Where am I? (Locations on the Green Line/Red Line)

[Otto Vondrak]

I just got back my slides from last friday, and I want to label them correctly. Can some of you native types help me out?

- What city is Lechmere station in?

- What is the street that runs along the El from Science Park station towards North Station station?

- What street intersection is it where the El makes the turn to go inbound to North Station station?

- What do we call that new highway bridge- is it just referred to as "The Bunker Hill Bridge?"

Red Line- Mattapan Shuttle:

- What city is Butler station in?

- What city is Milton station in?

- What city is Capen Street station in?

Thanks for your help...

-otto-

[jwhite07]

Lechmere is in Cambridge (that part of the city is sometimes called East Cambridge).

The road over the Charles River Dam is Route 28, aka Monsignor O'Brien Highway.

The elevated line from Leverett Circle (Science Park Station) is over Lowell Street until turning onto Causeway Street by the O'Neill Federal Building.

Ashmont, Cedar Grove, and Butler are in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston. The line then crosses the Neponset River into the town of Milton and stays there until crossing the Neponset again and reentering Dorchester just before Mattapan.

[Ron Newman]

Lechmere station is in Cambridge.

The street running alongside the El inbound from Science Park is called Martha Road.

The inbuond El makes that left turn at the intersection of Causeway Street, Lowell Street, Merrimac Street, and Staniford Street. The intersection is officially called Lowell Square, but nobody uses this name. The El turns left from Lowell Street to Causeway Street.

The new bridge is officially the "Leonard P. Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge" but really it's just the Zakim Bridge. It's never the "Bunker Hill Bridge".

Butler Station is in Dorchester, which is part of the City of Boston.

Milton and Capen Street stations are in the Town of Milton.

[Otto Vondrak]

Thanks all for the info... I appreciate it.

So Dorchester=Boston like SoHo=New York City. I will label my slides "Boston, MA" for those locations...

Thanks again!

-otto-

[Otto Vondrak]

Ok one more... what is the road that the Green Line crosses just inbound of Lechmere station (the line ramps up from Lechmere, onto the El, over this street...)... is it Land Blvd.?

Instead of me asking dumb questions- is there a map that shows the T and local streets?

-otto-

[octr202]

That's still O'Brien Highway that the Green Line goes over just before entering Lechmere station. It becomes McGrath highway about 3/4 of a mile further up.

The MBTA has a relatively good map online -- its their system map, and particularly downtown it shows a lot of streets:

http://www.mbta.com/traveling_t/schedul ... system.asp

You should also be able to request one by calling the MBTA info line -- 800-392-6100 or 617-222-3200.

[Ron Newman]

If you mean a street that the elevated crosses at right-angles, that's Land Blvd. in Cambridge, which becomes the Gilmore Bridge as it heads towards Charlestown.

[octr202]

Immediately after leaving Lechmere inbound, the trains cross over O'Brien Highway. Land Blvd./Gilmore Bridge is the next intersection towards Boston.

Confused yet, Otto? I still get some of those roads mixed up over there, and I've lived here for eight years.

[jwhite07]

So Dorchester=Boston like SoHo=New York City. I will label my slides "Boston, MA" for those locations...

Well, Dorchester isn't just a neighborhood... it was in fact a separate town from colonial times until 1870, when it was annexed into Boston.

But it IS Boston, so your labeling will be technically correct. Besides, what "is" and "isn't" Dorchester has changed over the years, and now the border probably is significant only to historians, politicians, and the Post Office!

[Ron Newman]

I agree with jwhite -- a better analogy is that Dorchester is to Boston as Queens is to New York City. Most people who live in either one will say they live in Dorchester or Queens, not Boston or New York City.

[wintrain]

Just curious about Lowell St. Along side The O'Neill Building. I thought it was Lomasney Way.

[efin98]

Just curious about Lowell St. Along side The O'Neill Building. I thought it was Lomasney Way.

Bingo! It leads into Martha Road at the new Leverett Circle then into the O'Brian Highway at Science Park. Things may have changed but the online maps and the T maps linked still list those names at the route run over by the El

[Ron Newman]

I've seen both "Lowell Street" and "Lomasney Way" but I think Lowell Street is the name most people would recognize. Only one building, a three-story tenement, still fronts on this street; perhaps I should ring a doorbell there and ask the residents where they think they live.

Many streets in the area are named for towns and cities that you could once reach from North Station via the Boston & Maine railroad: Lowell Street, Billerica Street (discontinued when the O'Neill Building was built), Nashua Street, Lancaster Street, Portland Street, Haverhill Street (effectively discontinued by Big and Little Dig construction), Beverly street (wiped out by I-93), Medford Street.

[efin98]

Ron it may have been officially changed to "Lomasny Way" from Lowell Street. I have seen no reference to it being Lowell Street on either Yahoo, Mapquest, or even the T's maps and no Lowell Street came up in that area.

[jwhite07]

My 1995 Universal Atlas (yes, I know that's ancient for a map of Boston) shows it as Lowell Street, and Lomasney Way isn't even listed. Very possible it's been changed in the last ten years, but I like the old name better. It's the historic name of the street, and it has railroad roots.

One thing about Boston. If you don't like a street name, be patient. Sooner or later, they'll change the street name -- or move the street.

:D :D :D