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Downtown Crossing station

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Downtown Crossing station (often known as DTX[2]) is an underground Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) rapid transit station located in the Downtown Crossing retail district in the downtown core of Boston, Massachusetts. It is served by the Orange Line and Red Line, and is one of four "hub stations" on the MBTA subway system. Downtown Crossing is also a major bus transfer location serving 13 MBTA bus routes, including one Silver Line route. It is the second busiest subway station in the MBTA network (behind only South Station), with an average of 24,074 entries per weekday in FY2019.[1]

Downtown Crossing
A northbound Orange Line train leaving Downtown Crossing station in April 2024
General information
LocationSummer Street at Washington Street
Boston, Massachusetts
Coordinates42°21′19″N 71°03′38″W / 42.35536°N 71.06068°W / 42.35536; -71.06068
Line(s)Washington Street Tunnel
Cambridge-Dorchester Tunnel
Platforms2 side platforms (Orange Line)
2 side platforms (Red Line)
Tracks2 (Orange Line)
2 (Red Line)
ConnectionsBus transport MBTA bus: 7, 11, 501, 504, 505
     Green Line and MBTA bus 43 at Park Street (via Winter Street Concourse)
Construction
Structure typeUnderground
Platform levels2
AccessibleYes
History
OpenedNovember 30, 1908 (Orange Line)
April 4, 1915 (Red Line)
July 24, 2002 (Silver Line)
Previous namesWashington (Red Line, 1915–1987; Orange Line, 1967–1987)
Winter–Summer (Orange Line, 1908–1967)
Passengers
FY201924,074 (weekday average boardings)[1]
Services
Preceding station MBTA Following station
Chinatown
toward Forest Hills
 Orange Line State
toward Oak Grove
Park Street
toward Alewife
 Red Line South Station
toward Ashmont or Braintree
Boylston
toward Nubian
 Silver Line Terminus
Chinatown
One-way operation
Location
Map

The Washington Street Tunnel carrying the Main Line (later the Orange Line) opened in 1908, with platforms called Summer and Winter. The Dorchester Tunnel carrying the Cambridge–Dorchester Line (now the Red Line) opened in 1915, with its station called Washington. The MBTA renamed the whole station complex as Washington in 1967, then Downtown Crossing in 1987. Major renovations took place in the 1970s and 1980s. Silver Line service began in 2002.

Station layout

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Downtown Crossing has two underground platform levels, each with two side platforms. The upper level serves the Orange Line and stretches from Temple Place to Franklin Street under Washington Street. A concourse from Washington Street to Chauncey Street under Summer Street houses the Charliecard Store and includes entrances to several retail stores. The lower-level platforms, under the concourse, serve Red Line trains. The Winter Street Concourse, which connects to the southbound Orange Line platform, allows access to the Green Line at Park Street without leaving the common paid area.

Downtown Crossing is a terminal for several MBTA bus routes. Four routes – 7, 501, 504, and 505 – stop on Otis Street at Summer Street, a short block east of the nearest subway entrance. Route 11 stops on Bedford Street at Kingston Street, an additional block to the south. Silver Line route SL5 serves Downtown Crossing at a midblock bus stop on Temple Place, half a block from the nearest subway entrance.[3]

Accessibility

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See also: MBTA accessibility
 
New elevators under construction in 2018

Like all Orange Line and Red Line stations, Downtown Crossing is accessible. Surface elevators are located at the Winter Street, Franklin Street, and Hawley Street entrances.[4] An additional elevator – open business hours only – leads to the Roche Brothers store which connects to the Summer Street concourse. Because Downtown Crossing is an older station built at two different times in a dense urban area, transfers between the two lines are convoluted. There is no elevator between either of the Red Line platforms and the southbound Orange Line platform; passengers making such transfers must use the Winter Street Concourse and the Red Line elevators at Park Street.

The northbound Red Line platform has elevators at both ends of the Summer Street concourse for connections to the northbound Orange Line and to the street. The southbound Red Line platform only has an elevator at its far east end; passengers transferring to and from the northbound Orange Line must leave fare control at one end of the concourse and reenter at the other end.

