Valley Road station is a light rail station in

Milton, Massachusetts Milton is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States and an affluent suburb of Boston. The population was 28,630 at the 2020 census. Milton is the birthplace of former U.S. President George H. W. Bush, and architect Buckminster Fuller. ...

. It serves the

MBTA The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (abbreviated MBTA and known colloquially as "the T") is the public agency responsible for operating most public transportation services in Greater Boston, Massachusetts. The MBTA transit network in ...

Ashmont–Mattapan High-Speed Line The Ashmont–Mattapan High-Speed Line, commonly referred to as the Mattapan Trolley is a partially grade-separated light rail line which forms part of the MBTA's Red Line rapid transit line. The line, which runs through Boston and Milton, Ma ...

, a branch of the Red Line. The station is located off Eliot Street near Valley Road and consists of two

side platform A side platform (also known as a marginal platform or a single-face platform) is a platform positioned to the side of one or more railway tracks or guideways at a railway station, tram stop, or transitway. A station having dual side platforms ...

s that serve the lines's two tracks. Unlike all other stations on the Line, Valley Road is not

accessible Accessibility is the design of products, devices, services, vehicles, or environments so as to be usable by people with disabilities. The concept of accessible design and practice of accessible development ensures both "direct access" (i.e ...

History

Valley Road Station and Wall A, February 1930

Valley Road opened on December 21, 1929, along with and as the second phase of the

. Like Capen Street (opened in 1930) and (1931), it had not previously been the site of a railroad station. In 1932, local politicians advocated for the construction of a footbridge across the

Neponset River The Neponset River is a river in eastern Massachusetts in the United States. Its headwaters are at the Neponset Reservoir in Foxborough, near Gillette Stadium. From there, the Neponset meanders generally northeast for about to its mouth at ...

to provide transit access to the

Boston Consumptives Hospital The Boston Consumptives Hospital (Boston Sanatorium) is a historic tuberculosis hospital in the Mattapan neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It consists of a complex of eighteen historic buildings on of land. Most of these buildings were ...

from the station. The bridge was not built; until the Harvest River Bridge carrying the

Lower Neponset River Trail The Lower Neponset River Trail is a rail trail running along the Neponset River The Neponset River is a river in eastern Massachusetts in the United States. Its headwaters are at the Neponset Reservoir in Foxborough, near Gillette Stadium ...

was built about west in 2016, there was no pedestrian crossing of the river between Mattapan Square and Central Avenue. The whole line closed from June 24, 2006, to December 22, 2007, for a complete renovation. Unlike the other stations, Valley Road was not made accessible; its position below a hillside would have required a complex set of ramps. This was deemed too expensive for the stop, which has the second-lowest ridership of any MBTA rapid transit stop at just 44 daily riders. As part of a 2018 amendment to the settlement of Joanne Daniels-Finegold, et al. v. MBTA, the MBTA agreed to study whether and how to make the stop accessible.

References

External links

MBTA - Valley Road

Eliot Street entrance from Google Maps Street View
Red Line (MBTA) stations Railway stations in Norfolk County, Massachusetts Railway stations in the United States opened in 1929 1929 establishments in Massachusetts MBTA subway stations located above ground {{Massachusetts-railstation-stub