How to Get There? (Greater Boston area)

February 2, 2007 11:07 AM

CluelessFilter, MassachusettsFilter: "Mobil station at exit 17 off 495 in Franklin". Totally lost about how to find out whether this location is even vaguely accessible via the MBTA/commuter rail? I can plug in an address at the MBTA site but I have no idea how to find nearby addresses or that of the Mobil station at that particular exit.
posted by Firas to Travel & Transportation around Boston, MA (11 answers total)

Google and MBTA suggest that it is accessible by commuter rail

Address of Exit 17 found from http://www.franklin.ma.us/auto/schools/fhs/athletics/directions/default.htm
posted by phoenixy at 11:17 AM on February 2, 2007

Considering that Switchboard lists exactly one Mobil station in Franklin, I suspect that the address is 660 W Central St., especially as that seems to be right off an exit of 495.
posted by cerebus19 at 11:18 AM on February 2, 2007

The Mobil station is about a mile from the Forge Park station.
posted by dchase at 11:21 AM on February 2, 2007

Yep, and from this map on the MBTA site, it would appear that the Forge Park/495 stop is not far at all from the station.
posted by cerebus19 at 11:21 AM on February 2, 2007

It looks like that's within walking distance of the last stop on the Franklin commuter train line.
posted by Steven C. Den Beste at 11:22 AM on February 2, 2007

Response by poster: You guys totally rock. Thanks!
posted by Firas at 11:26 AM on February 2, 2007

For future reference, I've had a lot of luck with this Google Maps plugin for finding relative distances to T stations. Won't help you with commuter rail stops, but it's a lifesaver if you're trying to navigate downtown.
posted by Mayor West at 11:39 AM on February 2, 2007

Mayor West, I had that page bookmarked, but I stopped using it when the T rolled out the new website with its GMaps based trip-planner. Am I missing something? It doesn't seem to have any functionality the official site doesn't.
posted by Horace Rumpole at 11:57 AM on February 2, 2007

Horace Rumpole: Hmm... it would appear not. I'd not perused the new MBTA layout, it's actually really well done. The old layout was almost unusable for trip-planning (walk 2.5 miles? No thanks.), but this is very useful.
posted by Mayor West at 12:22 PM on February 2, 2007

I was alerted to this thread a bit late, but the Mobil station in question is less than four miles from my house and I could throw a rock out of my old office and hit it.

Neither the downtown Franklin nor the Forge Park Commuter Rail Station are within comfortable walking distance, but you can get to the Forge Park station on foot if you had to. You will, however, have to walk alongside quite a busy highway (Route 140, also known as West Central Street) and cross over another one - there's a big overpass across Route 495. We're also, unfortunately, not yet on a Regional Transit Authority (although we've been trying for some time) so there's no busses in the area at the moment, either.

Good luck, Firas - email me if you need any assistance in the area!
posted by yhbc at 1:48 PM on February 2, 2007

Response by poster: Thanks yhbc! I was going to pick up a second hand mp3 player via someone I found on craigslist (as a stopgap until I could get my hands on a clix) but when I got to South Station I realized that the commuter rail fare out there and back would be like $15! I then ditched the idea and walked over to the RadioShack near Downtown Crossing and picked up a new c250, intending to return it in 20 days or so when my clix ships. I'm such a sleazy bastard :p
posted by Firas at 4:31 PM on February 2, 2007