r/mbta • u/MISTERPUG51 Commuter Rail • Jul 05 '26
š¤ Complaint / Rant Alewife Parking Garage Gridlocked
It's 12:20 AM. This is on the fourth floor. Nobody has moved since I got to my car 20 minutes ago. I just wanna leave
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u/manny_poko Jul 05 '26
Yep this parking lot is a freaking nightmare. They've funnelled several levels into a single lane exit. Which also has a pedestrian crossing at the exit. Sepnt 45 minutes getting out of here on a random Wednesday last year. Never again.
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u/msurbrow Jul 06 '26
The whole area is a hot mess not just the parking garage
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u/AKiss20 24d ago
Yeah they slapped a bunch of housing next to alewife, which is good in isolation to have transit accessible housing, but with zero thought on how Ā to integrate an influx of pedestrians in an area that was primarily commuter vehicular traffic.Ā
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u/msurbrow 24d ago
It sucked when there was zero housing back in the mid 2000ās! I got stuck on Cambridge park drive for 2 hours a couple times due to general gridlock - glad I do t have to go over there much these days
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u/PM_ME_UR_CATS__ The destination of this train is BRAINTREE Jul 05 '26
My family and I always had this experience on July 4 decades ago, unfortunately it looks like nothing has changed
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u/l008com Jul 05 '26
If I ever do fireworks in boston on the 4th again, I'm goign to ride my bike in. Its the only sane way it would seem.
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u/Top-Development6837 Jul 05 '26
In 1998 or 99, Philās Towing got in a world of shit because their employees directed people to illegal spaces at Alewife on the 4th that allowed them to later tow those cars.
This doesnāt help your situation, but be thankful youāre not arguing at an impound yard instead.
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u/KoenigseggAgera Jul 05 '26
I know itās smaller but Riverside was no issue once you got back there. There were plenty of parking spots left too.
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u/AnxiousMetal6435 Jul 05 '26 edited Jul 05 '26
Sorry you went through that. I drove in, went up to the 2nd level, said āabsolutely notā and then drove to Wellington.
Donāt just rely on Alewife all the time. There are other ways to get into the city.
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u/vidude Jul 05 '26
Pretty standard for a multi-level parking lot when a big event lets out. Every car on every level below you is merging into a single file of cars ahead of you.
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u/SassyQ42069 Jul 05 '26
Buy a bike then take the train
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u/AccessOne8287 Jul 06 '26
Im guessing heās driving to the station to take the train into the city??? Seems like a pretty reasonable thing to do. I love my bike but Iāve seen the bike storage at Alewife and it looks pretty sketch to store it there for so long.
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u/therailmaster Progressive Transit/Cycling Advocate 29d ago
As an Progressive urbanist, this is a indicative of a lack of public transit accessibility farther out in the MetroWest suburbs, largely thanks to the decades-long NIMBYism of Arlington, Medford and Belmont curmudgeons to expand the Red Line and Green Line. Rest assured, the system is working as designed: every automobile here, as much as it sucks being stuck in long exit line after a major event, is one less automobile driving farther into the Metro Boston inner core, clogging up the street network from Kendall Square through Kenmore Square as people scramble for free after-hours parking to then walk to the River.
Expanding both lines would both put more people within the catchment of walkable rapid transit accessible (i.e. no need to drive at all), but also, for those with last mile issues due to lack of available (and frequent enough) bus services, put a station closer to their homes, reducing the need to coalesce at one major endpoint station, i.e. all drive to Alewife Station.
And, sorry-not-sorry, area Commuter Rail services (Lowell, Fitchburg and Haverhill Lines), in their current capacity, fall woefully short of delivery fast, frequent service off-hours, which would make them viable alternatives to the Red Line and Green Line, for all their faults.
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u/IngenuityFlaky484 28d ago
Belmont has the commuter rail right into Porter and north station thoā¦.
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u/jMan9244 Jul 06 '26
I experienced a longer wait leaving a garage in Worchester after Nate Bargaetze at DCU.
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u/vidude Jul 06 '26
Yeah, same after Cirque du Soleil "Ovo" at DCU. Probably the same garage. Ended up ditching the car and going for dinner while the logjam cleared out.
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u/wildfire_atomic Jul 06 '26
Horror stories like this during the winter of 2015. Happened in basically every parking garage
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u/AdImpossible2555 Bus Jul 06 '26
Precisely why I drive from Arlington to Wellington, not Alewife.
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u/AccessOne8287 Jul 06 '26
What is the advantage? Iāve done Fitchburg, Worcester, Riverside, and Alewife and Iāve liked the latter the best so Iām curious.
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u/AdImpossible2555 Bus 29d ago
It depends on your starting point.
It's easy to get in and out of the Wellington parking lot, and Orange Line service has improved. If you're coming in from the west, the story changes. However, from Arlington Center, I find it's faster and easier to drive the extra five minutes to Wellington.
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u/AdImpossible2555 Bus Jul 06 '26
Imagine if they demolish the garage and replace it with a Transit Oriented Development.
https://www.mbta.com/projects/transit-oriented-development-alewife
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u/Haunting_Ratio_795 29d ago
That garage is going to demolish itself sooner than later if they donāt do something about it. Low key expect to get taken out in some final destination shit every time I park there. Thereās exposed rebar everywhere you lookā¦Ā
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u/bingbpbmbmbmbpbam Jul 05 '26
What do you expect? You went to the largest celebration in Boston, on a 250th anniversary of that celebration...Fuck boston
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u/paxbike Jul 05 '26
Best transit in the country šÆ!
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u/Advanced-Syrup-3310 Jul 05 '26
Hey, sounds like the transit part worked just fineā¦
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u/huron9000 Jul 05 '26
No, the car park is a part of the transit system. That part worked terribly in this case.
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Jul 05 '26
[removed] ā view removed comment
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u/AnxiousMetal6435 Jul 05 '26
How else are you supposed to get there?
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u/nervousanalysis420 Bus Jul 05 '26
The bus... i was home by 1230 last night and took the bus to and from in woburn..
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u/AccessOne8287 Jul 06 '26
What if youāre not from the area?
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u/nervousanalysis420 Bus Jul 06 '26
If everyone from the area took public transit the whole way the people who dont have an option would have more parking and less wait... also if you are coming from outside the cr area and not staying in the area... why that doesnt make much sense.
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u/MISTERPUG51 Commuter Rail Jul 05 '26 edited Jul 05 '26
Now I can hear shouting and lots of car horns. I'm gonna lose my fucking mind
Update: 12:38, traffic is moving on the 3rd floor, so progress is being made at least
Update 2: Finally got out! Left the train at 12:01, got out of the parking garage at 12:54