Arborway

MBTA commits to shoveling out bus stops this winter; state to consider lefthanded snowplows for populated parkways

Meira Levinson of the Arborway explains the ice problem she and other parkway residents have.

MBTA officials told a City Council committee today they will commit resources this winter to shovel out bus stops in Boston - and the connections to the sidewalks behind them.

At a hearing called by City Councilor Matt O'Malley (West Roxbury, Jamaica Plain), a T official said the authority will have at least 72 people dedicated to keeping bus stops clear during and after storms - with some additional help from more than 200 subway-station workers. The T is not technically responsible for bus-stop clearing, but pitched in this past winter as storm after storm left stops inaccessible to riders.

Meanwhile, the state Department of Conservation and Recreation says it is considering snowplows that push to the left instead of the right for the populated parkways that pass through Boston, such as the Arborway, the Jamaicaway and the VFW Parkway.

MBTA might be able to pay for Arborway depot renovations after all

The Jamaica Plain Gazette reports an unexpected federal grant could provide enough money to start work on the $200-million rehab of the "temporary" facility - which the T recently said it couldn't do at all.

City council to hold hearing on 'temporary' Arborway bus yard

The Jamaica Plain Gazette reports the City Council's Environment and Health Committee will hold a hearing on June 13 to press the MBTA to replace the allegedly temporary bus facility for which the T has been planning a replacement since 1998.

The committee is chaired by JP's own Councilor Matt O'Malley. In April, the T didn't include a proposed $200 million overhaul in its five-year capital plan. In addition to a new bus-maintenance facility, the proposal would have turned part of the current site - used as a trolley yard until the T "temporarily" halted Arborway trolley service in the mid-1980s - into parkland and new residential and retail space.

'Temporary' Arborway bus depot becomes a little more permanent

State officials didn't add a $200-million rehab of what was supposed to be a temporary facility to their capital budget, the Jamaica Plain Gazette reports.

A cold day in driving hell

Arborway shutdown

For whatever reasons, today's storm caught us unawares. Courtney Sacco photographed a three-car crash that shut the Forest Hills overpass.

Jack Gately got stuck on the Zakim Bridge:

Zakim in the snow

It wasn't all doom and gloom. Julie C captured a quiet scene in Chinatown:

Bucolic scene

Photos copyright Courtney Sacco, Julie C. and Jack Gately, respectively.

Arborway bus yard could finally be rebuilt

New bus yardThe view from high above the Arborway.

The MBTA and a neighborhood planning group showed off plans for a $200-million reconstruction of the 18-acre Jamaica Plain facility that could mean a new park along with new housing and stores on what is now basically a giant field of asphalt.

Ambiguous sign modification in JP

The Arborway sign was altered to read "Motorway" this morning. The message is somewhat ambiguous - are pedestrians and cyclists protesting the speed and noise of traffic along Boston's parkways? Or is it motorists laying claim to their turf?

Confusion reigns as Forest Hills residents bicker over Arborway yard

The Jamaica Plain Gazette recaps a community meeting over the Arborway bus yard in which residents squared off on the issue of whether to approve sudden MBTA changes - which even Danny G didn't know about - to a plan for the yard or to think about them for a bit. The T, the city and residents first began discussing changes to the bus yard 10 years ago.

The Arborway Castle now in full airport-beacon mode

Lyss files a report from the Jamaicaway, where she visited Domenic Luberto's brighter than bright Castle and yard tonight.

Earlier:
The man with the 500,000 Christmas lights.