Lynn Central Square

[DBM]

A close relative of mine lives in the condo complex at Point of Pines where the Blue Line ROW heads from Wonderland through the marshes at the end of Revere Beach and passes over the river to the Lynnway. I took these pictures of it recently:

http://www.archboston.org/community/album.php?albumid=31

Honestly, I don't know which is more daunting--the saltwater marsh, with sea level rise threaten to inundate it... when? Or the need to do... something... with that parking garage so the trackway can cross over the river. To not even speak of building a span over the river, etc., etc...

 

[Charlie_mta]

This encroachment onto this potential rapid transit right-of-way shows the absolute lack of any kind of metropolitan planning and preparation. The city of Revere idiotically allowed this encroachment, but if there had been a strong, centralized Metro planning authority with some vision and power, this could have been prevented.

That's always been the problem with metro Boston. The metro area is made up of a bunch of provincial fiefdoms with no vision beyond their own myopic NIMBYism.

 

[davem]

That still looks like more than the 30' or less you need for a two track ROW. It's tight, but I'm pretty sure if the will was there they could find a way.

 

[The EGE]

If the development is illegally across the right-of-way, it's across the right of way. If the MBTA (who I believe is the actual landowner, having inherited it from the M.T.A.) has occasion to actually take them to court, then it's no different than if your neighbor built a house ten feet over your side of the fence.

The developer clearly bet that the MBTA would not be doing so for a long time - and they're probably right - but corrupt local politics doesn't get you so far in a state courthouse.

That said, I remain very unconvinced that the BRB&L route is the right route. Oak Island has 700 residents (and you can hit it via either route); Point of Pines has 1200. Only Suffolk Downs on the Blue Line gets fewer than 1200 daily boardings, and it's the lowest-performing heavy rail stop on the system.

Oak Island and PoP would be better served by an actual local bus route, and that's something that should exist starting now. Right now, there's the low-frequency 411, and there's the 441/2/8/9 that run from downtown to Swampscott. The latter four have decent rush hour headways, but their on-time performance hovers around 50%.

A single out-and-back loop, probably capable of ten-minute headways with three buses in operation. Run it just Wonderland - Oak Island - PoP now; extend it to Lynn as a PoP - Lynn commuter route once the Blue Line takes care of the actual demand from Lynn.

 

[winstonoboogie]

If the development is illegally across the right-of-way, it's across the right of way. If the MBTA (who I believe is the actual landowner, having inherited it from the M.T.A.) has occasion to actually take them to court, then it's no different than if your neighbor built a house ten feet over your side of the fence.

The MTA only bought the right-of-way as far north as Revere St., and that's what the MBTA owns. Beyond Revere St., the utility company bought the easement in Revere from the trustees of the BRB&L

 

[BostonUrbEx]

The MTA only bought the right-of-way as far north as Revere St., and that's what the MBTA owns. Beyond Revere St., the utility company bought the easement in Revere from the trustees of the BRB&L

This. And I'm pretty sure the utility either sold off slivers to the developer (as opposed to renting or allowing some sort of easement on utility property).

 

[Arlington]

The MTA only bought the right-of-way as far north as Revere St., and that's what the MBTA owns. Beyond Revere St., the utility company bought the easement in Revere from the trustees of the BRB&L

I share everyone's dismay at:
1) Our lack of regional planning
2) The break in the ROW at Revere St
3) How short sighted not to acquire the BRB&L ROW all the way to the tip of POP, across the channel and on into Lynn
4) The encroachment on the ROW...all cramped and looking bad even for a bike path

But the MTA / MBTA seem to have nonetheless stumbled into an OK set of options that involve crossing back to the Commuter Rail ROW and paralleling it into Lynn, rather than entering Lynn in the backyards of Route 1. (or splitting the line back south of Wonderland).

The MTA could not have forseen the trouble of crossing wetlands, but there is clearly still the open space that permits crossing the marshes either immediately north of Revere St, or anyplace in the long stretch north of the Rent-a-Tool and south of Mills Ave.

Even if the MTA had acquired a "full width" ROW, I don't really see how you'd get away without enormous offsets to the community.

Given how closely the longtime abutters abut the ROW, and how slender the land is at it northern tip (where the US 1 drawbridge crosses into Lynn from Revere), I think the NIMBYs would have an unusually strong case that they already support more infrastructure per acre, and that a two-track surface subway would overwhelm it.

While I'm usually a guy who says "what did you think those tracks behind your house were for?", at this point the tracks have been gone since 1940 and we're getting to the point where the railroad has been abandoned for longer than it ever operated. Many of the houses seem to date from 1910 or later, so for nearly 80% of their 100 years, there's been no railroad.

