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<Reconstruction Photo Page#1>

Here is a photo showing the intersection of Brookline Boulevard and Pioneer Avenue during the Boulevard reconstruction project in 1935. To the right will be built a new retaining wall. The wall will seperate the Boulevard from the newly formed Bodkin Street, which was initially part of the main road. This was one of the civic infrastructure improvements launched by the Joint Civic Committee back in the 1930s designed to improve living conditions in Brookline.

The project entailed re-routing the Boulevard onto the Pittsburgh Railways right-of-way (to the right in the background), which was previously used for rail traffic only. The looping section of the Boulevard that we know today was, at the time, just a narrow passage with a pair of double-track trolley lines. The Boulevard itself was a straight roadway, heading down what is now refered to as Bodkin Street on its way towards West Liberty Avenue.

The trolley right-of-way was widened to make a four lane roadway, and covered in cobblestones. The trolley tracks were laid into the stones and from 1935 on the new roadway was shared by trolleys and vehicular traffic. It made access to the commercial district much quicker and safer, taking a load of traffic off of the narrow lower section, which was renamed Bodkin and given status as a dead-end residential roadway.

This project was one of the major achievements of the Civic Committee in the 1930s and a major advancement for the community itself. This is an interesting look back at one of the pivotal moments in the growth of our community.