Alewife (MBTA station)
Encyclopedia
Alewife, located at the intersection of Alewife Brook Parkway
and Cambridgepark West in Cambridge, Massachusetts
, is a local intermodal
transportation hub. It is the northern terminus of the MBTA
's Red Line
, and a bus terminal for several local routes and one intercity route. It opened in 1985.
The station is named after Alewife Brook, a nearby tributary of the Mystic River
. The alewife
is a species of fish which inhabits the Mystic River system.
The station is unusual among MBTA stations for using Eurostile
as a typeface for signage instead of Helvetica
.
Its facilities include:
within the Route 128 corridor in the 1970s. MA Route 2 was designed with eight lanes to carry large volumes of radial traffic, east from Alewife Brook Parkway
, through Cambridge and Somerville to the Inner Belt at the border of eastern Somerville and eastern Cambridge. When the Inner Belt was canceled, Route 2 became an overbuilt highway that terminated at what was little more than major city streets. When the westward extension of the Red Line
was being designed, building a station near the end of Route 2 with a large parking garage seemed like a way to capitalize on the original Route 2 investment.
There was little near the site of the Alewife station besides a largely abandoned industrial park, a chemical factory and a protected wetlands. Following principles that came to be known as transit-oriented development
, the City of Cambridge zoned the area immediately near the station for high rise buildings. Over the next 20 years, a mini-city developed with office and research and development
buildings, along with high rise housing.
A state law required planning the Red Line Extension so it could later be brought out to Route 128 to Bedford, via Arlington and Lexington, along the route of the former Lexington and West Cambridge Railroad
. The Red line tracks extend past the station, under Route 2, and terminate in a small underground storage yard.
When the adjacent chemical plant eventually closed and was replaced by an office and hotel development, the rail spur to the plant (along a short remaining portion of the Fitchburg Cutoff) was no longer needed and its underpass was converted to an access ramp from the station to Route 2.
used to board the trains. Cards can be obtained from the MBTA customer service agents at Alewife station, or at the MBTA customer service center at Downtown Crossing
station. Though the cages are covered, enclosed with security fences, and watched by security cameras, the MBTA
advises riders to lock their bikes.
As of April 2008, the MBTA has said that they do not have funds to add two levels to the parking garage to add capacity, which would cost $30 million to $35 million and add about 1300 spaces. The structure was originally designed to have two more levels, but whether the condition of the structure and building codes would allow that today is not clear.
program. Arts on the Line was devised to bring art into the MBTA's subway stations in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It was the first program of its kind in the United States and became the model for similar drives for art across the country.
Six of the original twenty artworks are located at Alewife station. These works are:
Alewife Brook Parkway
Alewife Brook Parkway is a short parkway in Cambridge and Somerville, Massachusetts. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It begins at Fresh Pond in Cambridge , and heads north on the east bank of Alewife Brook, crossing into West Somerville and ending at the Mystic River on...
and Cambridgepark West in Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge, Massachusetts
Cambridge is a city in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, in the Greater Boston area. It was named in honor of the University of Cambridge in England, an important center of the Puritan theology embraced by the town's founders. Cambridge is home to two of the world's most prominent...
, is a local intermodal
Intermodal passenger transport
Intermodal passenger transport involves more than one mode of transport of passengers. Some modes of transportation have always been intermodal; for example, most major airports have extensive facilities for automobile parking and have good rail or bus connections to the cities nearby. Urban bus...
transportation hub. It is the northern terminus of the MBTA
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, often referred to as the MBTA or simply The T, is the public operator of most bus, subway, commuter rail and ferry systems in the greater Boston, Massachusetts, area. Officially a "body politic and corporate, and a political subdivision" of the...
's Red Line
Red Line (MBTA)
The Red Line is a rapid transit line operated by the MBTA running roughly north-south through Boston, Massachusetts into neighboring communities. The line begins west of Boston, in Cambridge, Massachusetts at Alewife station, near the intersection of Alewife Brook Parkway and Route 2...
, and a bus terminal for several local routes and one intercity route. It opened in 1985.
