Hey, there! Log in / Register
MBTA plans bus service from Forest Hills to Legacy Place in Dedham
By adamg on Mon, 01/28/2019 - 11:10pm
The MBTA today released a ton of proposals to change its bus routes, including one of the longest routes in its system: The 34/34E that runs from Forest Hills all the way to Walpole.
Under the T's proposal, the two route numbers - the 34 now ends at or near the Dedham Mall, the 34E barrels down Washington Street all the way to Walpole - would be combined into one single Route 34, with three possible destinations: Dedham Mall, Walpole Center/East Walpole and Legacy Place.
The Legacy Place sub-route would make stops at Dedham's newest mall every 30 minutes via Elm Street under the proposal. Currently, the 34E gets no closer than a roughly 12-minute walk to Legacy Place. The T acknowledges the proposal would mean a longer wait for riders between Elm Street and Walpole Center - about five minutes. Also:
Remove service along Route 1A and to Upland Woods, Xaverian Brothers, and Old Navy in the Dedham Mall
The new route changes could go into effect on Sept. 1.
Neighborhoods:
Topics:
Free tagging:
Ad:
Support Universal Hub
Help keep Universal Hub going. If you like what we're up to and want to help out, please consider a (completely non-deductible) contribution.
Comments
Lots of other changes to other routes
OK, I admit it - I looked at the 34/34E first because I tend to use it (and because one of the things on my local bucket list is taking the bus from Forest Hills all the way to Walpole just to say I did).
If you look at your route(s), what changes strike you?
Guide to the changes.
Other Route Changes
The Route 26 change from looping around Norfolk Street to Morton to Washington Street to Ashmont Station becoming a straight route down Norfolk Street straight to Mattapan would actually be a welcome change to me. Turning a 4 block walk to a stop to catch a bus to Mattapan Square into a 1 block walk.
90 no longer an orange line connection
More frequent service would be an improvement for me, and other people who use the 90 as an alternate to the 88 for service between Davis Square, my home, and the Somerville library. Similarly, it improves service between Assembly Square and this part of Somerville.
But the proposal means the 90 will no longer be a connection to the Orange Line: the new route terminates at Assembly Square, but not at the T station there. The MBTA says there will be a 7-minute walk from the subway to the new 90 stops closest to the Assembly and Sullivan T stations.
It is a bus terminal, are you
It is a bus terminal, are you serious?
I used to take the #90 for the reason that it stopped at the Orange Line.
Ugh.
Since moving to Mattapan from Watertown
I have been baffled by the lack on one bus route to rule them all: How is there not ONE bus that goes the length of MA route 203 (the road not the MBTA route) Forest Hills to Neponset would seem to connect quite a few neighborhoods and link routes that would continue onto Quincy, up through Dorchester, or utilize 93 or 3A from Neponset (mmm easy trip to Wollaston Beach anyone?), and from The Forest Hills side onto West Rox, Roslindale, Deham, etc.
It just makes no sense. Gallivan and Morton St are already littered with bus stops but there is no ONE ROUTE that goes the whole length of that road. And there is a long uninterrupted stretch there for a bit going through Franklin Park. Is there some decent reason this cannot happen that I haven't thought of?
Bad mall changes. Should have streetside mall stations
CDTA BusPlus in New York did this.
111
Well the only thing I see that would effect me (and I can comment on) is the 111
Yeah of course no plan on increasing evening service on the 110 (it runs every 60 mins vs every 10-15 on the 111).
You don't save *that* much time with this 111 change. A minute. Park Ave in Revere is a ghost town and has barely any riders. I think this is left over from the streetcar days when there was a car house on Broadway in Revere (and a turn around @ Woodlawn).
Honestly alot of 111 service could be cut to less frequent service (to ~30 mins vs < 10) from Revere Beach Parkway north in the evening. So few riders beyond that point (and from Cary square, IMHO). This way they could focus more on service where its needed (Cary Sq <--> Haymarket)
Isn't the Dedham Mall largely defunct?
