Nubian station

Nubian
Nubian
	Dudley Square station (now Nubian) in 2011
General information
Location	Washington Street at Dudley Street ; Roxbury, Boston, Massachusetts
Coordinates	42°19′45″N71°05′03″W / 42.3292°N 71.0842°W
Connections	MBTA bus: 1, 8, 14, 15, 19, 23, 29, 41, 42, 44, 45, 47, 66, 171
Construction
Bicycle facilities	"Pedal and Park" bicycle cage
Accessible	Yes
History
Opened	June 10, 1901 (Washington Street Elevated); July 20, 2002 (Silver Line)
Closed	April 30, 1987 (Washington Street Elevated)
Passengers
2013 daily	3,128(Silver Line weekday boardings)

Last updated April 07, 2024

Preceding station	MBTA			Following station
Terminus		Silver Line SL4		Melnea Cass Boulevard toward South Station
Terminus		Silver Line SL5		Melnea Cass Boulevard toward Downtown Crossing

Former services

Preceding station	MBTA			Following station
Egleston toward Forest Hills		Orange Line Closed 1987		Northampton toward Oak Grove

Location

Nubian station (variously known by its former name Dudley Square, Dudley, or Dudley Street Terminal) is a ground-level Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) bus station located in Nubian Square (formerly Dudley Square) in the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is a transfer point between MBTA bus routes, including two Silver Line bus rapid transit lines and 14 local routes. Like all MBTA bus stops, Nubian is fully accessible.

The original Dudley Square station opened in 1901 as a BERy Main Line Elevated station. The last segment of the original Main Line Elevated, the Washington Street Elevated (including Dudley station), closed in 1987; six years later, Dudley was converted into its modern configuration. Silver Line service began in 2002. The station was renamed Nubian in June 2020, following the 2019 renaming of the square.

Nubian is a contributing property in the Dudley Station Historic District, which was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 1985.

History

Original station

The Boston Elevated Railway opened its Main Line Elevated on June 10, 1901.^[1] The line ran from Sullivan Square on the Charlestown Elevated, through the Tremont Street subway, and on the Washington Street Elevated to a southern terminal located at Dudley Square. Along with the rest of the Washington Street Elevated, Dudley Street Terminal was designed by Alexander Wadsworth Longfellow Jr. It featured a Beaux Arts-style waiting area, clad in copper with an internal arched structure.^[4]

Like many BERy stations, Dudley Street Terminal was designed for efficient transfers between streetcars and subway trains. Many streetcar routes that had operated to downtown (some into the Tremont Street subway) were curtailed to Dudley, where two elevated loops offered cross-platform transfers to Main Line trains, using platforms on both sides of the northbound track. Other streetcars – largely on crosstown routes that did not terminate at Dudley – stopped at street-level platforms underneath the elevated station. On December 2, 1905, the Old Colony Street Railway began operating through service between Dudley and Quincy.^[5]

Modifications and decline

The Washington Street Elevated was extended south to Forest Hills on November 22, 1909.^[1] The loop allowing trains to return downtown from Dudley was kept (as some trains were short-turned at Dudley), and a new southbound platform was added. In 1910, the elevated streetcar loops were expanded and roofed to handle larger-than-expected crowds. Dudley quickly became overcrowded; in 1917, a streetcar transfer area was built at Egleston to the south and some streetcar routes diverted there.^[6]

As streetcar routes were bustituted during the 1940s and 1950s, the streetcar platforms were modified for use by buses and trackless trolleys. The east loop was completely rebuilt over a six-month period for trolleybus operations, reopening on December 25, 1948.^[6] The Main Line Elevated was renamed the Orange Line in 1967.^[1]

From 1979 to 1987, the Southwest Corridor was rebuilt, with 2 Orange Line and 3 commuter rail tracks in a trench replacing a 4-track embankment. Trains last ran on the Elevated on April 30, 1987, and the relocated Orange Line opened on May 4, 1987.^[1]

Modern reuse

Even without the Elevated, Dudley Square remained a major bus transfer location. After several years, the former Elevated station was converted into a new bus station. The 784,000-pound (356,000 kg) station building was lowered 12 feet (3.7 m) to the ground and rolled 180 feet (55 m) to the south. The original station building covers north–south oriented bus platforms A, B, and C; new shelters in a similar style were built for east–west platforms D, E, and F. When completed in late 1993, the new Dudley Square bus station served over 10,000 daily passengers, with over 100 buses per hour stopping at peak times.^[4]

When the Washington Street Elevated was removed, the MBTA originally promised to run light rail service over its former route. After 15 years of debate and changing plans, the Washington Street section of the Silver Line bus rapid transit system opened on July 20, 2002. It ran between Dudley and Downtown Crossing, replacing the 49 bus (albeit with increased frequency and other rapid-transit-like features).^[1] On October 13, 2009, this service was re-designated the SL5; a new SL4 service was added between Dudley and South Station, sharing most of the route of the SL4.^[1]

With the December 2019 renaming of Dudley Square to Nubian Square, community leaders stated they would seek to have the station renamed.^[7] In February 2020, the MBTA agreed to rename the station to Nubian Square.^[8]^[9] The renaming took effect in June 2020.^[1]

