6/29/04

Time is running out for the rusty green steel structure that has been supporting the old tracks of the Green Line at North Station for the last 92 years. Friday night the last trolley closed an era for the half-mile stretch of elevated tracks crawling around the Fleet Center.

Chris Previte was one of the passengers on the last train to use the elevated tracks. "I live in Somerville and work downtown. I must have been here a million times. But tonight it feels special because I will never be able to do this again," he said, while taking pictures of his last trip on the "El".

Last Monday the new "Super Station" opened its doors: an underground station that connects the Green Line with the Orange Line. Since then, the new North Station is the last stop for Green Line trains. Shuttle buses replace the service to Science Park and Lechmere. Commuters travelling between Boston and Cambridge will have to use these buses for the next year.

Many are happy about the renovation the North Station area is going through. Edwin Rodriguez is one of them. "I have been waiting for this for so many years... I can't even remember. They have been saying they would tear all this trash down for almost ten years. I will be happy when it finally disappears," he said.

The elevated tracks are part of North End´s landscape

Rodriguez has been working as a janitor for the last 28 years at the Thomas P. O'Neill Federal Building, on Causeway Street, across from the tracks. He said he hopes that the demolition of the tracks will bring some sunlight into his small dark office. Meantime, NPR is turned up loud on a radio on his desk. "I have this thing on all the time to help me forget the hours I spend in this hole," he said bitterly.

Local businesses also approve of the change. The Beacon Hill Athletic Club, located on the second floor on Causeway Street, has big windows but the tracks obscure the view. A few members pedal on static bicycles in the shadow of a big steel beam just in front of them.

"Customers sometimes complained because people from the train could just look into the gym and see them working out. It was a problem of privacy," said club employe John Mitis.

"We will be happy when this all comes down. It will be good for the business. We will be able to put some signs out there and be seen," Mittis said.

The "Super Station" is open since last Monday

Lou Malucci, owner of North Station Tobacco Co., a small store on the corner of Causeway and Portland Streets, would like everything to be over already. "I am sure that it's an outstanding project... but once it's finished. Now I only fear the big mess of noise, dust and grumpy clients all picking at the same," Malucci said.

For others, the passing of the old North Station is more than a phase of the urban project. Eddie Sullivan has been commuting between Haymarket and Lechmere twice a day in the last 30 years. He likes the positive effects more light and space will have on the North End. But he can not help getting emotional when he recounts the memories that connect him to the old station.

"I am sad to think that this will all be gone in a few months. This is part of my childhood... going with my father to North Station to see the Bruins in the Boston Garden... Big crowds of people waiting in the cold for the train to go home. Now everything is underground," Sullivan said.

Local businesses support the demolition project of the tracks

Boston became a collage of elevated railroads in the beginning of the 20th century. The tracks of North Station date back to Fenway Park's creation in 1912. Decades later, almost all the elevated structures were torn down with the objective to embellish the city. North Station's structure remained. Today it is the last piece of elevated transportation infrastructure left in Boston after the demolition of the Central Artery two months ago and the elevated part of the Orange Line on Washington Street, in 1987.

"The elevated portion of the Green Line has been working well close to 100 years, but this [demolition] is a big triumph in the modernization of the nation's oldest subway system," said Nancy Sterling, spokeswoman for the MBTA.

An estimated 11,000 riders, plus thousands more during the Democratic National Convention next month, will be affected by the remodeling plan. During this period, the MBTA will provide the shuttles as alternate public transportation.

Shuttle buses replace the service between North Station and Lechmere

"The new underground route between North Station and Lechmere is part of the $325 million project designed to modernize the Green Line and to smooth the transfer to North Station commuter rail," Sterling said.

Construction crews will begin the demolition of the elevated tracks in early August. According to Sterling, about a year will be necessary to finish the North End area because of engineering challenges.

Causeway Street and its surroundings will have to wait until then to see the sun again.

Relevant Sites

- MBTA
- Boston Transportation Resources

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