A $13.57 million project added the two elevators connecting the northbound Orange Line platform to the northbound Red Line platform. Notice to proceed was given on February 18, 2016; completion was originally expected in late 2017, but delayed until June 14, 2019.[5][6]

The $50 million Phase II will add an elevator between the northbound Orange Line and southbound Red Line platforms, enlarge and extend the elevator from Winter Street to the southbound Orange Line platform to also serve the southbound Red Line, and relocate the Red Line elevator at Park Street. A $6.9 million design contract was awarded in March 2020.[7] The Phase II improvements, which will complete elevator connections for all transfers, are part of the 2006 settlement of Joanne Daniels-Finegold, et al. v. MBTA.[8] Original plans in that settlement for an elevator between the northbound Red Line and southbound Orange Line were found to be infeasible; as part of a 2018 amendment to the settlement, the relocation of the Park Street elevator was substituted.[9] As of November 2023, the three elevators are at 75% to 100% design, with bidding for the nearly-three-year construction project planned for mid-2024.[10][11]

History

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Summer station under construction in July 1908, five months before opening

The Washington Street Tunnel carrying the Main Line Elevated (later the Orange Line) opened on November 30, 1908.[12] Stations on the tunnel were built in pairs with different names and separate entrances, an appeasement to merchants on the street who desired maximal pedestrian traffic. Stations were located at Summer northbound with entrances at Summer Street and Franklin Street, and Winter southbound with entrances at Winter Street and Temple Place. The Dorchester extension of the Cambridge Tunnel (now the Red Line) was built one level below the Washington Street Tunnel. Washington station opened on April 4, 1915, with additional entrances on Summer Street at Hawley Street and Chauncey Street.[12]

As part of a system-wide rebranding by the newly formed MBTA, on January 23, 1967, the Orange Line platforms were renamed Washington as well.[12] On May 3, 1987, the name was changed again to Downtown Crossing after the surrounding retail district, with Washington as a secondary name.[12] The renaming, which had been approved in 1985 as part of a series of station name changes, was coordinated with the opening of the Southwest Corridor.[13]

 
The Red Line platforms at Downtown Crossing station were formerly named "Washington".

The 1970s saw the first major renovations to the station in decades. In 1972, the agency received a federal grant that funded two-thirds of a $14.3 million modernization program for downtown stations, including $2 million for Washington station.[14] As part of that project, the MBTA investigated the feasibility of connecting Essex, Park Street, Washington, and State with pedestrian tunnels.[15] The stairways between the Summer Street Concourse and the Orange Line platforms were reconfigured.[16]

The Franklin Street entrance was originally inside a building on the north side of the street.[17] The construction of the 350 Washington Street building beginning in 1965 demolished the older building and widened the street.[18][19] A rebuilt entrance slightly to the north was incorporated into the new building.[20] It was later replaced by a freestanding headhouse, approximately at the original location, in Shopper's Park. The MBTA proposed to make the headhouse exit-only during budget cuts in 1981.[21] On August 10, 2015, the entrance was temporarily closed for construction of the Millennium Tower, which constructed a new sloping seating area over the entrance.[22][23][18] The renovated headhouse reopened on September 12, 2016.[24]

Originally, the Orange Line level had an underground concourse with several direct access points to basement entrances of various stores in the district, such as Jordan Marsh (now Macy's) and the former Filene's department store. It was modernized in 1978 with a new fare collection area added.[25] In 1979, the Winter Street Concourse was opened, connecting the upper level of Downtown Crossing station (inside fare control) to the upper level of Park Street station two blocks away, utilizing an existing but previously unopened section of the concourse.[26] Both levels of the station were substantially renovated and accessibility was improved in the mid-1980s. The 101 Arch Street building, completed in 1989, included access to the Summer Street concourse (including an elevator) through its basement level.[27][28] By 1991, a 1914-installed wooden escalator in the station was the oldest operating escalator in the world.[29]

Modernization in the 1980s included the installation of Situations, a set of 31 skewed marble seats designed by Buster Simpson along the Red Line platform.[30] During the renovations, temporary artworks were displayed as part of the Arts on the Line program. One work on the Orange Line level, a take on Invasion of the Body Snatchers, featured 'alien' eggs that grew and eventually hatched 'aliens' portrayed by costumed actors.[31] In August 1987, the MBTA board approved plans for an MBTA Transit Police substation in the Summer Street Concourse.[32] The $950,000 substation opened on July 26, 1988.[33]