The station is named after Alewife Brook, a nearby tributary of the Mystic River
Mystic River
The Mystic River is a river in Massachusetts, in the United States. Its name derives from the Wampanoag word "muhs-uhtuq", which translates to "big river." In an Algonquian language, "Missi-Tuk" means "a great river whose waters are driven by waves", alluding to the natural tidal nature of the...
. The alewife
Alewife
The alewife is a species of herring. There are anadromous and landlocked forms. The landlocked form is also called a sawbelly or mooneye...
is a species of fish which inhabits the Mystic River system.
The station is unusual among MBTA stations for using Eurostile
Eurostile
The Eurostile type font style is a geometric sans-serif typeface designed by Aldo Novarese in 1962. Novarese originally made Eurostile for one of the best-known Italian foundries, Nebiolo, in Turin....
as a typeface for signage instead of Helvetica
Helvetica
Helvetica is a widely used sans-serif typeface developed in 1957 by Swiss typeface designer Max Miedinger with Eduard Hoffmann.-Visual distinctive characteristics:Characteristics of this typeface are:lower case:square dot over the letter i....
.
Its facilities include:
- A 2733-space multi-level "park and ridePark and ridePark and ride facilities are car parks with connections to public transport that allow commuters and other people wishing to travel into city centres to leave their vehicles and transfer to a bus, rail system , or carpool for the rest of their trip...
" garage, with a direct connection to Route 2 - Bicycle parking for approximately 500 bicycles. Two gated bike parking cages were added in 2008. Access is controlled by special Bike CharlieCardCharlieCardThe CharlieCard is a MIFARE-based, contactless, stored value smart card used for electronic ticketing as part of the Automated Fare Collection system installed by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority at its stations and on its vehicles...
s - a ZipcarZipcarZipcar is an American membership-based car sharing company providing automobile reservations to its members, billable by the hour or day. Zipcar was founded in 2000 by Cambridge, Massachusetts residents Antje Danielson and Robin Chase, and is now led by Scott Griffith, Chairman and Chief Executive...
location in the employee parking area - Connections to the Minuteman Bikeway, the Cambridge Linear ParkCambridge Linear ParkThe Linear Park is a mixed-use path, about one mile long, running through Cambridge and Somerville , and connecting the Minuteman Bikeway and the Fitchburg Cutoff Path near Alewife with the Somerville Community Path at Davis Square. The path is used for bicycling, walking, jogging, and inline...
and the Fitchburg Cutoff PathFitchburg Cutoff PathThe Fitchburg Cutoff Path is a short, unpaved multi-use rail trail located in suburban Boston, Massachusetts.The 0.8 mile path runs from Brighton Street in Belmont, Massachusetts to the Alewife station at the northern end of the MBTA Red Line in Cambridge... - Pedestrian access to East ArlingtonArlington, MassachusettsArlington is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, six miles northwest of Boston. The population was 42,844 at the 2010 census.-History:...
, via the Minuteman Bikeway and Thorndike Street in Arlington - A retail area with food and services
- Several works of public artPublic artThe term public art properly refers to works of art in any media that have been planned and executed with the specific intention of being sited or staged in the physical public domain, usually outside and accessible to all...
commissioned for the station, including carved benches in the passenger pickup area.
Terminating bus routes
- 62 Bedford V.A. HospitalVeterans Health AdministrationThe Veterans Health Administration is the component of the United States Department of Veterans Affairs led by the Under Secretary of Veterans Affairs for Health that implements the medical assistance program of the VA through the administration and operation of numerous VA outpatient clinics,...
via LexingtonLexington, MassachusettsLexington is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 31,399 at the 2010 census. This town is famous for being the site of the first shot of the American Revolution, in the Battle of Lexington on April 19, 1775.- History :...
Center and Arlington Heights - 67 Turkey Hill via ArlingtonArlington, MassachusettsArlington is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, six miles northwest of Boston. The population was 42,844 at the 2010 census.-History:...
Center - 76 HanscomHanscom FieldHanscom Field , also known by its full name Laurence G. Hanscom Field, is a public airport located in Bedford, in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. It is operated by the Massachusetts Port Authority....
