Approximately 60 city and state officials and community members convened Thursday evening in the Commonwealth Salon at Boston Public Library to outline a proposal to consolidate four stops on the B branch of the Green Line, located in Boston University’s West Campus.
The consolidation would eliminate the Boston University West, St. Paul Street, Babcock Street and Pleasant Street stops, and it would create two new stops, one slightly outbound from BU West and one slightly inbound from Babcock Street.
“I’m really proud of this particular project,” said Ed Hunter, assistant general manager for design and construction for the Massachusetts Department of Transportation. “I think it has a lot of value for us. This is a rare opportunity to make stations accessible.”
The goal is to create two safer, more efficient and accessible stations, according to the plan presented at Thursday’s meeting.
The event was presented through a panel, with panelists Steven Culp, the deputy director of System Safety; Jack O’Neill, project manager of Jacobs Engineering; Curtis Nikitas, project manager for MassDOT; Melissa Dullea, the director of planning and scheduling; Randy Clarke, the director of security and initiatives; and Robert Sampson, the representative for MBTA System Wide Accessibility.
The two newly created stations would be centrally located, touch the same intersections of the four current stations, have the capacity of the four current stations and include added platform width and walkways, all while following MBTA standards, the proposal stated.
MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo said the new project would make the B branch more efficient by reducing travel times and improving the boarding process.
“Many Green Line customers have repeatedly asked if it is necessary for trolleys to make so many stops over a fairly short distance,” he said in an email. “The proposed new B Line stops would better serve the customers in [the] Commonwealth Avenue travel corridor.”
Additionally, this change would reduce travel time for commuters, the proposal stated.
“There is a net reduction in travel time for our B line customers,” Dullea said. “About 25,000 people are on the B line passing through this area, so everyone that is riding through is going to save about a minute, possibly two, which, at an individual level, that’s not much, but we’re looking at all of our customers so we’re looking at 32,000 of passenger hours of net travel time.”
Several attendees and students expressed varying opinions about the consolidated stops along West Campus.
Alison Pultinas, 62, of Mission Hill, attended the meeting because of her concern about sidewalks and the 100-year-old elm trees in nearby Sullivan Tire.
“People should be thinking about the sidewalks and the trees, because they want to narrow the sidewalks,” she said. “This is great that the T is actually doing this, but I’m concerned about how it’s coordinated with the city.”
Scott Englander, 56, of Brookline, said he is in full support of the consolidation.
“I have been working for many years to improve the livability of the communities of the metro Boston area in various ways, and I think transportation is key to that,” he said. “We can design great public spaces, but unless we also make it safe and convenient for people to get around using a variety of options, we’re not going to see the benefits.”
Francesca Schiavello, a senior in the College of Arts and Sciences, said the proposed project would be a positive improvement to BU’s campus.
“The Green Line is pretty slow when it’s going up to BC [Boston College], and that’s because it stops every 200 meters, so it’s great that they’re consolidating the stops,” she said. “Hopefully it will make things faster. It will take less [time] for people to get up and down from BC to BU, and hopefully that means the T will pass more frequently and on a better schedule.”