Also, what are the Upland Woods and Xaverian Brothers stores? These are unfamiliar names to me.
No, it's still around
They changed it from a traditional indoor mall to a bunch of big boxes - DSW, 5 Below, Loew's, TJ Maxx and, all alone in the corner because it's being punished or something, an AC Moore. The Sears (and, I think, the Toys R Us) are getting converted into a home-goods store.
Then there's the other end of the mall, with Stop & Shop, Dick's and some smaller places (a sneaker store, an Aspen Dental and three fast-food places, including the all important Five Guys). There's even a Starbucks and an IHOP, (although as stand-alone places, along with the Pizzeria Uno) - not to mention the Chick-fil-A down near the Ocean State Job Lot.
Oh, let's not forget the Bob's furniture, which is where Stop & Shop used to be before it moved to where Dick's is now before it moved to its present location.
Here's the directory, which still lists the Radio Shack, maybe for old time's sake.
Xaverian Brothers is a Catholic boys' school in Westwood.
One could say
One could say the Dedham Mall is bigger than ever.... by square footage anyway. Uber guy has a lot of regulars there.
Dude, that IHOP is a magic IHOP. My kids usually pick Friendly's for report-card rewards and birthday meals, but after a day at the MFA last year, they voted IHOP. 74 dollars for three kids and an adult.... and I could not figure out how they did it so slick without my oversight kicking in.
I miss York Steak House.
But back to the topic..... Uber guy does not need the MBTA infringing on his Legacy Place gig. Boo.
Yorks
My mouth is watering thinking about the York burger & steak fries.....I miss it too.
2 cents
The Yorks was where Uno's is now, not the IHOP. (The IHOP was built as a Chilis and lasted about 9 months.) I have never eaten to that IHOP, since the few times we have thought to go there, the line was out the door.
I believe it was an applebees
Not a chils
Yes, it was an Applebee's
Where the Sears auto center used to be, across from where they used to have a carnival every summer (where the Starbucks and bank are now; man, I've spent too much time down there).
Stop and Shop was never at Bob's
Before being where Dicks is, it was where DSX is now. Bob's was a Child World at that time, and before Bob's it was a Circuit City. What was between Child World and Circuit City is not something I can remember.
Upland Woods and Xaverian Brothers
Upland Woods is the place where the Polaroid headquarters used to be on Upland Road (the road parallel to the railroad tracks, venturing straight ahead at Norwood/Westwood line at Clapboardtree Street).
The Xaverian Brothers high school is also on Clapboardtree Street.
Response to a question
Xaverian Brothers is a Catholic High School in Westwood and Upland Woods is a very high end apartment complex nearby.
Newton buses
Change to 52 - eliminating trip to the far corners of Newton (no more Winchester/Nahanton). I haven't used this end of the route much but it does seem too bad to eliminate all service to JCC and Nahanton park. That is 34 riders who completely lose service based on their analysis.
502/504 - outbound trips will no longer loop the circle. This means folks who normally get off the bus at 400 Centre St will have to cross the circle of death to get home. There are good crosswalks, but I am frequently nervous that a car will miss a red light there - and hit a pedestrian. On balance reducing the double loop and providing more frequent service is probably worth it?
Raise the crosswalks?
Could the crosswalks be raised up onto a "speed table", similar to what is on Rindge Avenue in Cambridge near the school and library?
Routes 52, 502 and 504
I don't take Route 52 all that often anymore (not since I left my job in Watertown) but the Winchester St/Nahanton St variation saw very few passengers; it was also near the Wells Street Office Parks and just down the line from Kendrick Street in Needham. The Wheeler Street reroute instead of going straight down Parker also makes sense, as Dedham Street jams up during rush hours.
