Don't Change More Road Either

Boston College neighbors: keep More Road as is
By Richard Cherecwich/Staff Writer
Thu Jan 17, 2008, 02:11 PM EST

Brighton - Neighbors are opposed to Boston College’s plan to reroute St. Thomas More Road to the east, saying it would limit the ability to commute from Brookline.
However, many supported a plan to keep the existing More Road while creating a new offshoot adjacent to Evergreen Cemetery.

“Basically, the current More Road should stay in place to allow people who drive on Beacon Street to go to Washington Street. That’s how my husband commutes,” said Eva Webster.
More Road currently accommodates north- and south-bound traffic from Beacon Street and crosses Commonwealth Avenue onto Lake Street, a one-way road running north to Washington Street. BC’s 10-year institutional master plan proposes moving More Road to the eastern edge of the campus and closing the connection to Lake Street. The realigned road would cross Comm. Ave. into the new main entrance of BC’s Brighton campus.

Planners want the Commonwealth Avenue entrance to be the primary access point for the campus. As it currently exists, access to the campus is only available via a right turn in/right turn out from the outbound side of Commonwealth Avenue. The new plan would also feature a break in the center median on Commonwealth Avenue, allowing cars to cross the MBTA Green Line tracks.

The notification form filed with the Boston Redevelopment Authority said the school will examine alternatives to this plan, including only opening the median to cross the train tracks or keeping the existing More Road open. At a Task Force meeting on Wednesday night, the community supported the alternatives.

Resident Charlie Vasiliades said he had no problem with the other options, but didn’t want to close the existing More Road segment.

“I’m dead set against it,” he said.

Planners from VHB Inc., the transportation consultants for BC’s master plan, said extensive traffic studies will look at all the options, and more information will come after the BRA request more information in its scoping determination.

“At this point in time, we’re not saying we have it all worked out and we have all the answers. We don’t,” said David Black, senior project manager for VHB.

Moving the BC MBTA station
The 10-year plan also includes the MBTA’s proposed plan to move the Boston College station from its current location north of Commonwealth Avenue to a platform in the center of the road as part of the T’s overall initiative to make stations more handicapped accessible. The existing station cannot be updated, according to BC.

To create the center platform, BC will contribute 11 feet of land on both sides of Commonwealth Avenue to maintain two lanes of traffic in each direction and existing parking. The college has also committed to paying some of the cost. Passengers would exit and enter the train on the same platform, and the trolleys would use a switch to change directions from inbound to outbound.

One former T official said the idea would never fly.

“The crossing trains back and forth wouldn’t work at all,” said Bill Donovan, a former operations coordinator for construction for the MBTA and a Rogers Park Avenue resident. “The BC line is now the slowest in the system. I just can’t see it happening.”

MBTA officials have not appeared before the community to discuss the plans.

“I don’t think any of this has been thought out, and I wouldn’t even talk about MBTA stations there until the MBTA comes with a plan,” Donovan said.