Phase 2 Urban Ring Project (MBTA)

map of proposed phase 2 system



mbta-owned right of way along ruggles street, have been used urban ring busway

the mbta filed draft environmental impact report (deir) phase 2 massachusetts environmental policy act (mepa) office on november 30, 2004. in fy2005-10 , draft fy2006-11 capital improvement plans, mbta has not budgeted money urban ring project, beyond supporting eir process.

phase 2 convert , expand 5 of crosstown lines (ct2, ct3, ct4, ct5, , ct8) bus rapid transit lines overlap , form complete ring around urban core.

brt 1: airport station kendall square via wellington, assembly square, sullivan square, , lechmere
brt 2: logan airport terminals wellington local service chelsea , everett
brt 3: wellington kendall via gilman square, union square somerville, , lechmere
brt 5: lechmere ruggles via kendall, grand junction/mit, bu bridge, kenmore/yawkey/fenway, , huntington avenue
brt 6: commonwealth ave @ boston university central umass boston via ruggles, melnea cass blvd, uphams corner
brt 7: longwood medical area mystic mall via south boston, world trade center, ted williams tunnel, , downtown chelsea

brt connections commuter rail lines improved expanding following existing stations:

downtown chelsea (newburyport/rockport line)
yawkey (framingham/worcester line, project initiated, construction scheduled completion in 2014)
ruggles (inbound platform northeast corridor)

the following new commuter rail stations created:

sullivan square (near junction of newburyport/rockport , haverhill/reading lines)
gilman square (lowell line)
union square (fitchburg line)

the new brt lines make additional connections @ other commuter rail stops, rapid transit stops, , bus hubs.

some parts of brt system run in mixed traffic, including through ted williams tunnel , terminals @ logan international airport. dedicated lanes provided portions, including:

the grand junction railroad right-of-way, runs through campus of massachusetts institute of technology , crosses charles river under boston university bridge.
railroad right-of-way in somerville, connecting lechmere.
portions east boston chelsea.
melnea cass boulevard, connecting silver, orange, , green lines (e branch).
the haul road in south boston.

ridership estimated @ 106,000 passengers per day in 2010; capital cost estimated @ $500 million.

2008 revised draft eir

as of june 2008, revised route of ring had following stops:

this routing skips gilman , union squares in somerville, these locations connected new lechmere station via green line extension project, expected operational end of 2014, initiated of 2014. grand junction railroad crossing of charles river widened include bus lanes , multi-use path.

construction of silver line gateway busway - part of urban ring enter construction - in chelsea in 2015

there 2 major spurs. 3 different routings being considered first spur, on west side of ring, leaves commonwealth avenue , goes to:

allston west station (new commuter rail station on framingham/worcester line)
north harvard street
western avenue
harvard, red line

the second major spur, on south side of ring, leave between crosstown center , bu medical center, , go to:

newmarket square (new commuter rail stop on fairmount line)
edward everett square, dorchester
jfk/umass (mbta station), red line

these close route covered 66 bus.

an interim surface routing proposed, multiple stops in longwood medical area, while tunnel under construction.

the capital cost version of plan estimated @ $2.2 billion, projected daily ridership of 170,000. 53% of route either in bus-only lane, dedicated busway, or tunnel. increased previous plan phase 2, improve travel times. result of implementation of phase 2, ridership growth on red, orange, blue, , green lines slowed, commuter rail ridership boosted. urban ring have higher collective ridership orange line, blue line, or entire commuter rail system.