Alewife station is a Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) intermodal transit station in the North Cambridge neighborhood of Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is the northwest terminal of the rapid transit Red Line (part of the MBTA subway system) and a hub for several MBTA bus routes. The station is at the confluence of the Minuteman Bikeway, Alewife Linear Park, Fitchburg Cutoff Path, and Alewife Greenway off Alewife Brook Parkway adjacent to Massachusetts Route 2, with a five-story parking garage for park and ride use. The station has three bike cages. Alewife station is named after nearby Alewife Brook Parkway and Alewife Brook, themselves named after the alewife fish.

The Fitchburg Railroad (now the MBTA Commuter Rail Fitchburg Line) opened through North Cambridge in 1842, followed by the now-closed Lexington Branch and Fitchburg Cutoff branch lines. An extension of the 1912-opened Cambridge–Dorchester line to North Cambridge was first proposed in the 1930s, though planning for the project did not begin until the 1960s. The Red Line Northwest Extension project included a station at Alewife Brook Parkway to capture traffic from Route 2, as a planned extension of the highway was cancelled in 1970. Construction began in 1979; with the planned route to Arlington Heights rejected by Arlington, Alewife became the terminus of the extension.

Alewife station opened on March 30, 1985, though some peak-hour service did not run to the station until that December. The station has a single underground island platform, with a busway and glass-roofed fare lobby inside the parking garage. Ramps connecting the garage to Route 2 opened in 1986. The station spurred transit-oriented development on formerly industrial land in the surrounding area. The station features six works of public art built under the Arts on the Line program.

Station layout

thumb|left|Isometric view of the station showing the locations of [[#Arts on the Line|public artworks|alt=See caption.]]

Alewife station has one underground island platform serving two tracks. Both tracks are used for boarding and alighting; a scissors crossover east of the station allows arriving and departing trains to switch tracks. A three-track underground yard extends about northwest past the station for use as layup tracks and overnight storage.

A five-story, 2,733-space parking garage is located just west of the station platform, with vehicle entrance and exit at its northwest side. The first floor of the garage includes a -long enclosed bus platform with bus bays on both sides, as well as two bike cages. Pedestrian entrances to the garage are on the south (Cambridgepark Drive) and west (Steel Place) sides.

East of the garage, the concourse widens into an atrium covered with a glass pyramid, with faregates and access to the platform on the north side. A third bike cage is located on the south side of the glass pyramid, under escalators connecting the atrium to the garage levels. A freestanding headhouse connects to the east end of the platform.

Bus connections

thumb|left|A route 350 bus boarding at Alewife in 2017|alt=A bus at a bus platform inside a parking garage

MBTA bus routes – – terminate at the busway inside the Alewife garage. The routes serve northwestern suburbs including Arlington, Lexington, and Burlington. Route terminates nearby at Russell Field because is not possible to turn left from Alewife Brook Parkway onto Rindge Avenue, preventing the bus from serving Alewife directly. The bus stop is connected to Alewife by a short spur of the Cambridge Linear Park.

Alewife station is also served by bus routes operated by private carriers:

  • The Route 128 Business Council operates shuttle bus services from Alewife to companies along the Route 2 and Route 128 corridors. Seven routes to Waltham and Lexington are open to all riders; one private residential route is also run.
  • Go Bus (formerly World Wide Bus) operates intercity bus service between Alewife, , and New York City. The service began in October 2010.

History

Railroads

thumb|left|Construction of the Lexington Branch connector in 1926|alt=Black and white image of a railroad track under construction

The Charlestown Branch Railroad opened from Charlestown to Somerville in October 1839. It was extended to Fresh Pond in West Cambridge in 1842 for ice harvesting. Under the control of Alvah Crocker, the line was extended from West Cambridge to Fitchburg as the Fitchburg Railroad in 1843–1845. Stops on the line included West Cambridge (Brick Yards) at Sherman Street, and Hills Crossing at Brighton Street just over the Belmont border to the west. The Lexington and West Cambridge Railroad (Lexington Branch) opened north from West Cambridge in 1846; the Watertown Branch opened south from West Cambridge in 1849. On April 24, 1927, passenger service was rerouted over the rebuilt line; the Fitchburg Cutoff (Hills Crossing to Somerville Junction) became freight-only, with North Cambridge and the two other passenger stations on the line closed. Passenger service ended on the Watertown Branch in 1938. The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) was formed in 1964 to support suburban rail service. A number of lightly used branch lines were closed by the MBTA, with the Lexington Branch closing in January 1977. A 1926 report proposed an extension from Lechmere to North Cambridge via the Southern Division and the Fitchburg Cutoff, with a possible further extension along the Lexington Branch. A northwards extension from Harvard to the North Cambridge/Arlington border was proposed by Cambridge mayor John D. Lynch in 1933 and by then-freshmen state representative Tip O'Neill in 1936, but was not pursued.