Silver Line service from Downtown Crossing to Dudley Square began on July 24, 2002.[12] The Temple Place exit from the southbound Orange Line platform was reopened to allow easier transfers.[34] It was converted to an entrance around 2007 when automated fare collection was installed at the station.[35][36] On June 24, 2019, the MBTA Board awarded a $29.7 million, 16-month contract for full cleaning, wayfinding signage replacement, and other improvements at North Station, Haymarket, State, and Downtown Crossing stations.[37] The work was completed in June 2021.[38][39] The entire Orange Line, including the Orange Line platforms at Downtown Crossing station, was closed from August 19 to September 18, 2022, during maintenance work.[40]

CharlieCard Store

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The CharlieCard Store in 2015

The MBTA began selling monthly passes in late 1978. A sales office for the passes was opened in the Summer Street concourse outside fare control on December 26, 1978.[25] On August 13, 2012, the MBTA merged reduced-fare ticketing customer services (formerly located in a booth at Back Bay station) and the pass sales counter into a new "CharlieCard Store" at the Downtown Crossing location. The store was located inside an air-conditioned room in the concourse. It provided services including obtaining special passes for blind, senior, disabled, and other users; transferring value between fare media; and conventional pass purchases.[41][42] Due to unreliable computer systems and high demand, the store initially experienced long wait times.[43] The store was closed on July 17, 2023, due to an air conditioning failure; a temporary location opened on July 27 in the State Transportation Building.[44] The new permanent "Charlie Service Center" opened near State station on July 29, 2024.[45]