Future plans

Dudley Square was a proposed stop on the Urban Ring – a circumferential bus rapid transit (BRT) line designed to connect the existing radial MBTA rail lines to reduce overcrowding in the downtown stations.^[10] Under draft plans released in 2008, a spur of the Urban Ring would have run on Washington Street from Melnea Cass Boulevard, using the existing Silver Line platforms at Dudley.^[11] The project was cancelled in 2010.^[12]

The closing of the Washington Street Elevated in 1987, which also closed the Dudley Square elevated station, prompted a 2012 review; the Roxbury-Dorchester-Mattapan Transit Needs Study, recommended for some form of proposed replacement rail service to access southern Metro Boston neighborhoods—one option being studied within this review would re-use the Tremont Street subway's now-unused southern Pleasant Street tunnel coming from the Green Line's Boylston station to eventually run a light rail line to, and likely beyond Nubian Square to the south. The new light rail service proposed in the 2012 review, to replace the rapid transit access the Elevated previously provided, could go from Nubian Square as far south as the Red Line's Mattapan station, with a northern turnaround terminus at Government Center.^[13]

The MBTA plans to reconfigure the platforms and reverse the direction of buses through the station.^[14]

Related Research Articles

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 Silver Line is a system of bus routes in Boston and Chelsea, Massachusetts, operated by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA). It is operated as part of the MBTA bus system, but branded as bus rapid transit (BRT) as part of the MBTA subway system. Six routes are operated as part of two disconnected corridors. As of 2019, weekday ridership on the Silver Line was 39,000.

The Ashmont–Mattapan High-Speed Line, commonly referred to as the Mattapan Trolley, is a partially grade-separated light rail line which forms part of the MBTA's Red Line rapid transit line. The line, which runs through Boston and Milton, Massachusetts, opened on August 26, 1929, as a conversion of a former commuter rail line. It exclusively uses PCC streetcars built in the 1940s. Passengers must transfer at Ashmont to access the rest of the Red Line, which uses heavy rail metro rolling stock.

Haymarket station is an underground Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) rapid transit station located at Haymarket Square in Boston, Massachusetts. It is a transfer station between the Green Line and Orange Line of the MBTA subway system, as well as a terminal for MBTA bus routes serving northern and northeastern suburbs. The two lines run parallel to each other through the station, with two side platforms for the Orange Line and a single island platform for the Green Line. The station is fully accessible.

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) operates 152 bus routes in the Greater Boston area. The MBTA has a policy objective to provide transit service within walking distance for all residents living in areas with population densities greater than 5,000 inhabitants per square mile (1,900/km²) within the MBTA's service district. Much of this service is provided by bus. In 2023, the system had a ridership of 91,459,700, or about 303,300 per weekday as of the fourth quarter of 2023.

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.

Lechmere station is a Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Green Line light rail station in Lechmere Square in East Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is located on the east side of Monsignor O'Brien Highway near First Street, adjacent to the NorthPoint development. The accessible elevated station has a single island platform, with headhouses at both ends. It opened on March 21, 2022, as part of the Green Line Extension (GLX). Lechmere station is served by Green Line D branch and E branch service.

The Pleasant Street incline or Pleasant Street portal was the southern access point for the Tremont Street subway in Boston, Massachusetts, which became part of the Green Line after the incline was closed. The portal and the section of tunnel connecting it to Boylston served streetcars from 1897 to 1901, Main Line Elevated trains from 1901 to 1908, and streetcars again from 1908 to 1962. The Pleasant Street incline is now abandoned, but plans have been floated at various times to reuse it.

Route 43 is a local bus route in Boston, Massachusetts, operated by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) as part of MBTA bus service. The route runs southwest from downtown Boston along Tremont Street, ending at the Ruggles bus terminal and Orange Line transfer point. It is notable as the last streetcar service to use the since-covered-over Pleasant Street incline before its bustitution; until the new Southwest Corridor relocation of the southern Orange Line opened in May 1987, the route continued down Tremont Street and Columbus Avenue to Egleston.

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.

As with many large cities, a large number of Boston-area streetcar lines once existed, and many continued operating into the 1950s. However, only a few now remain, namely the four branches of the Green Line and the Ashmont–Mattapan High-Speed Line, with only one running regular service on an undivided street.

Ashmont station is a Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) intermodal transit station located at Peabody Square in the Dorchester neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It is the southern terminus of the Ashmont branch of the rapid transit Red Line, the northern terminus of the connecting light rail Ashmont–Mattapan High-Speed Line, and a major terminal for MBTA bus service. Ashmont has two side platforms serving the below-grade Red Line and a single side platform on an elevated balloon loop for the Mattapan Line. The station is fully accessible for all modes.

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.

The Tremont Street subway in Boston's MBTA subway system is the oldest subway tunnel in North America and the third-oldest still in use worldwide to exclusively use electric traction, opening on September 1, 1897. It was originally built, under the supervision of Howard A. Carson as chief engineer, to get streetcar lines off the traffic-clogged streets, instead of as a true rapid transit line. It now forms the central part of the Green Line, connecting Boylston Street to Park Street and Government Center stations.

