Remarkable project, the Urban Ring. The Mission Hill Gazette reports on a quiet little meeting at BRA headquarters to kick off planning for a study on linking the Blue and Silver lines as part of the Urban Ring - the crosstown subway bus line the state nailed to its perch in 2009.
"The project is dormant," Read explained. "Like trees, it'll come back to life when the season is right."
$2.8-billion project cut from state wish list, Wicked Local Cambridge reports.
Also gone forever: The long-fabled Blue Line extension to Lynn, our own Arborway reports.
On the plus side: The Silver Line is still going to become an even longer bus route.
It seems state transportation officials have dropped the idea of building a tunnel under the Longwood Medical Area for the fabled Urban Ring bus route, saying the streets are good enough, while wrangling continues between Harvard, BU and CSX over exactly how the buses would cross the Charles River between Cambridge and Allston.
The Lone Rider explains why the proposed Urban Ring bus system will still leave parts of Roxbury and Dorchester unserved:
... The Urban Ring could be like one of those hippie bracelets that has strings of beads hanging from it. Only, those strings would be light rail lines feeding into the Urban Ring. All of this investment, about $2.2 billion dollars, but some people are still being left out. So once again, some riders will just be left waiting at the bus stop.
On Brookline has the lowdown on how the planned Urban Ring bus route might affect Brookline - and on some upcoming hearings on the project.
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