Blue Line to Lynn, Silver Line Phase III and Urban Ring projects officially canceled

[Arborway]

The state's Charlie Card is empty.

So we're stuck with what we have, with only the Route 28X project on the horizon. And that seems to be stalling in the community review phase. Then again, the projects were far from perfect.

The Blue Line extension has been toyed with for ages, but like the Red / Blue connector it remained a project the state spent money on, but never actually had anything to show for. Decades of delays have led to encroachment on the right of way that would be used, making it progressively more difficult to win community approval with each passing year.

The Silver Line project could never overcome questions of bus capacity and lifespan, and remained overshadowed by the design and construction failures of the initial phases. Including a rapidly-crumbling tunnel, and tunnel speeds that fall below those achieved on surface streets. Plans to rip up the Common, Boylston St. and parts of Chinatown to snake tunnels alongside the foundations to landmark buildings further eroded public support. The T's insistence on destroying abandoned rail tunnels that could have saved hundreds of millions in construction costs gave the community even less confidence in the T's ability to put together the best possible project.

Basic questions about the Urban Ring's viability were never answered. The MBTA cannot currently operate its fleet of 60' buses in slippery conditions (read: winter + precipitation = 40' bus for you). This meant the T would need to spend millions on a special reserve fleet just for snowy and icy days. Running the buses on electric power would cut emissions to nothing, reduce noise, increase traction and extend the lifespan of the buses; saving two purchasing cycles. But that was dismissed.

The Urban Ring also depended on a tunnel through Longwood. A project that was fraught with issues, including the poor example set by the Silver Line Phase 2 bus tunnel project which while completed, ultimately failed to live up to its promise. Different proposals were banded about. Some would allow for it to remain bus only, leave the door open for conversion to light rail ala the Green Line, or a heavy rail Orange Line extension. All cost a great deal of money, making up the bulk of the project's cost. Forgoing the tunnel and running the Urban Ring through Longwood on the surface was simply not workable. As it is, the plan was to operate the line through the Kenmore area on surface streets - effectively dooming commuters during Sox season.

Now all those plans are on the shelf. To be resurrected occasionally, but completed sometime in the future by another generation with more vision and ability than our own.

[ablarc]

^ A sad tale.

[vanshnookenraggen]

Good riddance.

[ablarc]

MBTA is completely fucked.

Silver Line's stupidity is world class.

Doubt that any transit agency anywhere else could have come up with anything equally brainless.

A confederacy of morons.

[Lurker]

$115 million to paint a bus lane and install some prefab shelters? Does that include a few extra years of construction where every worker is serviced by Olympic class courtesans while eating caviar and smoking fine Cuban cigars?

Maybe the design team has a few million allowance to go gambling in Vegas?

Or does someone's second uncle's niece's sister's brother's cousin need a 'job', which involves a 'study' in which nothing different than what has already been determined is presented a 'finding'?

One wonders if the local press will peel itself away from reporting about deer running into liquor stores in Kansas, or the had hitting expose on how BO the dog liked an ice cream cone, or how some woman lost her dry cleaning ticket but found it later to even cover this?

[briv]

Why does the public tolerate this level of incompetence? Is it a lack of awareness or just complacency?

[Shepard]

How does one get a job - a management role - at the mbta? Please no snide answers such as "be the right person's nephew." I'm angry in a constructive way and ready to join the fray.

(Plus I hear the benefits are nice.)

[found5dollar]

while it is sad to see the blue line extension put on hold, i say good riddence to the rest. Mostly just highway expansions and mass transit projects we have all been complaining about. But, what about the other projects? Are they still going to happen? The Red Blue connector? The Green Line extension? that weird silverline extension? THe Fairmont line improvements?

If they are than hopefully by weeding some projects, hopefully these ones will get more time and attention paid to them.

[Lurker]

The Blue Line extension to Lynn has been in 'planning' since the 1940s. The fact semi-useless bus projects with low ridership keep getting priority over what should have been an easy expansion speaks volumes.

[vanshnookenraggen]

Originally Posted by found5dollar

while it is sad to see the blue line extension put on hold, i say good riddence to the rest. Mostly just highway expansions and mass transit projects we have all been complaining about. But, what about the other projects? Are they still going to happen? The Red Blue connector? The Green Line extension? that weird silverline extension? THe Fairmont line improvements

Those, minus the BRT, are mandated by law suits and are already in various stages of planning, design, or construction. The BRT is covered by Federal stimulus money so the state doesn't need to worry about that. The rest are going to be paid for somehow (which is probably why these projects were shelved.)