Hynes Convention Center (MBTA station)

HYNES CONVENTION CENTER
A train arrives at Hynes Convention Center station in 2002
Location	100 Massachusetts Avenue at 360 Newbury Street Boston, Massachusetts
Coordinates	42°20′52.1″N 71°5′16.18″W / 42.347806°N 71.0878278°W / 42.347806; -71.0878278Coordinates: 42°20′52.1″N 71°5′16.18″W / 42.347806°N 71.0878278°W / 42.347806; -71.0878278
Owned by	Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
Line(s)	Green Line "B", "C", "D" branches
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	2
Connections	MBTA Bus: CT1, 1, 55, 170
History
Opened	October 3, 1914
Previous names	Massachusetts (1914–1965) Auditorium (1965–1990) Hynes Convention Center/ICA (1990–2006)
Traffic
Passengers (2013)	8,946 (weekday average boardings)[1]
Services
Preceding station   MBTA   Following station Kenmore toward Boston College Green Line "B" Branch Copley toward Park Street Kenmore toward Riverside Green Line "D" Branch Kenmore toward Cleveland Circle Green Line "C" Branch Copley toward North Station

Hynes Convention Center is a light rail subway stop on the MBTA Green Line, located at the intersection of Newbury Street and Massachusetts Avenue at the west end of the Back Bay neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It was opened by the Boston Elevated Railway (BERy) in 1914 as a transfer station between east-west streetcars running in the Boylston Street Subway to the Tremont Street Subway, and north-south streetcars on Mass Ave. The surface cars were replaced by buses in the mid 20th century, though Hynes is still a transfer location to the key #1 bus route.

The subway station is not currently wheelchair accessible, although a renovation to the station is planned as part of air rights development over the adjacent Massachusetts Turnpike. Like all MBTA Bus stops, the surface-level bus stop is fully accessible.

History

Massachusetts station in 1914, shortly before the trolley station was constructed

The Boylston Street entrance, currently only opened for special events but proposed to be permanently opened as part of a development and renovation project

BERy era

Massachusetts station opened on October 3, 1914 as the westernmost station on the Boylston Street Subway, an extension of the 1897-built Tremont Street Subway. Streetcars in the tunnel surfaced just east of Kenmore Square to the west. As with most subway stations built by the Boston Elevated Railway, the station included a streetcar transfer facility. A reinforced concrete building was built between Newbury Street and Boylston Street over the Boston and Albany Railroad tracks, serving as a bidirectional loop for the 76 Harvard - Mass. Station and 47 Mass. Station - Dudley lines running on Massachusetts Avenue.

M.T.A. era

The 76 route was converted to trackless trolley on September 18, 1949. The 47 route was bustituted on September 12, 1953, followed by the 76 on March 31, 1961.^[2] The portion of the streetcar transfer station over the railroad tracks was closed in January 1963 and demolished shortly thereafter during the extension of the Mass Pike into downtown Boston.^[2]:48 A large dedicated bus shelter was built across Massachusetts Avenue for southbound riders, with an underground tunnel connecting from the subway station.

MBTA era

The station was renamed to Auditorium in 1965 upon the completion of the War Memorial Auditorium (later renamed Hynes Memorial Auditorium).^[2][3] The Auditorium was replaced by the Hynes Convention Center in 1988; two years later, the station was renamed Hynes Convention Center/ICA after the new building and the nearby Institute of Contemporary Art.^[2]

The tunnel to the bus shelter was closed due to security concerns in the 1990s; passengers must now cross at an adjacent crosswalk. In November 2006, shortly after the ICA relocated from its nearby location on Boylston Street to a new building on the South Boston Waterfront, the station was renamed a third time to Hynes Convention Center.^[2]

Planned renovations

The subway station is not currently wheelchair accessible. Design for accessibility improvements was advanced to the 15% design level in March 2013.^[4] On September 3, 2014, MassDOT announced the opening of bidding on air rights development over the Mass Pike on Parcel 13 next to the station. As part of the project, the developer will be required to renovate Hynes Convention Center station with elevators for handicapped accessibility, as well as reopening both the tunnel under Mass Ave and the disused headhouse.^[5][6]

Station layout

Like Arlington and Copley stations, Hynes Convention Center has two side platforms serving the two tracks of the Boylston Street Subway.

Bus shelter on Massachusetts Avenue across the street from the subway entrance.

The primary entrance to the station is from Massachusetts Avenue, which leads to the west end of the platforms. A secondary entrance from Boylston Street is normally closed; it is opened on Patriot's Day, to handle the spectators from the Boston Marathon, as well as for large events like Anime Boston at the convention center.^[7] For some of these events, like the 2014 Boston Marathon, it is open to exiting passengers only.^[8]

Bus connections

One crosstown route, two regular routes, and one limited-service route stop on Massachusetts Avenue at the station:

• CT1 Central Square, Cambridge - B.U. Medical Center/Boston Medical Center via M.I.T.
• 1 Harvard/Holyoke Gate - Dudley Station via Massachusetts Avenue & B.U. Medical Center
• 55 Jersey & Queensberry - Copley Square or Park & Tremont Streets via Ipswich Street
• 170 Central Square, Waltham - Dudley Square (limited service)

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Hynes Convention Center (MBTA station).

• MBTA - Hynes Convention Center
• MBTA - Accessibility Improvements
• Massachusetts Avenue entrance from Google Maps Street View

Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Subway lines (List of stations) Heavy rail      Blue      Orange      Red Light rail      Green "B" Branch "C" Branch "D" Branch "E" Branch      Ashmont–Mattapan      Commuter Rail lines (List of stations) North Station lines Fitchburg Haverhill (Wildcat Branch) Lowell Newburyport/Rockport South Station lines Fairmount Framingham/Worcester Franklin Greenbush Needham Old Colony (Kingston/Plymouth Middleborough/Lakeville      CapeFLYER) Providence/Stoughton Bus routes (List of routes)      Silver Crosstown routes Key routes Trackless trolleys Routes East Boston, Chelsea, Revere Melrose, Reading, Stoneham, Wakefield South Boston Other services      Boat The Ride Component parts of system lines      Boylston Street Subway      Haymarket North Extension      Lechmere Viaduct      Tremont Street Subway      Washington Street Subway Under construction           Government Center closure      Green Line Extension      South Coast Rail      Wachusett extension Proposed      Lynn extension           Red Line—Blue Line Connector Urban Ring Project      North–South Rail Link      Plaistow extension      Nashua extension      Westerly extension      Indigo Line (Fairmount Grand Junction Track 61) History Predecessor companies Boston Elevated Railway Eastern Massachusetts Street Railway Middlesex and Boston Street Railway Newton and Boston Street Railway Former lines      Atlantic Avenue Elevated      Causeway Street Elevated      Charlestown Elevated      Green Line "A" Branch      Lexington Branch Streetcar lines      Washington Street Elevated      Woburn Loop      History of the Green Line Other Accessibility Arts on the Line "Charlie on the M.T.A." CharlieCard Police Nomenclature Yards and maintenance facilities