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.

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) operates rapid transit, light rail, and bus rapid transit services in the Boston metropolitan area, collectively referred to as the rapid transit, subway, or the T system.

Nubian Square is the primary commercial center of the Roxbury neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts, located at the intersection of Dudley Street and Washington Street. It has long been the center of African American culture in Boston, prior to which the area was primarily Jewish.

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.

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.

References

1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Belcher, Jonathan. "Changes to Transit Service in the MBTA district" (PDF). Boston Street Railway Association.
↑ "Ridership and Service Statistics" (PDF) (14th ed.). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. 2014.
↑ Ross, Casey (3 March 2012). "Dudley done right: City starts work on major rehab of a long-struggling Boston square". Boston Globe. Retrieved 23 October 2014.
1 2 Hopkinson, Peter; Parkinson, Kenneth (August 1995). "Intermodalism brings new life to old rail stations". The American City & Country. 110 (9): 20. ProQuest 195931293.
↑ "Quincy". Boston Globe. November 25, 1905. p. 9 – via Newspapers.com.
1 2 Cheney, Frank; Sammarco, Anthony M. (2000). When Boston Rode The El. Arcadia Publishing. pp. 109–118. ISBN 9780738504629.
↑ Cotter, Sean Philip (December 19, 2019). "Roxbury's Dudley Square renamed Nubian Square". Boston Herald . Retrieved December 19, 2019.
↑ Menard, Fausto (February 16, 2020). "Roxbury's Dudley Station To Be Renamed Nubian Station". WBUR . Retrieved February 16, 2020.
↑ Erb, Jordan (February 15, 2020). "Dudley Station to be renamed Nubian Station" . The Boston Globe . Retrieved February 16, 2020.
↑ "Urban Ring Phase 2 Fact Sheet" (PDF). January 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011.
↑ "The Urban Ring Phase 2: Revised Draft Environmental Impact Report/Statement" (PDF). Massachusetts Executive Office of Transportation. November 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 14, 2017.
↑ Mullan, Jeffery B. (January 22, 2010). "Re: Urban Ring Phase 2, EOEEA #12565" (PDF). Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs.
↑ "Roxbury-Dorchester-Mattapan Transit Needs Study" (PDF). Massachusetts Department of Transportation. September 2012. p. 53. Retrieved 7 May 2013.
↑ "Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority FY23-27 Capital Investment Plan (CIP): Proposed" (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. March 2022. p. 79.

External links

This page is based on this Wikipedia article
Text is available under the CC BY-SA 4.0 license; additional terms may apply.
Images, videos and audio are available under their respective licenses.

[netransit-1] 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 Belcher, Jonathan. "Changes to Transit Service in the MBTA district" (PDF). Boston Street Railway Association.

[bluebook-2] "Ridership and Service Statistics" (PDF) (14th ed.). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. 2014.

[3] Ross, Casey (3 March 2012). "Dudley done right: City starts work on major rehab of a long-struggling Boston square". Boston Globe. Retrieved 23 October 2014.

[intermodalism-4] 1 2 Hopkinson, Peter; Parkinson, Kenneth (August 1995). "Intermodalism brings new life to old rail stations". The American City & Country. 110 (9): 20. ProQuest 195931293.

[5] "Quincy". Boston Globe. November 25, 1905. p. 9 – via Newspapers.com.

[orangelinebook-6] 1 2 Cheney, Frank; Sammarco, Anthony M. (2000). When Boston Rode The El. Arcadia Publishing. pp. 109–118. ISBN 9780738504629.

[BH119-7] Cotter, Sean Philip (December 19, 2019). "Roxbury's Dudley Square renamed Nubian Square". Boston Herald . Retrieved December 19, 2019.

[8] Menard, Fausto (February 16, 2020). "Roxbury's Dudley Station To Be Renamed Nubian Station". WBUR . Retrieved February 16, 2020.

[9] Erb, Jordan (February 15, 2020). "Dudley Station to be renamed Nubian Station" . The Boston Globe . Retrieved February 16, 2020.

[10] "Urban Ring Phase 2 Fact Sheet" (PDF). January 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on July 8, 2011.

[11] "The Urban Ring Phase 2: Revised Draft Environmental Impact Report/Statement" (PDF). Massachusetts Executive Office of Transportation. November 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 14, 2017.

[12] Mullan, Jeffery B. (January 22, 2010). "Re: Urban Ring Phase 2, EOEEA #12565" (PDF). Massachusetts Executive Office of Energy and Environmental Affairs.

[13] "Roxbury-Dorchester-Mattapan Transit Needs Study" (PDF). Massachusetts Department of Transportation. September 2012. p. 53. Retrieved 7 May 2013.

[14] "Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority FY23-27 Capital Investment Plan (CIP): Proposed" (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. March 2022. p. 79.

[1]

[2]

[4]

[5]

[6]

[7]

[8]

[9]

[10]

[11]

[12]

[13]

[14]