The 1945 Coolidge Commission report – the first major transit planning initiative in the region since 1926 – recommended an extension from Harvard to Arlington Heights via East Watertown. The 1947 revision recommended an extension north to Porter Square instead, with branches along the Fitchburg Railroad to Waltham and the Lexington Branch to Lexington. The 1966 Program for Mass Transportation called for an immediate extension to Alewife Brook Parkway (the eastern terminus of the Concord Turnpike) via Porter Square, with possible future extensions to Arlington or Waltham. Original plans called for a subway under Massachusetts Avenue to Porter Square, then a surface route along the Fitchburg Route to Alewife. In 1970, then-governor Francis Sargent suspended most highway construction inside Route 128 and created the Boston Transportation Planning Review, which focused on the implementation of new transit routes.

Three general sites were considered for Alewife station, depending on the alignment of the whole project. Alternatives running via Garden Street or via Porter Square and the Fitchburg mainline were to have a station along the Lexington Branch just north of the Fitchburg mainline. Alternatives using the freight cutoff (via Davis Square or Cotter Square) were to have a station east of Alewife Brook Parkway on the pre-1927 Lexington Branch alignment, or to the south straddling the parkway. After and , Alewife was among the first MBTA stations made accessible during initial construction, rather than by renovation. Alewife station was named for the adjacent Alewife Brook (a tributary of the Mystic River) and Alewife Brook Parkway – themselves named for the alewife, a type of fish long associated with the Massachusetts Bay area.

By the time the Red Line Northwest Extension began construction in 1978, opposition in Arlington and reductions in federal funding had caused the MBTA to choose a shorter alternative with Alewife as the terminus. The Fitchburg Cutoff was abandoned in 1979 to allow construction of the extension. The station was constructed by the Perini Corporation.

After six years of construction, Alewife was the final station on the extension to open. Revenue service began on March 30, 1985. Because the yard facilities were not complete, only Ashmont trains terminated at Alewife at peak hours; peak-hour Braintree trains ran only to Davis until December 26.

When the station opened, all road access to the garage was from Alewife Brook Parkway, which forced those driving to the station on Route 2 to use a congested rotary north of the station. The state announced a short-term plan in May 1984, under which the rotary would be replaced with a signalized intersection. A direct ramp from eastbound Route 2 to the garage would be built (following a short section of the former Lexington Branch), with a second ramp from the garage under Alewife Brook Parkway (reusing the Fitchburg Cutoff underpass) to the intersection. Environmental review was completed in August 1984. The $3.5 million project was approved by the MBTA board in June 1985; construction began that September and was completed about a year later.

Development and trails

thumb|right|A 2015 aerial view of the Alewife garage (right) and nearby development|alt=See caption.

Prior to the construction of Alewife station, the surrounding area was known as the "industrial triangle"; the only nearby development was the 1971-built Rindge Towers. Developers were attracted to the Alewife area by the large plots of available land, the subway connection to Cambridge and Boston, and the proximity to Route 2. An additional development surrounding the east headhouse was considered in the mid-1980s, but was rejected by the community because it would have added 2,000 parking spaces. Residential developments were built in the Alewife triangle beginning in 2003. The Minuteman Bikeway opened in 1992–93 and was extended a short distance to Alewife in 1998, connecting the northwestern suburbs of Arlington, Lexington, and Bedford to Alewife along the former Lexington Branch right-of-way. Alewife became a major junction point between trails: wider sidewalks along Alewife Brook Parkway to the south were added in the 1990s (later connecting to the Fresh Pond Parkway path and the Watertown Greenway), the Alewife Greenway to the north opened in 2012, and the Fitchburg Cutoff Path to the west opened in 2013. The Minuteman quickly became a popular commuter route, necessitating additional bike storage at Alewife. On September 18, 2008, the MBTA opened two 150-bike parking cages on the ground level of the garage. A third cage was added around 2013 as the MBTA built bike cages at a number of stations.

