Tunnel Love: Urban Ring at Ruggles Station
By Leonardi Aray Architects with Anne McKinnon & Jeffrey Ferris
Solving the "transit problem" to get Boston on the move again cannot rely solely on buses. Beginning in the late 1970s, the MBTA recognized that the lack of reliable crosstown transit was burdening the core transit system and added significant travel time for riders who had to go into downtown and then switch lines to head out to employment areas including Longwood, MIT and Alewife.
The MBTA's proposed Urban Ring would provide crosstown transit to serve growing new jobs centers outside the core. A tunnel at Stull and Lee's magnificent Ruggles Orange Line station was included. The Urban Ring was dropped years ago, but the need remains and is even more important with Sullivan Square, Everett, Chelsea and the Seaport booming with development. We provide this creation, "Tunnel Love," to try to keep alive the plan for crosstown transit. Here a trolley to Everett plies the tracks at the underground station at Ruggles/Parcel 18.
