Jackson Square | |||||||||||
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General information | |||||||||||
Location | 1500 Columbus Avenue Jamaica Plain, Boston, Massachusetts | ||||||||||
Coordinates | 42°19′22″N71°06′00″W / 42.3229°N 71.1000°W | ||||||||||
Line(s) | Southwest Corridor | ||||||||||
Platforms | 1 island platform | ||||||||||
Tracks | 2 | ||||||||||
Connections | MBTA bus: 14, 22, 29, 41, 44 | ||||||||||
Construction | |||||||||||
Structure type | Below grade | ||||||||||
Bicycle facilities | 8 spaces | ||||||||||
Accessible | Yes | ||||||||||
History | |||||||||||
Opened | May 4, 1987 [1] | ||||||||||
Passengers | |||||||||||
FY2019 | 5,284 boardings (weekday average) [2] | ||||||||||
Services | |||||||||||
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Jackson Square station is a Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Orange Line rapid transit station located on Centre Street near Columbus Avenue in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. The station opened in 1987 as part of the Southwest Corridor project. It is served by MBTA bus routes 14 , 22 , 29 , 41 , and 44, which operate into an off-street busway located adjacent to the station.
The Boston and Providence Railroad opened through Roxbury in June 1834. Local stations were gradually added; trains began serving Heath Street around the 1850s. [3] : 154 [4] In 1867, the Massachusetts legislature ordered the railroad to build a new station building at New Heath Street, slightly to the north. [5] The new station was completed in 1872. [6] [7] It was a one-story wood building located on the west side of the tracks north of Heath Street (rather than at New Heath Street). [8] [9]
Starting in 1891, the Old Colony Railroad (acquired in 1893 by the New York, New Haven and Hartford Railroad) raised the section of its main line through Jamaica Plain (extending from Massachusetts Avenue to Forest Hills) onto a 4-track stone embankment to eliminate dangerous grade crossings. The project involved the replacement of the five NYNH&H stations in Roxbury and Jamaica Plain; the new elevated stations opened on June 1, 1897. [10] [11]
On November 22, 1909, the Washington Street Elevated was extended south from Dudley Square (now Nubian Square) to Forest Hills. [1] Although the five NYNH&H stations in Roxbury and Jamaica Plain continued to operate, they were ultimately unable to compete with the Elevated. [11] Heath Street station closed in the early 1930s.
In the 1960s, plans took hold to extend I-95 into downtown Boston along the NYNH&H's right-of-way and to replace the Washington Street Elevated (after 1967 known as the Orange Line) with a rapid transit line running in the new highway's median. Although the project was halted by highway revolts in 1969 and the February 11, 1970 announcement by Governor Francis W. Sargent of a moratorium on new highway construction within the Route 128 corridor, and eventually cancelled by Governor Sargent in 1972, the right-of-way had already been cleared. This empty strip of land (known as the Southwest Corridor) was eventually developed into the Southwest Corridor Park, and the Orange Line was moved to a new alignment along the Corridor in 1987 despite the cancellation of the project originally calling for its relocation. This included a new rapid transit station, Jackson Square, at Centre Streetsouth of the former NYNH&H station. The Washington Street Elevated was permanently closed on April 30, 1987, and the new southern half of the Orange Line, including Stony Brook, opened on May 4. [10] [1]
In 2004, the MBTA added murals as well as better lighting and new sidewalks after a spree of violent crimes near the station. The improvements at the station were designed to reduce criminal activity as well as provide a more welcoming atmosphere for transit riders. [12] [13] Additional murals were added in December 2007. [14] The entire Orange Line, including Jackson Square station, was closed from August 19 to September 18, 2022, during maintenance work. [15]
The MBTA plans to add a second platform elevator, rebuild the existing elevator, and make other repairs to the station. A $4.7 million design contract for Jackson Square and Massachusetts Avenue was awarded in April 2020. [16] [17] Design was completed in 2023, and bidding for a $19.4 million construction contract was opened in November 2023. Construction was expected to last from March 2024 to spring 2026. [18] [19] However, bidding was unsuccessful. As of June 2024 [update] , the MBTA plans to re-advertise the contract later in 2024. [20]
The MBTA also plans to convert the currently-southbound-only busway to bidirectional bus traffic as part of construction of bus lanes on Columbus Avenue in 2025–26. [21] [22]
The Orange Line is a rapid transit line operated by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) as part of the MBTA subway system. The line runs south on the surface from Oak Grove station in Malden, Massachusetts through Malden and Medford, paralleling the Haverhill Line, then crosses the Mystic River on a bridge into Somerville, then into Charlestown. It passes under the Charles River and runs through Downtown Boston in the Washington Street Tunnel. The line returns to the surface in the South End, then follows the Southwest Corridor southwest in a cut through Roxbury and Jamaica Plain to Forest Hills station.
