 Atlantic Avenue at Essex St., Boston, 2010 | |
| Location | Boston |
|---|---|
| South end | Kneeland Street |
| Major junctions |  I-93 in Boston |
| North end | Commercial Street |
Atlantic Avenue is a street in downtown Boston, Massachusetts, partly serving as a frontage road for the underground Central Artery (I-93) and partly running along the Boston Harbor. It has a long history, with several relocations along the way.
What is now Atlantic Avenue was once part of Broad Street, only existing from the road still known as Broad Street south to Dewey Square (the front of South Station). Federal Street (which now only goes north from Dewey Square) continued south from Dewey Square through the current location of South Station to the Federal Street Bridge (now the Dorchester Street Bridge) and on to South Boston and points south.
From 1868 to 1874, the section north of Broad Street was built, taking it into Commercial Street, with which it formed a waterfront route around the North End, and the portion of Broad Street south of the new road was renamed Atlantic Avenue. This new alignment took it across the middle of several former wharves, notably Long Wharf, and the water west of Atlantic Avenue was filled in. The Union Freight Railroad was completed in 1872, taking freight between the lines on the north and south sides of downtown, and running along the middle of the full length of Atlantic Avenue.
In 1899, South Station opened, and as part of that project Federal Street was closed south of Dewey Square, and Atlantic Avenue was extended south along a new alignment on the west side of South Station. The Union Freight Railroad, which had used Federal Street, was also realigned onto the new alignment. Just south of Kneeland Street, the railroad continued straight but Atlantic Avenue had a quick S-curve to shift to the west side of the railroad, where it slowly rose and then turned southeast onto the Atlantic Avenue Viaduct over the full approach to South Station (the Boston and Albany and New York, New Haven and Hartford railroads), which after crossing the railroads immediately turned back to the south and crossed the Fort Point Channel. The road ended at the large intersection of Dorchester Avenue, Foundry Street and West First Street, serving the same purpose as Federal Street - taking vehicles to this intersection from Dewey Square.
The viaduct was gone by 1923, and Atlantic Avenue was truncated to just south of Kneeland Street at the S-curve. Traffic formerly using Atlantic Avenue to South Boston now used Dorchester Avenue around the east side of South Station, or headed west on Kneeland Street and south on Albany Street to one of the other Fort Point Channel crossings.
The next change happened in the 1950s, when the Central Artery (now I-93) was built. From Broad and High Streets south to Dewey Square, Atlantic Avenue was made one-way northbound as a frontage road for the Artery, with southbound traffic using Purchase Street on the other side of the Artery. Atlantic Avenue was kept two-way south of Dewey Square, where through traffic used the Surface Artery.
The Union Freight Railroad was abandoned in 1970, removing tracks from the center of Atlantic Avenue. Soon after, the road was realigned inland from Broad and High Streets most of the way to its north end, where it turned northeast and returned to its original alignment for the final block to Commercial Street, roughly along the old Mercantile and Richmond Streets. A short section of Old Atlantic Avenue exists in the original location between Milk and State Streets.
When the Big Dig put the Artery underground in the late 1990s and early 2000s, the full section along the Artery, as well as the southern end, was converted to one-way northbound, with southbound traffic on the other side, known in sections as Surface Artery, Purchase Street and again Surface Artery. The new northbound tunnel was built under Atlantic Avenue south of Dewey Square. Only the part curving away from the Artery to end at Commercial Street remained two-way. South of Kneeland Street, a ramp from the northbound Artery and its frontage road joins the intersection of Kneeland Street and Atlantic Avenue.
By 1871, the Dorchester Avenue Railroad ran along Atlantic Avenue south of Broad Street (still called Broad Street at the time) as part of its route between downtown and Dorchester. However, 1872 and 1874 maps show these tracks removed in favor of tracks along Beach Street. An 1888 map appears to show tracks again, along the full length of Atlantic Avenue (ending at the Commercial Street merge), and an 1897 map shows tracks not only on all of Atlantic Avenue but also on Commercial Street towards North Station.
