Former Green Line A Branch

I'm guessing that side platforms could easily be accommodated in a revised Newton (corner) Commuter Rail station, but not a center platform. Also a center platform requires an "evacuation zone" like they have in Boston Landing station. Didn't you know, parking is not required, passengers will magically appear... There is some room for another garage I think, although no room on the roads/exit to accommodate any more traffic! Can't make "the Gateway Center" much uglier than it already is! Using the office or hotel lobby area as a "headhouse" is a feature I think, sort of like Arch St entrance to one of the subway stations, or Back Bay connecting directly to Copley Place.

I don’t see a need for a garage at Newton Center. Sixty percent of your passengers will be fed by bus routes. It’s in a semi-urban area with a couple thousand folks within the walking radius. Enhanced parking enforcement on Galen Street in Watertown and the streets surrounding the new station would deal with commuters stealing spots.

No garage needed. The 500 series busses and 57 pre pandemic were packed to the gills with 10-15 minute headways..

Of course I meant Newton CORNER in that last post, not Newton Center.

There is a crying need for a garage in Newton Center, lol. As for a garage in Watertown Square, yes there is a strong need for parking there. Besides, who wants to walk to a bus stop, wait 15 minutes to take it to Watertown Sq then wait another 10-15 minutes for an express bus or a Harvard bus. "Increased parking enforcement" to force people to take buses is a poor solution.

Many years ago I read a Boston news article with a picture showing homebound train commuters in Quincy running for their cars to get unparked and in line for the garage exit more quickly.

But I do not agree with giving the garage extra green time on the traffic light causing other traffic in town to get severely backed up. And especially not giving the garage extra green time for the exit gate to cycle up and down and then the cars straggle out one at a time..

Newton Corner is drowning in traffic. A far better solution would be to just fix the bus routes - run better service before we start pouring the wrong kind of concrete. The MassPike scar and Circle of Death aside, everything is quite walkable.

Now that the 71 has been misguidedly de-wired, there's no reason it couldn't be extended down Galen St to Newton Corner. Doing so would give Watertown access to the Worcester Line at the new Newton Corner Station without bus changes, and enhance the station's catchment area by providing more frequent service (57 + 71 + 504) on Galen St.

Building a park-and-ride garage in a place as dense and urban as Newton Corner is admitting defeat in public transportation. Why bother? And I can't be the only person who'd rather walk to a bus stop and take a frequent bus to the train than drive through city streets full of lights and pedestrians and other cars to creep into a garage and then take a train.

BandA wrote: ↑Fri Sep 08, 2023 11:08 pm I'm guessing that side platforms could easily be accommodated in a revised Newton (corner) Commuter Rail station, but not a center platform. Also a center platform requires an "evacuation zone" like they have in Boston Landing station. Didn't you know, parking is not required, passengers will magically appear... There is some room for another garage I think, although no room on the roads/exit to accommodate any more traffic! Can't make "the Gateway Center" much uglier than it already is! Using the office or hotel lobby area as a "headhouse" is a feature I think, sort of like Arch St entrance to one of the subway stations, or Back Bay connecting directly to Copley Place.

An area of refuge (the legal name for the evacuation zone you referenced) is required anywhere that is accessed by stairs or elevators. They would need to incorporate this in a new build station in the cut either way. Side platforms will actually require one each.

Disney Guy wrote: ↑Thu Sep 14, 2023 8:59 am Many years ago I read a Boston news article with a picture showing homebound train commuters in Quincy running for their cars to get unparked and in line for the garage exit more quickly.

But I do not agree with giving the garage extra green time on the traffic light causing other traffic in town to get severely backed up. And especially not giving the garage extra green time for the exit gate to cycle up and down and then the cars straggle out one at a time..

in 2002 time frame, I was working in the Crown Colony office park which dumped out on the opposite side of the intersection from that Quincy Center Red Line station. OMG the traffic was unbelievable! We had people quitting because of the traffic. Before we relocated there, someone even wrote a letter to the Globe jobs columnist asking if they could refuse to work at the new location and collect unemployment as it would add ~30 minutes to their commute. The Globe columnist was extremely condescending and said no. I looked it up on the internet and the answer was probably no but it was a gray area, if it was in California the answer would have been yes as the state labor laws consider time and inconvenience in addition to just mileage in a relocation . And folks coming from outside 128, such as 95 or 24, hit a brick wall of traffic. It could easily take an additional 30 minutes to get from Westwood / RTE 128 Station to Quincy Center by car, a distance of only nine miles. It was so bad they wouldn't allow another planned office building to start construction until an additional highway ramp was built.

