ulrichomega
Active Member
- Joined
- Oct 9, 2017
- Messages
- 241
- Reaction score
- 294
Picking up on the "Aqua Line" discussion from the Unbuilt Roads thread... There's always the question of where the Blue Line heads after the "Reasonable" expansion to Kenmore, and I'd like to make my crazy pitch for BC.
Blue would tunnel under Brookline Ave with new stops replacing the D line at Park Drive and Longwood Ave. Portal up to the existing D line at the baseball field/parking garage, continue to upgraded BV, BH, and Beaconsfield until tunneling off the ROW and into a Chestnut Hill Ave/Comm Ave tunnel to BC/Lake St station location with space to reverse under the existing yard (assuming this would be feasible/similar to the proposed Longfellow tail tracks?).
This, of course, requires massive changes to the Green line.
The outer D line would connect over to the existing C, which is tunneled all the way under Beacon from Kenmore to the baseball field where it gets back on the D ROW to Chestnut Hill and beyond. Cleveland Circle serves both Blue and the C in an underground transfer station. Remaining C stops are at Washington Sq, Coolidge Corner, and Audubon Circle with bus lanes on Beacon replacing the closed stops. B line would run to Cleveland Circle on the surface.
Combining C and D frees up space for restored Brighton/Oak Sq services, a new Harvard branch, or Grand Junction/other Urban Ring service (all merging in a Comm Ave tunnel before Kenmore). Would also improve trip time for Needham/Riverside riders with a straight shot into Kenmore. Having to transfer for Longwood/Fenway would be negated by improved station locations in the Brookline Ave tunnel. D ROW from east of BV to Kenmore could be preserved for future service or returned to parkland.
Maybe this could happen if BC wanted to seriously buy-in to a project that dramatically speeds their access to Longwood, downtown, the Airport, and an easy transfer to Cambridge? Or if Brookline ever wants to give up on having surface stops every 500ft :lol:. Lotta $$$ for no real expansion of service, but the reliability and redundancy improvements could make it an intriguing option at some point in the next 150 years or so.
I'm curious as to why BC is the destination here. I feel like their transit needs are fairly well met by the B line (and potential C line extension if Chestnut Hill Ave is returned to revenue service) if the B Line can be saved. I'm not saying it's a bad proposal, just that I've never heard BC as the target of a Blue-eats-D before.
I will say I'm a fan of continuing out of Kenmore along Brookline Ave. It's wide enough for a subway, there's room for platforms at Longwood Ave (assuming nothing is built there in the meantime), and Longwood will need more transit if it continues to grow. You would probably run into trouble with the Muddy River going over your Emerald Necklace station, though.