/Lincoln Lab via LexingtonLexington, MassachusettsLexington is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 31,399 at the 2010 census. This town is famous for being the site of the first shot of the American Revolution, in the Battle of Lexington on April 19, 1775.- History :...
Center - 79 Arlington Heights
- 83 Central Square CambridgeCentral Square (Cambridge)Central Square is an area in Cambridge, Massachusetts centered on the junction of Massachusetts Avenue, Prospect Street and Western Avenue. , formed by the junction of Massachusetts Avenue, Columbia Street, Sidney Street and Main Street, is also considered a part of the Central Square area...
via Inman SquareInman SquareInman Square is a neighborhood in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It lies north of Central Square, at the junction of Cambridge, Hampshire, and Inman Streets near the Cambridge–Somerville border.-Location:...
(terminates nearby at Russell Field) - 84 Arlmont VillageArlington, MassachusettsArlington is a town in Middlesex County, Massachusetts, United States, six miles northwest of Boston. The population was 42,844 at the 2010 census.-History:...
- 350 North Burlington
- 351 Oak Park/Bedford Woods
- The Route 128 Business Council provides daily shuttle bus services from Alewife traveling to many companies along the Route 2 and Route 128 corridor.
- As of October 2010, World Wide Bus began providing intercity bus service between Alewife Station, Riverside Station (the terminus of the Green Line's "D" Branch), and New York City
History
Boston transportation planners expected to build an Inner BeltInterstate 695 (Massachusetts)
The Inner Belt in Boston was a planned six-lane, limited-access highway that would have run through parts of Boston, Brookline, Cambridge, and Somerville.-History:...
within the Route 128 corridor in the 1970s. MA Route 2 was designed with eight lanes to carry large volumes of radial traffic, east from Alewife Brook Parkway
Alewife Brook Parkway
Alewife Brook Parkway is a short parkway in Cambridge and Somerville, Massachusetts. It is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. It begins at Fresh Pond in Cambridge , and heads north on the east bank of Alewife Brook, crossing into West Somerville and ending at the Mystic River on...
, through Cambridge and Somerville to the Inner Belt at the border of eastern Somerville and eastern Cambridge. When the Inner Belt was canceled, Route 2 became an overbuilt highway that terminated at what was little more than major city streets. When the westward extension of the Red Line
Red Line (MBTA)
The Red Line is a rapid transit line operated by the MBTA running roughly north-south through Boston, Massachusetts into neighboring communities. The line begins west of Boston, in Cambridge, Massachusetts at Alewife station, near the intersection of Alewife Brook Parkway and Route 2...
was being designed, building a station near the end of Route 2 with a large parking garage seemed like a way to capitalize on the original Route 2 investment.
There was little near the site of the Alewife station besides a largely abandoned industrial park, a chemical factory and a protected wetlands. Following principles that came to be known as transit-oriented development
Transit-oriented development
A transit-oriented development is a mixed-use residential or commercial area designed to maximize access to public transport, and often incorporates features to encourage transit ridership...
, the City of Cambridge zoned the area immediately near the station for high rise buildings. Over the next 20 years, a mini-city developed with office and research and development
Research and development
The phrase research and development , according to the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development, refers to "creative work undertaken on a systematic basis in order to increase the stock of knowledge, including knowledge of man, culture and society, and the use of this stock of...
buildings, along with high rise housing.
A state law required planning the Red Line Extension so it could later be brought out to Route 128 to Bedford, via Arlington and Lexington, along the route of the former Lexington and West Cambridge Railroad
Lexington and West Cambridge Railroad
The Lexington and West Cambridge Railroad was a railroad company chartered in 1845 and opened in 1846, that operated in eastern Massachusetts. It and its successors provided passenger service until 1977 and freight service until 1980 or early 1981....
. The Red line tracks extend past the station, under Route 2, and terminate in a small underground storage yard.
When the adjacent chemical plant eventually closed and was replaced by an office and hotel development, the rail spur to the plant (along a short remaining portion of the Fitchburg Cutoff) was no longer needed and its underpass was converted to an access ramp from the station to Route 2.
