Business group calls for $50 billion transportation plan in Mass. (Boston: construction, university)

[massnative71]

https://www.telegram.com/news/201911...n-plan-in-mass


And here is the full report:


https://www.abettercity.org/assets/i...mber_2019I.pdf

[GeePee]

“We have to stop just thinking about fixing what we have,” Dimino told the News Service. “We have to pivot to thinking about making sure we fix what we have but also thinking about the next wave of investments we need to make in our transportation system.”


This is the problem I see. Baker is always talking about X amount of $ being thrown at XYZ to keep it up to how it should have been running if it was running good. There is never talk about the next step. We can't talk about the future and new investments when we don't even have nearly enough to keep it running 75% how how it was currently designed.

[OyCrumbler]

I see South Station expansion, but no North-South Rail Link. Is that supposed to be rolled into one of the other items? How is MBTA Commuter Rail to turn into rapid transit like frequencies with the bottlenecks that massive interlockings and turnarounds at two different large stations supposed to work out?

[GeoffD]

Those upgrades aren’t going to impact the issue that 128 and 495 are saturated. There are more jobs on the ring roads than in Boston/Cambridge.

[yesmaybe]

Originally Posted by GeoffD

Those upgrades aren’t going to impact the issue that 128 and 495 are saturated. There are more jobs on the ring roads than in Boston/Cambridge.

Not really, if anything 128 can get really busy because people are trying to drive into the city instead of using public transportation.

[BostonMike7]

Originally Posted by yesmaybe

Not really, if anything 128 can get really busy because people are trying to drive into the city instead of using public transportation.

There's also plenty of business in the Peabody to Waltham stretch along 128/95. That road is a parking lot every day and it's noticeable in the evening commute that the lost lane right at I-93 headed northbound does contribute a bit to the bottle neck, in addition the inefficient cloverleaf at I95/I93 junction. I've frequently headed I93 north during the AM rush and say in traffic with cars looking to exit to I95 for 30 mins. I've found it quicker to just take backroads along I-95 now (129/62/38/etc)

Adding a lane to I-95/I93 in strategic areas, and improving the I93/I95 interchange could potentially make a significant difference in traffic congestion north of the city. Of course, that's based on my informal, "sitting in traffic" study conducted over 12 years of commuting along I-95.

[lrfox]

Originally Posted by GeePee

This is the problem I see. Baker is always talking about X amount of $ being thrown at XYZ to keep it up to how it should have been running if it was running good. There is never talk about the next step. We can't talk about the future and new investments when we don't even have nearly enough to keep it running 75% how how it was currently designed.

I don't know about that.

• His administration has pushed the complete fleet replacements on the Red/Orange Line which not only helps prevent breakdowns, it increases capacity on either line. Drastically so on the Orange which is almost unusable at inner stations at peak times.
• The track and signal upgrades on each line are for better service with fewer issues.
• They also brought the Green Line Exension (GLX) back from the dead and that's well on its way.
• They pushed through the new Green Line vehicle procurement.
• They funded and began construction on South Coast Rail.
• They're actively looking into expanding the Blue Line.
• They've embraced the most drastic long-term transit improvement plan I've seen in my lifetime.

Originally Posted by BostonMike7

There's also plenty of business in the Peabody to Waltham stretch along 128/95. That road is a parking lot every day and it's noticeable in the evening commute that the lost lane right at I-93 headed northbound does contribute a bit to the bottle neck, in addition the inefficient cloverleaf at I95/I93 junction. I've frequently headed I93 north during the AM rush and say in traffic with cars looking to exit to I95 for 30 mins. I've found it quicker to just take backroads along I-95 now (129/62/38/etc)

Adding a lane to I-95/I93 in strategic areas, and improving the I93/I95 interchange could potentially make a significant difference in traffic congestion north of the city. Of course, that's based on my informal, "sitting in traffic" study conducted over 12 years of commuting along I-95.

But the problem will always be that it's really just not possible to significantly increase traffic capacity and improve traffic flow on urban and suburban highways. And even if you can, induced demand generally leads to the new capacity being exceeded again in relatively short order. That's not to say there shouldn't be an effort to improve 128/95 (I think that's in the comprehensive plan), but the reality is that we're not going to solve the traffic problem by trying to adding more lanes and capacity. The solution is to create viable alternatives that get cars off the road. That said, some sort of ring transit along 128 (even a bus) would help. Interested to see what's proposed for alleviating that because it can't be ignored.

[GeoffD]

Originally Posted by lrfox

That said, some sort of ring transit along 128 (even a bus) would help. Interested to see what's proposed for alleviating that because it can't be ignored.

That was my point and it's both 128 and 495 these days. If you work in Boston, you have public transportation alternatives. If you work in one of the jillion office parks on the inner and outer ring roads, it's a car commute with no viable alternative. There is 125 million square feet of office space on 128 and 495. There are people here who think all jobs can be accessed via commuter rail and the T.

[RBThescot]

"Business group calls for $50 billion transportation plan in Mass."

Let me re-phrase that for you.

"Business group calls for $50 billion transportation plan within a 10 or 15 mile radius of Boston and the other 325 towns and cities in the Commonwealth can get jack...."

[Amontillado]

As always, it is "Business group calls for $50 billion transportation plan in Mass and doesn't say a word about how it's going to be paid for".