What’s Next for the Urban Ring?
August 28, 2012
Transportation projects take a long time. Perhaps no project better exemplifies that point than the
Urban Ring, which first emerged, conceptually, a full 40 years ago this year. That was when, as part of the landmark Boston Transportation Planning Review, a plan for “Circumferential Transit” was put forward as a substitute for the cancelled Inner Belt highway project.
In 1993, the Boston Society of Architects, dubbed the idea the “New Urban Ring”, referring not only to the transportation concept but also the entire corridor, home to many of the region’s foremost “
eds and meds”, cultural institutions and
life sciences research centers. Improving service in the Urban Ring would provide better connections to jobs not only within the corridor but also downtown and along the radial routes feeding it.
One of the great strengths of the Urban Ring concept is that it lends itself to implementation in stages. In the early 1990s, the MBTA put into service the “CT” (Circumferential Transit) bus routes intended to connect some of the dots in the corridor. Given limited resources, the MBTA has chosen to run these routes often enough to make a connection but not often enough to attract large numbers of riders. A 2008 study projected that, by 2030, weekday ridership within the corridor would generate 184,000 trips – equal to the number of daily riders on the Orange Line today.
In keeping with the incremental approach, it’s useful to focus on three segments of the corridor where projects that would support the Urban Ring are planned or underway. As service enhancements
improve mobility and build better connections in these and other segments, service in the Urban Ring corridor will grow toward the full network envisioned in the 2008 plan. Piece by piece, the concept first described forty years ago will begin to be realized.
Northern Arc: Construction is nearing completion on a Bypass Road in East Boston for trucks and buses traveling between Chelsea and Logan Airport. In the near term, the Bypass Road will allow buses connecting Chelsea to the Blue Line at Airport Station to avoid local street congestion. In the future, Silver Line service could be extended from South Station to Chelsea via Airport Station using a dedicated right-of-way to provide speedier, more direct service.
Inner Belt: One segment where demand for improvements is great and implementation is possible is between the Red Line in Kendall Square and the Orange Line at Sullivan Square. In the short run, adjusting the routing and frequency of the CT-2 bus will attract more riders. In the future, a viaduct between the Lechmere MBTA Station and the Inner Belt area of Somerville would reduce travel times.
Southern Arc: Melnea Cass Boulevard in Roxbury is currently slated for reconstruction in the next few years. The redesign calls for a center-median bus lane. Potential next steps include enhanced bus service on Massachusetts Avenue to JFK-UMass to the south and to the South Boston Waterfront via Albany and A Street to the north.
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