sought by...

I have to agree with you ant, to some degree. Nothing that goes in here will be perfect of course, and daveM (and Kahta before him) makes a good point about that onramp lane turning into an exit-only lane just up the road, as well as the small merge area. Still, the DOT itself is putting a...

Hi ant. Interesting points. I note that the tracks currently shift in the manner Charlie is describing, but that shift now is at Mass Ave. Taking a look at the map (...

Interesting and more importantly seemingly doo-able Charlie. I think people here have been shy about any land taking from Ipswich (me too), but on your map it looks kind of reasonable, making Ipswich one way to allow the Pike ramp. People using that long stretch of lost resident parking now...

Just saw this on Facebook. Gave me a laugh or two ... video about Boston driving, though a lot of the scenes are not from Boston. Still some of you might enjoy it .. http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JMqVLVi1Zpk

"Are you suggesting that the pike be lowered at bowker so that there is an uphill grade approaching the pru?" Yes, kind of. I am suggesting a descending Pike eastbound starting at the bowker to allow the onramp to also descend while maintaining clearance on the Pike. That way, when the Pike and...

Thanks Kahta for your comments. And I do agree that this is far from perfect. The question before us, (see ant's last post): is there anyway to put a Pike eastbound onramp in this area. I have borrowed space from both the tracks and the area north of the Pike in the hope that the S curve...

This solution DOES avoid the whole railroad problem entirely. The ramp sits above the Pike, not the tracks. In this design, I suggest shifting the RR tracks south, not to avoid going over them (the ramp does not go over them in this design) but to create enough space to drop an onramp lane onto...

The EB onramp at Bowker problem is, of course, finding enough merge area to build a ramp and provide a Pike merge lane for the onramp traffic. Given space constraints, it seems the onramp would have to be build either above the Pike or the RR tracks BUT it has to be high enough above either of...

Looks like you would shift the Pike northward toward Cortes to give enough room for a new EB onramp? I like how you could access it from both Columbus and Berkley. As in most of our scenarios here, space looks tricky. Pike would have to shift north quick after Arlington and then back to its...

Ah, I see now. Thanks for clarifying. I did misunderstand. As to "everything north of Beacon covered in ramps", at the Charlesgate Park area itself I am just connecting to existing ramps that go up over Storrow, not new ramps and in fact I am removing 1 ramp from the Charlesgate into the...

DaveM's photos prompt me to put up the then and now views below, from very roughly the same angles ...

I know that, and neither does the ramp I am suggesting to the Fens go into that area in your photos, which I assumed you knew. So now I guess i don't understand your point. The aesthetics in the ramp area are going to be lousy, with or without a ramp up to the Fens is my point. I guess...

I agree also. In my mind it does go in the fantasy category, rather that something that would realistically be done, as much as ant gave me brief hope otherwise, but I have had this fantasy for a few years now and I've never put it to paper, but when ant did suggest it I couldn't help but add my...

Well, nice photos but unless your plan calls for eliminating an overpass to the Pike, the ramps to/from that overpass are still there in the Charlesgate ... nothing like those photos, so connecting to those existing ramps that probably will never go away doesn't pile on too much, I don't think...

You and the DOT think alike, at least a little bit anyway! Your off ramp is a combination of 2 ideas under consideration by the DOT "Back Bay Alternative 1: New Westbound Off Ramp to Berkeley Street ", and Back Bay Alternative 2: New Westbound Off Ramp to Trinity Place/Stuart Street (one starts...