In 1872, the Union Freight Railroad was built along Atlantic Avenue, connecting freight lines on both sides of downtown. It was removed in 1970. The 1899 extension of Atlantic Avenue also resulted in a realignment of the railroad.
From 1901 to 1938 (torn down in the early 1940s), the Atlantic Avenue Elevated carried passengers above Atlantic Avenue north of Beach Street.
By 1925, all streetcar tracks had been removed from the central part of downtown, and tracks along Atlantic Avenue north of Summer Street (Dewey Square) took streetcars around downtown. These too were gone by 1953.
Buses on the 6 South Station - Haymarket Station via North End route now use the full length of Atlantic Avenue (northbound only along the Big Dig).
None of Atlantic Avenue has ever been part of a numbered state, U.S. or Interstate route.
The Dewey Square Tunnel in Boston, Massachusetts, is part of Interstate 93, running under the heart of the city's financial district, including Dewey Square. Built in 1959, it was part of Boston's Central Artery freeway construction project of the 1950s. Known to locals as the South Station Tunnel, the Dewey Square Tunnel is of cut-and-cover design, and originally was six lanes wide, with no breakdown lanes.
South Station, officially The Governor Michael S. Dukakis Transportation Center at South Station, is the largest railroad station and intercity bus terminal in Greater Boston and New England's second-largest transportation center after Logan International Airport. Located at the intersection of Atlantic Avenue and Summer Street in Dewey Square, Boston, Massachusetts, the historic station building was constructed in 1899 to replace the downtown terminals of several railroads. Today, it serves as a major intermodal domestic transportation hub, with service to the Greater Boston region and the Northeastern and Midwestern United States. It is used by thousands of commuter rail and intercity rail passengers daily. Connections to the rapid transit Red Line and bus rapid transit Silver Line are made through the adjacent subway station.
Aquarium station is an underground rapid transit station on the MBTA Blue Line in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is located under State Street at Atlantic Avenue on the eastern edge of Boston's Financial District near Boston Harbor. The station is named for the nearby New England Aquarium. It is adjacent to Long Wharf, which is used by two MBTA Boat lines. The station has two side platforms serving the two tracks of the Blue Line; an arched ceiling runs the length of the platform level. With the platforms 50 feet (15 m) below street level, it is the second-deepest station on the MBTA system.
State Road 50 runs across the center of the U.S. state of Florida through Orlando, with its termini at SR 55 at Weeki Wachee and SR 5 in Titusville.
The North–South Rail Link (NSRL) is a proposed rail tunnel, or pair of tunnels, that would connect North Station and South Station in downtown Boston, Massachusetts, linking rail networks that serve the city's northern suburbs, New Hampshire, and Maine with the rest of the country. The project would build new underground stations near the existing stations, connect them with about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) of tunnels, and add other tunnels to link up with existing surface tracks.
The Boston and Albany Railroad was a railroad connecting Boston, Massachusetts to Albany, New York, later becoming part of the New York Central Railroad system, Conrail, and CSX Transportation. The line is currently used by CSX for freight. Passenger service is provided on the line by Amtrak, as part of their Lake Shore Limited service, and by the MBTA Commuter Rail system, which owns the section east of Worcester and operates it as its Framingham/Worcester Line.
The Old Colony Railroad (OC) was a major railroad system, mainly covering southeastern Massachusetts and parts of Rhode Island, which operated from 1845 to 1893. Old Colony trains ran from Boston to points such as Plymouth, Fall River, New Bedford, Newport, Providence, Fitchburg, Lowell and Cape Cod. For many years the Old Colony Railroad Company also operated steamboat and ferry lines, including those of the Fall River Line with express train service from Boston to its wharf in Fall River where passengers boarded luxury liners to New York City. The company also briefly operated a railroad line on Martha's Vineyard, as well as the freight-only Union Freight Railroad in Boston. The OC was named after the "Old Colony", the nickname for the Plymouth Colony.