The Southwest Corridor or Southwest Expressway was a project designed to bring an eight-lane highway into the City of Boston from a direction southwesterly of downtown. It was supposed to connect with Interstate 95 (I-95) at Route 128. As originally designed, it would have followed the right of way of the former Penn Central/New Haven Railroad mainline running from Readville, north through Roslindale, Forest Hills and Jamaica Plain, where it would have met the also-cancelled I-695. The 50-foot-wide median for the uncompleted "Southwest Expressway" would have carried the southwest stretch of the MBTA Orange Line within it, replacing the Washington Street Elevated railway's 1901/1909-built elevated railbed. Another highway, the four-lane South End Bypass, was proposed to run along the railroad corridor between I-695 in Roxbury and I-90 near Back Bay.
Oak Grove station is a Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) intermodal transit station in the northern section of Malden, Massachusetts, just south of the Melrose border. It is the northern terminus of the rapid transit Orange Line and a stop on the Haverhill Line commuter rail service. The accessible station has a 788-space park and ride lot and is served by three MBTA bus routes.
Forest Hills station is an intermodal transfer station in Boston, Massachusetts. It serves the MBTA rapid transit Orange Line and three MBTA Commuter Rail lines and is a major terminus for MBTA bus routes. It is located in Forest Hills, in the southern part of the Jamaica Plain neighborhood. Most Providence/Stoughton Line and Franklin/Foxboro Line trains, and all Amtrak Northeast Corridor trains, pass through the station without stopping. Forest Hills station is fully accessible on all modes.
Ruggles station is an intermodal transfer station in Boston, Massachusetts. It serves Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) rapid transit, bus, and commuter rail services and is located at the intersection of Ruggles and Tremont streets, where the Roxbury, Fenway–Kenmore, and Mission Hill neighborhoods meet. It is surrounded by the campus of Northeastern University. Ruggles is a station stop for the Orange Line subway, as well as the Providence/Stoughton Line, Franklin/Foxboro Line, and Needham Line of the MBTA Commuter Rail system. Thirteen MBTA bus routes stop at Ruggles.
Key bus routes of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) system are 15 routes that have high ridership and higher frequency standards than other bus lines, according to the 2004 MBTA Service Policy. Together, they account for roughly 40% of the MBTA's total bus ridership. These key bus routes ensure basic geographic coverage with frequent service in the densest areas of Boston, and connect to other MBTA services to give access to other areas throughout the region.
The E branch is a light rail line in Boston, Cambridge, Medford, and Somerville, Massachusetts, operating as part of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Green Line. The line runs in mixed traffic on South Huntington Avenue and Huntington Avenue between Heath Street and Brigham Circle, in the median of Huntington Avenue to Northeastern University, then into the Huntington Avenue subway. The line merges into the Boylston Street subway just west of Copley, running to North Station via the Tremont Street subway. It then follows the Lechmere Viaduct to Lechmere, then the Medford Branch to Medford/Tufts. As of February 2023, service operates on eight-minute headways at weekday peak hours and eight to nine-minute headways at other times, using 13 to 17 trains.
Sullivan Square station is a rapid transit station on the MBTA subway Orange Line, located adjacent to Sullivan Square in the Charlestown neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It is a major transfer point for MBTA bus service, with 12 routes using a two-level busway. The station has two island platforms serving the two active Orange Line tracks plus an unused third track. The Haverhill Line and Newburyport/Rockport Line pass through the station on separate tracks but do not stop.
