The MBTA this weekend
Anyone who happens to be in Boston this weekend and is not familiar with how the subways work, would be well-advised to note the following: the T will not be going over the Longfellow Bridge that connects Cambridge (in the MIT area) with Boston (near Beacon Hill). They will be running buses between Kendall/MIT and Park Street.
What this means is that you just basically shouldn’t be taking the red line if you’re under any time pressure, or if you’re carrying any heavy bags with you: you’ll get on the red line, get off at Park, walk outside (up several flights of stairs), get on a bus, take it for 10-15 minutes, get off at Kendall, lug your bag down some more stairs, and take the red line to your destination.
See, for instance, directions from my house to the Clear Flour bakery in Brookline (where I’ll be meeting a friend shortly). It says that the trip takes 48 minutes. That is false. It may take 48 minutes regularly; that’s with a perfectly functioning red line. Without such a red line, it’ll take closer to an hour an a quarter or an hour and a half. The walking distance between those two points is 2.2 miles, which I can cover in about 40 minutes.
Moral: taxis or walking are your friends this weekend.
This has been a public-service announcement from me, Steve Laniel.
Thanks for the PSA, Steve. Say, I didn’t know about the Clear Flour Bakery, despite living in Brookline for almost a year now. I see they’ve got a presence at the Brookline Farmers’ Market on Thursdays, so I’m definitely gonna check ‘em out.
Comment by Paul — June 21, 2008 @ 8:34 am
Even on an ordinary day, I wouldn’t take the Red Line between those two points. The 47 and 64 buses can also be your friend.
Comment by Ron Newman — June 21, 2008 @ 9:07 am