Expansion
On September 18, 2008, two bike parking cages opened at the Alewife station. The cages can hold up to 150 bikes each. To use these cages, one must obtain a free plastic Bike CharlieCard, similar to the CharlieCardCharlieCard
The CharlieCard is a MIFARE-based, contactless, stored value smart card used for electronic ticketing as part of the Automated Fare Collection system installed by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority at its stations and on its vehicles...
used to board the trains. Cards can be obtained from the MBTA customer service agents at Alewife station, or at the MBTA customer service center at Downtown Crossing
Downtown Crossing (MBTA station)
Downtown Crossing Station of the MBTA, located at the corner of Washington Street and Summer Street and the corner of Chauncey Street and Summer Street in Boston, is the main transfer point between the Orange Line and the Red Line....
station. Though the cages are covered, enclosed with security fences, and watched by security cameras, the MBTA
Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority, often referred to as the MBTA or simply The T, is the public operator of most bus, subway, commuter rail and ferry systems in the greater Boston, Massachusetts, area. Officially a "body politic and corporate, and a political subdivision" of the...
advises riders to lock their bikes.
As of April 2008, the MBTA has said that they do not have funds to add two levels to the parking garage to add capacity, which would cost $30 million to $35 million and add about 1300 spaces. The structure was originally designed to have two more levels, but whether the condition of the structure and building codes would allow that today is not clear.
Arts on the Line
As a part of the Red Line Northwest Extension, Alewife was included as one of the stations involved in the Arts on the LineArts on the Line
Arts on the Line was a program devised to bring art into the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority 's subway stations in the late 1970s and early 1980s. Arts on the Line was the first program of its kind in the United States and became the model for similar drives for art across the country...
program. Arts on the Line was devised to bring art into the MBTA's subway stations in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It was the first program of its kind in the United States and became the model for similar drives for art across the country.
Six of the original twenty artworks are located at Alewife station. These works are:
- Untitled by Richard FleischnerRichard FleischnerRichard Fleischner is a Providence, RI based environmental artist. Born in New York in 1944, he received a BFA and MFA from the Rhode Island School of Design, and began working in the 1960s.-Installations:-Awards:*Pell Award for Excellence in the Arts...
- A 3 acres (12,140.6 m²) large environmental work containing an artificial pond and large granite blocks - Untitled by David DavidsonDavid DavidsonDavid Davidson may refer to:*David Davidson , Swedish economist*David Davidson , Scottish pyramidologist*David Davidson , Scottish politician...
- 200 feet (61 m) of abstractly painted, light blue tiles arranged in various ways - Alewife Cows by Joel Janowitz - A mural of a false exit to the bus terminal with cows grazing in a pasture outside.
- Untitled (Kiss and Ride) by William Keyser, Jr. - Two sculptural benches
- The End of the Red Line by Alejandro and Moira Sina - 1000 neon tubes suspended from the ceiling of the station directly over one of the tracks
- Untitled by Nancy Webb - 100 6" square tiles scattered throughout the station lobby with low relief images of plants and animals found in the Alewife Brook ReservationAlewife Brook ReservationAlewife Brook Reservation is a Massachusetts state park located in Cambridge, Arlington, and Somerville. The park is managed by the Department of Conservation and Recreation.-Description:...
Attractions
- Alewife Brook ReservationAlewife Brook ReservationAlewife Brook Reservation is a Massachusetts state park located in Cambridge, Arlington, and Somerville. The park is managed by the Department of Conservation and Recreation.-Description:...
, a wetlands conservation area with walking trails, adjacent to the station on the north side. The station is named after the fishAlewifeThe alewife is a species of herring. There are anadromous and landlocked forms. The landlocked form is also called a sawbelly or mooneye...
in the reservation's Little River. - Fresh Pond reservationFresh Pond, Cambridge, MassachusettsFresh Pond is a reservoir and park in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Prior to the Pond's use exclusively as a reservoir, its ice had been harvested by Boston's "Ice King", Frederic Tudor, and others, for shipment to North American cities and to tropical areas around the world.Fresh Pond Reservation...
- Fresh Pond Shopping Center and cinema
- The Rindge Avenue Extension office park
- Russell Field and Danehy Park
- The Minuteman Trail