The Fairmount Line or Dorchester Branch is a line of the MBTA Commuter Rail system in Boston, Massachusetts, USA. Except for a short portion in Milton, it lies entirely within Boston, running southwest from South Station through the neighborhoods of Dorchester, Mattapan and Hyde Park. Weekend service began on November 29, 2014. Most trains reverse direction at the south end at Readville, but some Franklin/Foxboro Line trains use the Fairmount Line rather than the Northeast Corridor.
The Washington Street Elevated was an elevated segment of Boston's Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority subway system, comprising the southern stretch of the Orange Line. It ran from Chinatown through the South End and Roxbury, ending in Forest Hills in Jamaica Plain, Boston.
Green Street station is a rapid transit station in Boston, Massachusetts. It serves the MBTA's Orange Line and is located in the southern part of the Jamaica Plain neighborhood. Green Street is the least-used station on the Orange Line, averaging 3,055 weekday boardings in FY 2019. Like all Orange Line stations, it is fully accessible.
Roxbury Crossing station is a rapid transit station in Boston, Massachusetts. It serves the MBTA Orange Line, and is located on Tremont Street in the Mission Hill neighborhood. The current station opened in 1987 as part of the renovation and relocation of the southern Orange Line. Like all stations on the Orange Line, Roxbury Crossing is accessible.
Massachusetts Avenue station is a rapid transit station in the South End and Symphony neighborhoods of Boston, Massachusetts. It serves the MBTA Orange Line, and is located at 380 Massachusetts Avenue. The station opened in 1987 as part of the renovation and relocation of the southern Orange Line into the Southwest Corridor. The Orange line runs parallel to the Northeast Corridor, which carries Amtrak trains and several MBTA commuter rail lines.
Hyde Park station is an MBTA Commuter Rail station in Boston, Massachusetts. It primarily serves the Providence/Stoughton Line, and also serves some weekday outbound Franklin/Foxboro Line trains. It is located on the Northeast Corridor in the Hyde Park neighborhood.
Readville station is a Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) commuter rail station located in the Readville section of the Hyde Park neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It is served by the MBTA Commuter Rail Fairmount, Franklin/Foxboro, and Providence/Stoughton Lines. Readville is the outer terminus for most Fairmount service, though some trips continue as Franklin/Foxboro Line trains. The station is located at a multi-level junction, with the Attleboro Line tracks at ground level and the Dorchester Branch above. Franklin/Foxboro Line trains that run on the Northeast Corridor use a connecting track with a separate platform. An MBTA maintenance and storage yard and a CSX Transportation freight yard are located near the station.
Stony Brook station is a rapid transit station in Boston, Massachusetts. It serves the MBTA Orange Line and is located below grade at Boylston Street in the Jamaica Plain neighborhood. The station opened on May 4, 1987, as part of the Southwest Corridor project, replacing an earlier station that was open from 1897 to 1940.
Mount Hope station was a railroad station on the Northeast Corridor in Roslindale, Boston, Massachusetts. The station consisted of two separate depots on opposite sides of the tracks. The brick outbound depot was located just north of the Blakemore Street bridge, while the wooden inbound depot was located south of the overpass.
Egleston was a rapid transit station in Boston, Massachusetts. It served the Washington Street Elevated, part of the MBTA's Orange Line. It was located over Egleston Square at the intersection of Washington Street and Columbus Avenue in the Roxbury neighborhood. The station opened in November 1909, and was closed in April 1987 when the Orange Line was rerouted to the west along the Southwest Corridor.
The history of rail in Dedham, Massachusetts begins with the introduction of the first rail line in 1836 and runs to the present day. Multiple railroads have serviced Dedham since then, and current service is provided by the MBTA. The station in Dedham Square built in 1881 out of Dedham Granite was demolished in 1951 and the stones were used to put an addition on the Town's library. There are two active stations today, and multiple others in close proximity.
North Station is an underground MBTA subway station in downtown Boston, Massachusetts. Served by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Green Line and Orange Line, it is connected to the surface terminal of the same name used by MBTA Commuter Rail and Amtrak. The station is fully accessible.
Media related to Jackson Square station at Wikimedia Commons