Great point! I should've mentioned the positives of all the big infrastructure improvements would magnified with true transit signal priority. Great for emergency services, too!

I like this rebuild for a few reasons I couldn't squeeze into 1 skeet.

1) Better intersection geometry (and hopefully transit signal priority) for trollies.
2) Potential for Alcorn St./Naples Rd. to become a through connection. (It's a popular and dangerous pedestrian shortcut.)

That's all I got for now. If you made it this far, thanks for reading! Let me know if you catch any errors or want to discuss any conjectures or assumptions I made. If you like these ideas, consider sending an email to GLT [at] mbta [dot ] com to press the case.

18/18

... which begs the question of why we're funding operations improvements with accessibility money. To oversimplify, that's just how the game is played. Sometimes you solve one problem (or multiple) by pulling together money for a totally different one. Kill two birds with one stone, etc.

17/18

My speculative additions could maybe qualify for the same type of funding only after the confirmed changes are finished. They're good operations improvements, but they don't make sense in the accessibility funding formulas. (I'm not a policy expert, so take this part with plenty of salt.)

16/18

BUT they're funded through the lens of reducing physical disability barriers (which, to be clear, is a great aim all on its own!). The current *confirmed* changes are happening simply because

1) they're the most pressing deficiencies and
2) they got funded.

15/18

Policy - why these plans and why phased? Federal grant criteria. All the currently confirmed changes are funded through a federal ADA accessibility grant. The biggest positive externalities are better station spacing and platform adjustments for the T's low floor trolleys ...

14/18

Blandford St. - this station *closure* is confirmed. Platforms can't be rebuilt in place due to the tunnel portal incline. My speculation is it reappears in a later phase (combined with BU East west of Blandford St.), which would have to consider the current pocket track in the design.

13/18

Packards Corner - this station rebuild is confirmed (platform length/height, etc.). The T will also relocate the Naples Rd. crossover nearby. My speculation is the platforms will be rebuilt east in front of Star Market, allowing the city to simplify road geometry in the intersection.

12/18

Warren St./Allston St. - this station consolidation is confirmed. Like BC and Chestnut Hill Ave., platforms will be extended and raised 8" over current. I'm guessing the T will retain the Allston St. name for the new stop.

11/18

Summit Ave. - another bit of speculation. I think it could appear in a later B line phase because Warren St. and Allston St. will be combined (discussed below), shaving off travel and dwell times. There is currently a 1/3 mile gap between Washington St. and Warren St.

10/18

Chiswick Rd. (Wallingford Rd.?) - this station rebuild is pure speculation by me. The current station is too short for 2 type 10s. It could be rebuilt in a later phase and moved east a block for 250 ft platforms. Maybe Sutherland Rd. also gets consolidated into this possible new station.

9/18

Chestnut Hill Ave. - this station rebuild is confirmed. It will extend the platform length and raise its height 8" to reduce platform/trolley door gaps. South St. will be consolidated into this station due to current ADA inaccessibility + low ridership there.

8/18

Foster St. - this station is pure speculation by me. I think it could appear in a later B line phase because South St. will no longer exist (discussed below), creating a ~2/3 mile gap between stations. (My platform length assumption is 250 ft here and for all stations, matching BC's spec.)

7/18

BC - the current station is located within the line's terminal yard just west of Lake St. The T announced in November that this stop would be rebuilt east of Lake St. to accommodate the larger type 10s (113 ft each). The platforms will be 8" higher than now and 250 ft long to berth 2 type 10s.

6/18

Through phased upgrades and station consolidations, the T can make the B line fully ADA compliant and speed up trains in anticipation of longer type 10 trolleys arriving in 2027. Starting from the branch terminus at Boston College, let's analyze the confirmed and potential improvements:

5/18

Here's where the real tea leaf reading begins. I think the accessibility grant awarded in May and the System-Wide Accessibility Team report released this month are good indicators of the T's medium-long term vision for the branch.

4/18

The good news is the T has secured funding to partially fix these issues. They've also (separately) announced station consolidations along the branch to complement the accessibility work. See here for more:

mass.streetsblog.org/2024/11/15/h...

cdn.mbta.com/sites/defaul...

3/18

Let's introduce our subject: The B line branch of the MBTA's green line. The section of the B line without any interlining runs entirely in a street median and is, frankly, slow. It's also largely ADA inaccessible and in need of major infra upgrades to fix operations and accessibility issues.

2/18