On the BRB&L north of Mills Ave, you'd spend a lot of engineering $ on a bridge and a whole lot of hearings proving that it can't be put in a tunnel. I'd guess you'd practically have to build a concrete box around even a surface line to mitigate the noise--on "heavy rail" trains, its got to be worse than even the tall sound walls they've proposed for the GLX through brickbottom.

In the end, I think Lynn is going to have to have a station that looks a lot like the Orange/CR in Malden Center, and that comes right up through GE/Lynn Works.

 

[BostonUrbEx]

You need to keep in mind that at the time, there basically was no idea of "landbanking" or whatnot. There were conflicting plans at the time about whether transit or highways would be taking the reigns in transportation planning. Plans were coming to fruition for a Revere Beach Connector from the I-95/US-1/MA-60 junction at Copeland Circle to Revere Beach in the Revere St area. Marsh land was being filled in for this very project (and later some was removed), with the hopes of big fat parking garage with highway ramps feeding straight into it, funneling in traffic from all the highways at Copeland Circle and MA-107.

 

[winstonoboogie]

Also, Lynn was not a member of the 14 city and town MTA district, the MTA would have had a difficult time explaining to the 14 member communities why it was spending precious funds for a right-of-way leading to and in a non-member community, the same would have applied to buying the abandoned right-of-way in Winthrop. The Eastern Mass St Ry (by the end of the 40s, only a bus operator) was still trying to make a profit on its bus routes and would have raised concerns about the potential loss of ridership. Non member communities were concerned about having to make assessment payments to the "deficit ridden" MTA. In 1948, the MTA was trying to make the case for service to Quincy and Braintree, a proposal that was voted down by voters in Quincy and Braintree. That line of course would not be built until 1971, and only after the expansion of the MTA into the MBTA in 1964 and the purchase of the Eastern Mass in 1968. If you have access to the Boston Globe archives, look up stories from the 1947-49 time period about the battle for proposed MTA expansion to Quincy and Braintree. This linked 1953 study also helps to put the time period into prospective:
http://ntl.bts.gov/lib/12000/12200/12241/12241.pdf

 

[Savin Hill]

The Lynn-to-Boston commuter ferry is set to begin service on May 19

James Cowdell is banking on more commuters like Enscoe showing up for the roughly half-hour ride into Boston. As executive director of Lynn’s Economic Development & Industrial Corp., Cowdell has helped shepherd this project to fruition. It’s been an eight-year process to get to this point, and Cowdell was dogged by skeptics for much of the way. Now, Cowdell is about to prove those skeptics wrong.

Cowdell tells me the EDIC hired Boston Harbor Cruises last month to operate the new ferry — Lynn’s first in its history — on a trial basis for two years. At the start, the boat would only travel in warmer months, from May 19 through September 12. The one-way fare would be $7, but holders of “Zone 2” or higher commuter rail passes would be able to ride for free. (Lynn’s two commuter rail stops are in “Zone 2” and charge $6 one-way without the MBTA pass.) The big attraction: nearly 300 parking spaces at the Lynn dock, all of them free.

http://www.bizjournals.com/boston/b...-to-boston-commuter-ferry-isset-to-begin.html

 

[Matthew]

So, basically this is a subsidized parking lot shuttle for rich commuters who have the option to drive. Two morning departures, two evening departures. If you miss the morning you can just keep going. But better not miss those evening times or else you're in for a difficult trip to retrieve your car.

Hmm. By my quick estimate, it will take Kati from Marblehead about one hour for the 1 way trip on the ferry. That does not seem like much of a savings. Taking the commuter rail from Swampscott would produce about an hour trip after connecting to the Orange Line and walking from State Street. Sigh.

I have difficulty believing this ferry is going to be anything but a drain.

 

[BostonUrbEx]

So, basically this is a subsidized parking lot shuttle for rich commuters who have the option to drive. Two morning departures, two evening departures. If you miss the morning you can just keep going. But better not miss those evening times or else you're in for a difficult trip to retrieve your car.

Hmm. By my quick estimate, it will take Kati from Marblehead about one hour for the 1 way trip on the ferry. That does not seem like much of a savings. Taking the commuter rail from Swampscott would produce about an hour trip after connecting to the Orange Line and walking from State Street. Sigh.

I have difficulty believing this ferry is going to be anything but a drain.

It simply exists to say, "See, we care about Lynn! Now stop asking for the Blue Line..."