Government

Help the MBTA Set its Service Priorities by Taking an Online Survey

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The MBTA is looking for input from residents to set priorities for its service, and you can participate by filling out the online survey. MBTA service for Watertown residents, primarily the buses, have been much criticized – particularly this past winter. Services include the bus routes along the town’s main corridors – the 70, 71 and 73 buses – and buses to Boston from the Watertown Yard (including the 57 and the express buses). Efforts have been started by citizens groups, such as the Watertown Public Transit Task Force, to push for better bus service in town. Then-MBTA General Manager Beverly Scott came to Watertown to listen to resident’s concerns, but she left the T after the service issues over the winter.

Around Town

Find Out How the 2015 Boston Marathon Could Impact Your Day

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Get ready for the 2015 Boston Marathon! Even if you are not running or watching in person, your driving or public transportation plans may be impacted. The following streets in Newton will be closed due from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m. Monday to the 119th running of the Boston Marathon, according to Newton Police:

Commonwealth Avenue from the Boston line to Washington Street
Washington Street from Commonwealth Avenue to Beacon Street
Washington Street from Beacon Street to the Wellesley line
College Road between Commonwealth Avenue and Hammond

In addition, Homer Street between Commonwealth Avenue and Walnut Street, Walnut Street between Commonwealth Avenue and Homer Street, Cummings Road and North Street will be a Police Security Zone and will be open to abutters only from 8 a.m. to 6 p.m., the Newton Police said. Many streets in Boston will be closed during the race, including Commonwealth Avenue, Beacon Street and Chestnut Hill Avenue in Brighton which will close at 8:30 a.m. For full details of street closings and parking restrictions click here. Most of the T system will run on a regular weekday schedule, but some MBTA routes will be impacted – mostly during the time of the Marathon.

Government

Council Asks for Transportation Improvements from Group Studying MTBA

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With changes at the MBTA, and this winter’s transportation woes, the Watertown Town Council will send a letter to the committee set up by Gov. Charlie Baker to examine the MBTA. Last year, Watertown invited MBTA General Manager Beverly Scott to town and showed her the town’s transportation challenges and areas of heavy development that will need transit. The town council followed up with a letter to make sure Watertown’s needs are still in the minds of MBTA officials. The MBTA has shared its ideas for improving the 70 bus route along Main and Arsenal streets, but improvements are also sought for the 71 and 73 routes to Harvard Square. Scott, however, resigned after the challenges the MBTA had during the heavy snows this winter.

Around Town

MBTA Severely Cuts Service Monday Night & Tuesday

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The MBTA announced Monday that public transportation in and around Boston will be suspended starting Monday night and continue through Tuesday.All trolley, subway and commuter rail service will stop at 7 p.m. Monday so that snow and ice can be removed from tracks, reported Boston.com. Bus service available, but routes operating on narrow streets and hills may be operating on “snow routes.” Check the MBTA site for more information and updates – http://www.mbta.com/winter/

Government

Town Council Will Prod MBTA About Transportation Improvements

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The Town Council wants to make sure that the MBTA has not forgotten about the transportation problems and needs in Watertown. 

In May, transportation advocates and elected officials invited MBTA General Manager Beverly Scott to town. She came to tour the town and speak with residents about the problems with the 71 and 73 buses, as well as other services – such as the 70 and 57 buses. (Read about her visit here). She talked about ways to make improvements in the short and long term. Along with improvements to the heavily used routes to Harvard Square – the 71 and 73 buses – a group of elected officials, business owners and advocate groups requested a study of improvements to the 70/70A line that operates along Arsenal Street – an area expected to have multiple new large development projects.

Letters

LETTER: Resident Writes Watertown Needs New Public Transit

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Watertown was dealt a blow with the approval of the referendum to prevent the gas tax from changing with the consumer price index. We in Watertown will suffer as a result because public transit will suffer: the MBTA won’t have a reliable source of funding even to keep pace with inflation, just at the moment when we all need better T service more than ever. But we can do things as a community that will actually improve our transportation future. In Watertown, we experience daily that the MBTA is overstretched and underfunded, that traffic congestion is overwhelming, and infrastructure is outdated. Service on the T’s Watertown bus lines was never stellar, but it has deteriorated.

Transportation

MBTA Exploring Using the Watertown Yard to Help Add More Buses

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The MBTA will not be able to add more buses to crowded routes or add new routes until they add more buses – but before that can happen the buses need a place to be stored and serviced. During a meeting to discuss transportation on the Arsenal Street corridor last week, MBTA officials said the need places to store and service 80 buses to meet existing needs. The Watertown Yard, on Galen Street near Watertown Square, could be part of the solution. The facility used to be a center to service trolley cars when the Green Line’s A Line ended in Watertown. Now the area is only used as a bus stop and turn around at the end of routes such as the 57, and express buses to Boston.

Government

Study of 70 Bus Sought in Effort to Improve Transportation on Arsenal St.

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A study of what can be done to speed up buses on the 70 and 70A bus routes has been requested by a group interested in improving public transportation on the Arsenal Street Corridor and beyond. A the transportation summit held Wednesday, elected officials, town officials, developers and members of groups interested in transit in the area met with MBTA officials. The group brainstormed ways to improve the service, which even T officials agreed can be slow and crowded. The area is one of the hottest areas of development in the Boston area. Developers of more than one project on the street have promised to contribute to a shuttle system to serve the area, but all agreed the MBTA service must be improved too.