The Union Freight Railroad was a freight-only railroad connecting the railroads coming into the north and south sides of downtown Boston, Massachusetts. Almost its entire length was along Atlantic Avenue and Commercial Street. For most of its length, the Atlantic Avenue Elevated carried passengers above.
The Atlantic Avenue Elevated was an elevated railway around the east side of Downtown Boston, Massachusetts, providing a second route for the Boston Elevated Railway's Main Line Elevated around the Washington Street tunnel. It was in use from 1901 to 1938, when it was closed due to low ridership, later being demolished.
Fort Point Channel is a maritime channel separating South Boston from downtown Boston, Massachusetts, feeding into Boston Harbor. The south part of it has been gradually filled in for use by the South Bay rail yard and several highways. At its south end, the channel once widened into South Bay, from which the Roxbury Canal continued southwest where the Massachusetts Avenue Connector is now. The Boston Tea Party occurred at its northern end. The channel is surrounded by the Fort Point neighborhood, which is also named after the same colonial-era fort.
Dewey Square is a square in downtown Boston, Massachusetts which lies at the intersection of Atlantic Avenue, Summer Street, Federal Street, Purchase Street and the John F. Kennedy Surface Road, with the Central Artery (I-93) passing underneath in the Dewey Square Tunnel, which was built in the Big Dig. South Station is on the southeast corner of the square, with Amtrak and MBTA Commuter Rail services, as well as Red Line subway trains and Silver Line bus rapid transit underneath.
The Central Artery is a section of freeway in downtown Boston, Massachusetts; it is designated as Interstate 93, US 1 and Route 3.
The Dorchester Railroad and Dorchester Extension Railroad was a horse car line in Boston, Massachusetts in the late 19th century, running from downtown south to Milton, mostly via Dorchester Avenue. For several years, it was operated by Gore, Rose and Company, owned by David Gore and George Rose, because the original company could not afford to run it.
The Grand Junction Railroad is an 8.55-mile (13.76 km) long railroad in the Boston, Massachusetts, area, connecting the railroads heading west and north from Boston. The line is notable for its railroad bridge over the Charles River that passes under the Boston University Bridge between Boston and Cambridge, Massachusetts.
Dorchester Avenue is a street in Boston, Massachusetts, running from downtown south via South Boston and Dorchester to the border with Milton, where it ends. Built as a turnpike, the Dorchester Turnpike, it is mostly straight.
Washington Street is a street originating in downtown Boston, Massachusetts, which extends southwestward to the Massachusetts–Rhode Island state line. The majority of its length outside of the city was built as the Norfolk and Bristol Turnpike in the early 19th century. It is the longest street in Boston and remains one of the longest streets in the Commonwealth of Massachusetts. Due to various municipal annexations with the city of Boston, the name Washington Street now exists 6 or more times within the jurisdiction(s) of the City of Boston.
Route 28 is a 151.93-mile-long (244.51 km) nominally south–north state highway in the U.S. state of Massachusetts, running from the town of Eastham via Boston to the New Hampshire state line in Methuen. Following the route from its nominally southern end, Route 28 initially heads south to the town of Chatham then turns west to follow along the south shore of Cape Cod. In Falmouth, Route 28 turns north and continues through the western part of Plymouth County and the eastern part of Norfolk County; it then passes through downtown Boston before heading north via Lawrence to the New Hampshire state line, where it continues as New Hampshire Route 28.
Pennsylvania Route 611 is a state highway in eastern Pennsylvania running 109.7 mi (176.5 km) from Interstate 95 (I-95) in the southern part of Philadelphia north to I-380 in Coolbaugh Township in the Pocono Mountains.
State Road 44 is an east–west state highway in the U.S. state of Florida. It runs from Crystal River on the Gulf of Mexico east to New Smyrna Beach on the Atlantic Ocean, passing through Inverness, Wildwood, Leesburg and DeLand.
U.S. Highway 17 (US 17) in Florida is a north–south United States Numbered Highway that runs 317 miles (510 km) from the Punta Gorda, Florida Metropolitan Statistical Area northeast to the Jacksonville metropolitan area.
