Derailment of Phase 2?
By Arshag A. Mazmanian
The presentation by the Executive Office of Transportation (EOT) at the March 10, 2008 Citizens Advisory Committee (CAC) meeting proceeded along in the direction of addressing preliminarily its Locally Preferred Alternatives (LPAs) for Phase 2 when all of a sudden EOT dropped a bombshell: There may be problems resolving required approvals from CSX and other rail interests for the critical Charles River crossing via the Grand Junction Rail Line (GJRL) under the BU Bridge that would accommodate not only the Phase 2 route to the Longwood Medical Area (LMA) and beyond but also Phase 2 connections to Harvard’s Allston campus.
Phase 2 aficionados must visit EOT’s Urban Ring Web site at: www.theurbanring.com
and then click “Reference Materials” and then “Current Materials,” scroll down to “CAC #17 March 10, 2008” and download “Presentation” to explore in particular Powerpoint slides 32 through 36.
This bombshell primarily impacts Segment B of Phase 2 from Cambridgeport (via Charles River crossing, Kenmore/Fenway and LMA) to Ruggles Station. Segment B is the major component of Phase 2, which one institutional member of CAC referred to as “Eds to Meds,” i.e., educational and medical institutions, apparently ignoring residential neighborhoods in between.
For those of us long active with the Urban Ring, the Charles River crossing has long been recognized as a critical concern. Initially the BU Bridge was designated for the crossing. When the MBTA (then the sponsor of the Urban Ring) recognized this concern, it came up with the idea of utilizing the GJRL under the BU Bridge as follows: Augment the GJRL with two (2) travel lanes to accommodate the BRT 60-foot articulated buses; on the Boston side of the Charles AFTER the GJRL crosses OVER Storrow Drive, the route would be tunneled UNDER the MA Turnpike Extension and its adjoining rail lines, continuing UNDER Commonwealth Avenue, Essex (Brookline) and Mountfort (Brookline and Boston) Streets, surfacing someplace along Park Drive, from which surface routes would provide access to LMA and beyond.
When the MBTA came to its senses, it dropped this cockamamie scheme, reverting to the BU Bridge.
After EOT succeeded the MBTA as sponsor, it accepted that the BU Bridge would be too problematic for Phase 2. EOT, not to be outdone by the MBTA, came up with its own cockamamie scheme, a viaduct on the Boston side of the Charles branching off the augmented GJRL over the MA Turnpike Extension to grade at Commonwealth Avenue just westerly of the BU Bridge, continuing on surface roads either easterly on Commonwealth Avenue to Kenmore and beyond or crossing over via Essex Street to Mountfort Street to Park Drive and beyond. (For further details, see my installment on this Urban Ring series titled “Urban Ring Meets the Marx Brothers”.)
Boston University (BU) then entered the picture with preliminary long-term plans for its Charles River campus with suggestions for alternatives to EOT’s viaduct described above. EOT seems to have accepted a BU proposal as set forth on slide 21 (BU – Mountfort Street) of the “Presentation,” apparently abandoning its own viaduct version.
But then came the bombshell! Breaking news! Possible derailment! Need to adjust, hopefully temporarily only, the Charles River crossing back to the BU Bridge! It is said that “What goes around, comes around.” This third cycling of the BU Bridge in the Phase 2 route is dizzying – one step forward, two steps backwards.
CSX, GJRL, Allston rail yards, Harvard’s Allston campus, Harvard’s “ownership” interests in the rail yards (subject to rail operations), BU and Harvard’s non-Beanpot competition along the southerly banks of the Charles, etc, are all intertwined with the Charles River crossing. (In addition to derailment issues, there are environmental concerns with any augmentation of the GJRL relative to the Charles River, all of which have been raised at CAC meetings.) The BIG DIG’s resolution of its Charles River crossing challenge may turn out to have been a “piece of cake” compared to resolving this potential Phase 2 derailment.
Stay tuned for additional comments of interest on the March 10th EOT “Presentation.”
