| Image published on: | March 22, 2010 |
|---|---|
| Image size: | 1024 × 986 px |
| Image file name: | System_future.gif |
FutureMBTA Map now for sale!
FutureMBTA Map now for sale! – vanshnookenraggen
vanshnookenraggenFutureMBTA Map now for sale! – vanshnookenraggen
vanshnookenraggen
There were plans to extend the Orange Line in the median of the cancelled I-95 from the present terminus at Forest Hills to University Avenue Station in Dedham (shown here in your map) but those plans never got off of the drawing board.
In a somewhat similar vein, New Hampshire has been studying running some form of transit (light or heavy rail) along the I-93 median between Methuen, MA and Manchester, NH (a great idea IMHO). A similar run between Newburyport, MA to Portsmouth, NH would also be useful, especially if the abandoned spur to the Portsmouth Airport (a.k.a. the former Pease AFB) could be reactivated as part of the project. This would provide direct commuter rail service between Portsmouth and Boston, but the big hurdle would be rebuilding the abandoned bridge that carried the old B&M tracks across the Merrimack River in Newburyport (the line now ends in Newburyport, just south of the river after being extended from Ipswich in the 1990’s). The cost of a new span to replace the existing crossing would be tremendous, due to the severe currents the river, which undermined the piers of the existing span, making it unsafe and forcing its closure sometime in the 1960’s. The existing right-of-way still exists north of the river, so if the river crossing could be managed, the cost to restore the rest of the line would be relatively low.