The Kenmore flood of 1996.
When I rode the Riverside line in the 80s, the stairs at Longwood puzzled me. If one wanted to walk along the banks of the Muddy River, patrons had to walk up 6-8 steps and then down 6-8 steps over an embankment (or levee) that did not seem necessary. I never knew the embankment’s purpose until October, 1996, when heavy rains occurred. The Muddy River overflowed onto the tracks somewhere. The water ran into the Fenway portal and flooded the tracks all the way to Hynes.
The aforementioned embankment runs along to the tracks from Fenway station to Aspinwall Avenue. On numerous occasions, I have attempted to find the location where the breach occurred. I’ve even sifted through 1996 newspapers hoping to find a photo of the breach. My only thought is Longwood station itself. Since the flood, the stairs have been rebuilt. My theory (and this is just a theory) is that pedestrians walking over the embankment (rather than the stairs) wore it down over time. The stairs have been rebuilt with railings forcing people to take the stairs.
What prompted this thread was a sign that I saw at Waban on 07-Aug-18. It read that the Riverside line would have bustitution from Fenway to Brookline Hills from August 13th to 16th after 9pm. The sign says, in part, “Thank you for your patience as we work to reduce the impacts to service from flooding near Fenway Station. …”. Does anyone have any idea what the T plans to do? The embankment seems to have held back all rain storms since 1996. What more could possibly be done?
When I rode the Riverside line in the 80s, the stairs at Longwood puzzled me. If one wanted to walk along the banks of the Muddy River, patrons had to walk up 6-8 steps and then down 6-8 steps over an embankment (or levee) that did not seem necessary. I never knew the embankment’s purpose until October, 1996, when heavy rains occurred. The Muddy River overflowed onto the tracks somewhere. The water ran into the Fenway portal and flooded the tracks all the way to Hynes.
The aforementioned embankment runs along to the tracks from Fenway station to Aspinwall Avenue. On numerous occasions, I have attempted to find the location where the breach occurred. I’ve even sifted through 1996 newspapers hoping to find a photo of the breach. My only thought is Longwood station itself. Since the flood, the stairs have been rebuilt. My theory (and this is just a theory) is that pedestrians walking over the embankment (rather than the stairs) wore it down over time. The stairs have been rebuilt with railings forcing people to take the stairs.
What prompted this thread was a sign that I saw at Waban on 07-Aug-18. It read that the Riverside line would have bustitution from Fenway to Brookline Hills from August 13th to 16th after 9pm. The sign says, in part, “Thank you for your patience as we work to reduce the impacts to service from flooding near Fenway Station. …”. Does anyone have any idea what the T plans to do? The embankment seems to have held back all rain storms since 1996. What more could possibly be done?