Whenever there was myself and three people on the 502 to Watertown, right near the turnoff onto Centre St, the driver would ask, "anyone getting off at the other side?" After a few seconds of silence, someone
finally woke up out of their slumbergot their heads out of their cellphonespiped up, and we had to stop, even if the driver was about to bear right on Centre or completing the loop. On the other hand, if you didn't want to take the 501/503 looping back to 400 Centre St, the other alternative is cutting through the hotel, but then you face another crosswalk - a few feet away from the ramp from I-90 East.The 501 and 503s, which go
The 501 and 503s, which go past 400 Centre but don't stop there, would start stopping there in the proposal. So if you don't want to cross the street, you can take an outbound 501 or 503.
Thanks...post edited
I've included the 501/503 inbound loop in my original post.
changes to the 9
they’re proposing changing the inbound route of the 9, which will result in riders getting on at broadway having to cross the street to wait for the bus - not sure where they think that many people are going to wait without blocking the sidewalk, plus they will lose the protection from the weather that the station provides. during the morning rush, there are always at least a bus load of people waiting to get on. also, there are a ton of people who get off at broadway to get on the red line, who will also have to cross the street (waiting for a light cycle, exposed to the weather).
it seems like maybe they just looked at the numbers here and didn’t consider rider safety/comfort at all.
Or maybe
They looked at the numbers and decided that it was borderline insane to have every single inbound 9 bus spend an extra five minutes on two trips through the intersection of W Broadway and Dot Ave just to save some passengers from having to cross a street with crosswalks and a pedestrian signal.
Where do you think passengers wait for ANY bus without blocking a sidewalk? And have you ever heard of a bus shelter?
have you seen how many people
have you seen how many people are waiting for the 9 during rush hour? it’s more people than a bus shelter or two would cover, not that the proposal says anything about adding bus shelters. for that matter, it doesn’t even say whether they’d put the stop on west broadway or on dot ave.
also, the left turn from west broadway onto dot ave seems to always be backed up in the morning, especially when there are large vehicles (like trucks) trying to make that turn. hopefully they took that into consideration, otherwise the 3 minute savings is going to be lost.
i agree that the current route is a bit of a pain, but i’m not convinced straightening the route this way makes sense.
Depends on the width of the
Depends on the width of the sidewalk and the number of passengers.
This spot would probably be ok: https://goo.gl/maps/PRDQSMgVgKN2
35 and 34
Doesn't the 35 bus service the mall? If so, The 34 direct route to legacy should be good. Will this totally replace the 34E?
Yes, except in the mornings
1) Yes, Route 35 serves the mall at all times except for the early mornings, where it starts and ends at Stimson Street.
2) Yes, Route 34E will be eliminated, and Route 34 will be servicing three different areas (Dedham Mall, Legacy Place, Walpole/East Walpole).
350
Going to Wegmans instead of all the way around the Burlington Mall.
Fine with me ...
In my experience, the vast
In my experience, the vast majority of people who take the 350 that far are going to the mall. I think it's a mistake to drop the mall stop.
North Burlington, on the other hand, sees almost no passengers. In the PM rush, when outbound buses skip the mall and head straight to North Burlington, everyone going to the mall or Lahey has to walk a mile through the office parks.
I'd prefer if they cut the North Burlington section, and send buses to the mall and then Northwest Park. If driving around the mall takes too long, they should look moving the stop to the north side of the mall near Primark.
I agree.
Move it to Primark.
Actually, I thought they were doing that.
72 trackless trolley mostly goes away
At most times of the day and week, Huron Avenue in Cambridge will have diesel buses rather than trackless trolleys.
The trackless on the 72s have
The trackless on the 72s have been gone for several years because of construction already. This probably means they will never com back, especially as presentations to the FMCB have made it clear they are looking at getting battery buses to replace all of the trackless (including on the 71 and 73)
Hope this is approved
I live in FH and work in Dedham. This is big if true. Would it start running at the same time as the rest of the fleet?
Great news! Adding service to
Great news! Adding service to new major destinations like Legacy Place is something the T should do more of.