Having been thinking about the nature of Tremont Street Subway, its capacity constraints and age, I was wondering if anyone had ever thought of or planned a 'Second City Crossing' alternative route through the city centre, so as to reduce some strain and improve capacity? Those of you familiar with the British city of Manchester will know of the very successful 'Metrolink' tram system, which has rapidly expanded over the past ten years. Much like the MBTA's Green Line, numerous tram routes converge in the city centre, formerly having to be routed through one bottleneck, which led to delays. To solve this problem, the 'Second City Crossing' was built, an alternative route for some lines that runs on city streets roughly parallel to the original alignment.
While I do not know the specifics of Boston's situation in this regard, I simply wanted to ask if anyone had considered such a plan for the city? That is to say, an alternative route branching off the Green Line before it enters the Subway at some point, travelling through the city streets, which could then potentially be pedestrianised or otherwise fitted with traffic calming measures so as to allow tram priority, to meet the old alignment at Science Park.
While I do not know the specifics of Boston's situation in this regard, I simply wanted to ask if anyone had considered such a plan for the city? That is to say, an alternative route branching off the Green Line before it enters the Subway at some point, travelling through the city streets, which could then potentially be pedestrianised or otherwise fitted with traffic calming measures so as to allow tram priority, to meet the old alignment at Science Park.