Parking garage changes

thumb|left|The garage in 2022 during repair work|alt=Interior view of a parking garage with no vehicles

By the 2000s, the parking garage frequently filled to capacity. In August 2018, the MBTA awarded a $5.7 million contract for garage repairs, which were needed even in the absence of funding for expansion. Work began in September 2018, and the main garage entrances were temporarily closed on October 19, 2019. Phased replacement of the garage elevators and the west platform elevator began in mid-2018 and was completed in September 2020.

On February 4, 2023, a driver crashed their car into an edge barrier of the upper level of the parking garage, causing a piece of concrete to fall onto the glass ceiling of the west fare lobby. One passenger suffered minor injuries. The station was temporarily closed for inspection and repairs; shuttle buses operated between Alewife and Davis. The garage reopened on February 8, except for the top level where the crash occurred; the station reopened using only the east headhouse on February 10. The main lobby reopened on March 27, 2023, along with the top floor of the garage.

In April 2024, the MBTA indicated plans to study future scenarios for the station – including the feasibility of removing the garage – in a five-year spending plan. The MBTA issued a request for proposals in August 2024 for a private developer to demolish the garage and construct new buildings in its place. This was to also possibly include redevelopment of about on the north side of the Fitchburg Line west of Alewife Brook Parkway, which is occupied by a commuter rail maintenance facility that would be moved to Iron Horse Park in Billerica. , the MBTA plans to construct an access point near for hi-rail construction vehicles near Alewife from 2026–2028, as the nearest access point is near Charles/MGH station. The tunnel will connect to the Alewife Center access road just north of the Russell Field headhouse.

Alewife is also a proposed site for an MBTA Commuter Rail Fitchburg Line station. The 2004 Program for Mass Transportation estimated cost of an infill station at $4.1 million; it was expected to attract 60 daily riders. A 2025 study estimated 800 to 1,169 daily boardings in 2040 with existing frequency, or as high as 2,250 with a doubling of frequency.

Arts on the Line

thumb|right|One of William Keyser Jr.'s sculpted benches|alt=A wavy wooden bench inside a parking garage

In 1978, the MBTA and the Cambridge Arts Council began a program entitled Arts on the Line to add public art to new and renovated subway stations. For the Red Line Northwest Extension, 0.5% of the cost of the project was reserved for artworks. They were largely constructed of durable materials like stone and metal, designed to withstand vandalism as well as normal wear and tear for 75 years.

Six of the original twenty artworks are located at Alewife station:

  • The Alewife Reservation Mural Project by David Fichter – an mural depicting plants and animals found in the Alewife Brook Reservation, located on the south end of the garage. Painted by Fitcher and twelve students (most from Cambridge Rindge and Latin School) in 2004, it was funded by the Friends of Alewife Reservation and the Cambridge Arts Council.

<gallery mode="packed">

File:Untitled Richard Fleischner artwork at Alewife station (2), November 2020.jpg|alt=A sculpture of large granite blocks with pavers and trees|Untitled (Richard Fleischner)

File:Detail of Alewife Wayside (1), November 2020.jpg|alt=Tiles with blue abstract portraits on a brown tile wall|Alewife Wayside

File:Alewife Cows, November 2020.jpg|alt=A mural of a fake doorway with cows grazing in a field|Alewife Cows

File:The End of the Red Line, 1985.jpg|alt=Red neon tubes hanging in a pattern|The End of the Red Line

File:Alewife tile at Alewife station, November 2020.jpg|alt=A bronze tiles with a reliefs of a fish|Untitled (Nancy Webb)

File:Sculpture as a Sign (1), November 2020.jpg|alt=A large metal disk with "T" cut out from the middle, in front of a parking garage|Sculpture as a Sign

</gallery>

References

  • MBTA – Alewife
  • MBTA – Transit-Oriented Development at Alewife
  • Google Maps Street View: south entrance, west entrance, east headhouse