References

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  1. ^ a b "A Guide to Ridership Data". MassDOT/MBTA Office of Performance Management and Innovation. June 22, 2020. p. 6.
  2. ^ "MBTA Capital Acceleration Coordination: Capital Programs Committee". Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. September 11, 2019. p. 10.
  3. ^ "2023–24 System Map". Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. December 17, 2023.
  4. ^ "Downtown Crossing Station Neighborhood Map" (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. April 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 30, 2015.
  5. ^ "Downtown Crossing (DTX) Vertical Transportation and Station Improvements". Business Center. Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. Retrieved January 24, 2017.
  6. ^ Brelsford, Laura (November 26, 2019). "SWA Initiatives – November 2019" (PDF). p. 8.
  7. ^ McCormack, John (March 23, 2020). "MBTA Contract No. A90PS01: Engineering and Design Services for the MBTA Downtown Crossing Station Accessibility Improvements Project, Phase II" (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.
  8. ^ "Settlement Agreement" (PDF). Joanne Daniels-Finegold et al. v. MBTA. April 10, 2006. p. 18.
  9. ^ "AMENDED SETTLEMENT AGREEMENT (With Attachments A, B and C and Exhibit X)" (PDF). Joanne Daniels-Finegold et al. v. MBTA. December 4, 2018. pp. 15, 16.
  10. ^ "Downtown Crossing Accessibility Phase II: Virtual Public Meeting" (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. October 25, 2021.
  11. ^ "System-Wide Accessibility Initiatives—November 2023" (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Department of System-Wide Accessibility. November 27, 2023. pp. 9–10.
  12. ^ a b c d e Belcher, Jonathan. "Changes to Transit Service in the MBTA district" (PDF). Boston Street Railway Association.
  13. ^ Crocket, Douglas S. (July 27, 1985). "T board votes to change the names of some stations". Boston Globe. p. 26 – via Newspapers.com.  
  14. ^ Carr, Robert B. (July 26, 1972). "Park St. station facelift due". Boston Globe. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.  
  15. ^ Plotkin, A.S. (March 1, 1974). "4 downtown MBTA stops may be linked". Boston Globe. p. 5 – via Newspapers.com.  
  16. ^ Carr, Robert B. (August 27, 1975). "$8.7m plan aired to revamp four Hub MBTA stations". Boston Globe. p. 11 – via Newspapers.com.
  17. ^ "Plate 1: Part of Wards 5&8". Atlas of the City of Boston, Boston Proper and Back Bay. G.W. Bromley & Co. 1917 – via Ward Maps.
  18. ^ a b "Transformation of Boston's Midtown Cultural District". Handel Architects. October 16, 2014.
  19. ^ "2016 BOMA Boston TOBY & Industry Awards" (PDF). BOMA Boston. 2016. p. 8.
  20. ^ Sixth Annual Report. Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. 1970. pp. 12, 18 – via Internet Archive.
  21. ^ Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (February 13, 1981). "Public Hearing Notice". Boston Globe. p. 50 – via Newspapers.com. 
  22. ^ "Subway Service Alerts: Orange Line". Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. August 18, 2015. Archived from the original on February 7, 2016.
  23. ^ Turner, Greg (August 17, 2012). "Downtown park will be step up". Boston Herald.
  24. ^ "AACT MEETING – September 28, 2016" (PDF). MBTA Department of System-wide Accessibility. September 28, 2016.
  25. ^ a b 1978 Annual Report. Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. 1979.
  26. ^ Clarke, Bradley H.; Cummings, O.R. (1997). Tremont Street Subway: A Century of Public Service. Boston Street Railway Association. p. 49. ISBN 0938315048.
  27. ^ "Amended and Restated Development Plan for Planned Development Area No. 18". Boston Redevelopment Authority. May 1, 1985. p. 13.
  28. ^ "101 Arch: Only Building that Provides Indoor Access to MBTA" (PDF). Boston Global Investors. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2017-01-01. Retrieved 2019-10-23.
  29. ^ "World's Oldest Running Escalator Gives Bostonians a Boost". Tulsa World. March 14, 1991.
  30. ^ Howe, Peter J. (April 27, 1988). "MBTA hopes riders will be transported by art". Boston Globe. pp. 21, 35 – via Newspapers.com. (second page)  
  31. ^ Hartigan, Patti (October 1, 1987). "Sampling Boston's Daring, Ever-Evolving Avant-Garde Arts". Boston Globe. Calendar 8 – via Newspapers.com.
  32. ^ Howe, Peter J. (August 23, 1987). "MBTA to build police facility, South Attleboro rail station". Boston Globe. p. 34 – via Newspapers.com.  
  33. ^ "MBTA crime is dropping as the police force grows". Boston Globe. August 27, 1988. p. 28 – via Newspapers.com.  
  34. ^ "Ridership and Service Statistics" (PDF) (14th ed.). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. 2014.
  35. ^ Ridership and Service Statistics (9 ed.). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. 2003–2004. p. 2.51 – via Internet Archive.
  36. ^ "Rapid Transit". Ridership and Service Statistics (PDF) (11 ed.). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. 2007. p. 30.
  37. ^ "MBTA Contract No. A01CN01: Wayfinding and Station Improvements - Four Stations (Downtown Crossing, State, Haymarket, and North Station)" (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. June 24, 2019.
  38. ^ Brelsford, Laura (May 24, 2021). "System-Wide Accessibility Initiatives—May 2021" (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Department of System-Wide Accessibility. p. 5.
  39. ^ "System-Wide Accessibility Initiatives—December 2021" (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Department of System-Wide Accessibility. December 2021. p. 5.
  40. ^ "A Rider's Guide to Planning Ahead: Upcoming Orange & Green Line Service Suspensions" (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. August 2022.
  41. ^ Rocheleau, Matt (August 13, 2012). "MBTA opens new CharlieCard Store inside Downtown Crossing Station". Boston Globe. Archived from the original on August 16, 2012.
  42. ^ "CharlieCard Store Opens" (Press release). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. August 14, 2012. Archived from the original on September 22, 2012.
  43. ^ Helms, Chris (August 15, 2012). "Hour Waits Common as MBTA's New CharlieCard Store Opens in Downtown Crossing". Charlestown Patch. Archived from the original on September 25, 2015.
  44. ^ "CharlieCard Store Temporarily Relocates to State Transportation Building at 10 Park Plaza Effective July 27" (Press release). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. July 26, 2023.
  45. ^ "MBTA Announces New Charlie Service Center and Customer Service Improvements" (Press release). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. July 24, 2024.
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