Boston University Central station

Boston University Central station is a surface-level light rail station on the MBTA Green Line B branch, located the center median of Commonwealth Avenue west of St. Marys Street in Boston, Massachusetts, surrounded by the Boston University campus. It consists of two side platforms, which serve the B branch's two tracks. The station is accessible, with raised platforms to allow level boarding onto low-floor trams and a high platform on the inbound side to serve high-floor light rail vehicles.

Boston University Central
An outbound train at the station in July 2019
General information
LocationCommonwealth Avenue at St. Marys Street
Boston, Massachusetts
Coordinates 42.34989°N 71.10680°W / 42.34989; -71.10680
Platforms2 side platforms
Tracks2
ConnectionsBus transport MBTA bus: 47, 57, CT2
Construction
AccessibleYes
History
Opened1894 (1894)[1]
RebuiltMarch 18, 2002–November 18, 2003[2][3]
Previous namesSt. Mary's Street
Passengers
20112,194 (weekday average boardings)[4]
Services
Preceding station MBTA Following station
Amory Street
toward Boston College
 Green Line Boston University East
toward Government Center
Former services
Preceding station MBTA Following station
University Road
toward Watertown
 Green Line
Discontinued 1969
 Boston University East
toward Park Street
Location

History
A streetcar at the station in 1977

The station has the third-highest ridership on the B branch (after only Harvard Avenue and Packards Corner).[4] In the early 2000s, the MBTA modified key surface stops with raised platforms for accessibility. Portable lifts were installed at Boston University Central around 2000 as a temporary measure.[5][6] Construction at Boston University Central and Boston University East was part of a $32 million modification of thirteen B, C, and E branch stations. [7] During construction, an interim station with temporary platforms between the two stops was used.[2] Construction began on March 18, 2002, a week behind schedule due to delays in finishing up similar work at Harvard Avenue and Washington Street. The project was then expected to be completed within six months.[2]

However, poor weather and limited work periods (as most work could only be done during the four hours at night that no trains used the line) delayed the completion date first to December 2002, then March 2003.[8] The contractor informed the MBTA in early 2003 that they would be unable to complete the work; a new contractor was chosen in mid-2003, but work did not resume until September.[9] The stations were completed and reopened on November 18, 2003.[3]

Around 2006, the MBTA added a wooden mini-high platform on the inbound side, allowing level boarding on older Type 7 LRVs. These platforms were installed at eight Green Line stations in 2006–07 as part of the settlement of Joanne Daniels-Finegold, et al. v. MBTA.[10][11]

Nearby stops were proposed on the Urban Ring – a circumferential bus rapid transit (BRT) line designed to connect the existing radial MBTA rail lines to reduce overcrowding in the downtown stations.[12] Under draft plans released in 2008, the Urban Ring would have run over the Grand Junction Railroad Bridge, on a dedicated busway under the Boston University Bridge, and along University Road and Mountfort Street. A southbound BRT stop would have been located on University Road, with the northbound stop on Mountfort Street near Carlton Street.[13] The project was cancelled in 2010.[14]

References
  1. Engineering and Maintenance Department (1981). "History of subways, tunnels and elevated lines". Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. Retrieved 17 December 2016.
  2. "BU East, Central T Stop Construction Begins Monday". Daily Free Press. March 15, 2002. Retrieved December 13, 2016.
  3. "MBTA Accessibility Program Update On Green Line" (Press release). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. November 7, 2003. Archived from the original on December 5, 2003.
  4. "Ridership and Service Statistics" (PDF) (14th ed.). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. 2014.
  5. "Executive Summary" (PDF). Program of Mass Transportation. Boston Regional Metropolitan Planning Organization. January 2004. p. 2-9. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 20, 2012.
  6. "Subway Map" (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. 2001. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 1, 2001.
  7. Rivera, Lydia (July 12, 2001). "The MBTA Continues Accessibility Program At Coolidge Corner Station". MBTA Press Releases. Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. Archived from the original on October 30, 2001.
  8. "T construction continues". Daily Free Press. February 7, 2003. Retrieved December 18, 2016.
  9. "T stops set for Nov. finish". Daily Free Press. September 22, 2016. Retrieved December 18, 2016.
  10. "Settlement Agreement" (PDF). Joanne Daniels-Finegold et al. v. MBTA. April 10, 2006. pp. 10–11.
  11. "Green Line Stations Upgraded to Improve Accessibility" (PDF). TRANSReport. Boston Regional Metropolitan Planning Organization. June 2007. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 16, 2011.
  12. "Urban Ring Phase 2 Fact Sheet" (PDF). January 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011.
  13. "The Urban Ring Phase 2: Revised Draft Environmental Impact Report/Statement" (PDF). Massachusetts Executive Office of Transportation. November 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 14, 2017.
  14. Mullan, Jeffery B. (January 22, 2010). "Re: Urban Ring Phase 2, EOEEA #12565" (PDF). Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs.

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