Traffic in Newton Corner is similarly bad, with a combination of additional roads, a proposed interchange at US-20 North Beacon St in Brighton, additional protected bicycle paths and public transportation being necessary to solve it.

Arborwayfan wrote: ↑Thu Sep 14, 2023 4:03 pm Building a park-and-ride garage in a place as dense and urban as Newton Corner is admitting defeat in public transportation. Why bother? And I can't be the only person who'd rather walk to a bus stop and take a frequent bus to the train than drive through city streets full of lights and pedestrians and other cars to creep into a garage and then take a train.

Newton has 90,000 residents. Brighton and Watertown also have large populations. Newton has only skeletal bus service, vestiges of trolley lines removed 80-90 years ago. Buses that run every 30 minutes or even once an hour, and shut down about 7PM and nonexistant on weekends. You expect yuppies to walk 15 minutes to a bus stop to catch a bus that runs once an hour, to Newton Corner to make a transfer? Or drive their Teslas and BMWs and compete for limited on-street parking that is already full? There are big garages/parking lots in Quincy, Alewife, Malden Center, Wellington, Riverside, Woodland and every new Commuter Rail station. Boston has been destroying their garages despite increasing demand - the governments' insatiable demand for money and catering to developers interests trumps the publics' insatiable demand for transportation. Why doesn't Newton Corner deserve commuter parking?

Oh, and a Commuter Rail station in Newton Corner is a foamer fantasy at this time. Sure the need is there. But it is unlikely to happen within the next 25 years. The T really doesn't care about the inner Framingham Line - they can't even get an ADA necessary rebuild of the three 60 yo "bus shelter" Commuter Rail stations.

Extending the 71 Harvard-Watertown bus to Newton Corner to overlap the 57 former "A" Branch, 304 Express, and 52 Watertown-Dedham makes a lot of sense, with or without new Commuter Rail Service, although it would add at least 5 minutes to the run time without adding any new revenue.

We have strayed pretty far from the A Line in this discussion I know, but I think I should clear up some misconceptions about commuting from Newton's north side as somebody with years of firsthand experience.

Walking 15 minutes is fine when an Express bus option arrives three or four minutes like it did pre-pandemic (504, 553, 558..) and you have a 20-25 minute ride to directly South Station without stopping in Copley.

Walking 15 minutes, then waiting 20-30 minutes for the jammed up 504 which is now the only option, then sitting (often standing, actually) in 30 minutes of post-pandemic Pike traffic, and then the added 15 minutes of travel time due to the 504 now exiting at Copley and having to wind its way thru the city to South Station, is far, far less appealing. I'm speaking from personal experience.

Driving to Watertown Yard and taking advantage of the ample parking there (Even pre-pandemic I never saw it more than 75% full) was a way to shave at least 10 minutes off that slog and worth the $2.50. But parking near the Newtonville commuter rail became much more preferable due to the speedy trip. Main downside was the limited schedule of stops in Newton made for a sometimes awkward work schedule.

Hopefully the state can build the two-platform Newton stations within my lifetime and more Worcester line trains will stop here. I think it's a very cost effective way to improve the commute from Newton's north side. If the project can be kept from ballooning like the 2000's era GLX stations.

Well said rethclr!

rethcir wrote: ↑Thu Sep 21, 2023 12:39 pmHopefully the state can build the two-platform Newton stations within my lifetime and more Worcester line trains will stop here. I think it's a very cost effective way to improve the commute from Newton's north side. If the project can be kept from ballooning like the 2000's era GLX stations.

Guarantee the new stations will be enormously expensive to build!! Like almost as much as adding the second track from Worcester to Springfield! They seem to be dragging their feet on those stations. If they had only fixed the existing late19th century? Track 1 platform in Newtonville, added back the missing stairs, say in the 1970s, that station could have been done for peanuts! The Newton stations are also underutilized because the fare is 2x the express bus fare and 3x the Green Line fare which travels the same distance (actually longer). Underutilized means any project is less cost-effective.