MIT Judo Club

Directions


MIT is currently a vast construction wasteland, which makes parking and access a little more confusing than the usual chaos. Please read through the directions before you start on your way. If you get close to campus, people on the street should be able to tell you where the athletic center is.

These general directions and maps come largely verbatim from the main MIT direction website. This duplicate page offers a little more insight into parking and access to the athletic center. If you want tailored directions through MapQuest or MapBlast, use "77 Massachusetts Avenue, Cambridge MA 02139" for the destination address of the main entrance at MIT.

Boston Area

MIT is located on the north shore of the Charles River Basin in Cambridge, Massachusetts, USA. The campus is within 3 miles of two major interstate highways, less than 6 miles from a major international airport, and is accessible via public transportation. MIT is a 15-30 minute walk from downtown Boston (depending on the weather). MIT is a 20-40 minute walk from Harvard University (located just up the river from the MIT campus).

via Public Transportation - MBTA ("The T")

Subway By train, take the Red Line to the Kendall/MIT Station or to the Central Square Station, both of which are a short walk from the campus. The walk from Central Square takes about 10 minutes and takes you right down Massachusetts Avenue. The Kendall/MIT Station is on the edge of the east end of campus, and as soon as you enter an MIT building you can get to the other buildings without going outside.
You have a 15-minute walk to the DuPont Athletic Center. Ask someone to point you toward Massachusetts Avenue and the main entrance/student center area.
Follow the Finally on Foot directions at the bottom.

Bus The #1 or Dudley bus stops at MIT on Massachusetts Avenue and provides transportation to Central Square and Harvard Square. The MIT stop is at a large crosswalk with a stop light. One one side of the street are steps leading up to large Ionic columns and the Small Dome of MIT, on the other side of the street is the Stratton Student Center and Kresge Oval (an open, grass-covered area).
You want to be on the student center side of the road.
Follow the Finally on Foot directions at the bottom.

MIT Area

By Road

From the North (I-95 or I-93)...If you are heading south on I-93, follow I-93 into Boston then follow the I-93 instructions below.
If you are heading south on I-95, take the I-93 South exit then follow the instructions from I-93. Alternatively, take the I-90 East exit from I-95 then follow the instructions from I-90.

From the South (I-95 or I-93)...If you are heading north on I-93, follow I-93 (the Southeast Expressway) into Boston then follow the I-93 instructions below.
If you are heading north on I-95, take the I-93 North exit then follow the instructions from I-93. Alternatively, take the I-90 East exit from I-95 then follow the instructions from I-90.

From the West (I-90) (Mass Turnpike)
Follow I-90 east to the Cambridge/Brighton exit (exit 18). Following the signs to Cambridge, cross the River Street Bridge, and continue straight about 1 mile to Central Square. Turn right onto Massachusetts Avenue and follow Massachusetts Avenue for about a half mile.
When the road shrinks due to construction equipment, you are very close (if you cross the river again, you have gone too far). At the corner of Mass Ave and Vassar, you will see a giant red-brick warehouse on your right that declares the Metropolitan fireproof warehouse in large white paint block letters. Turn here in either direction (left is sometimes difficult), and take the nearest legal parking space.
Follow the Finally on Foot directions at the bottom.

From Route I-93
Please note... this exit is a new exciting experience about every other week due to the Big Dig. Give yourself extra time and a good deep breath. When all else fails, follow signs to Storrow Drive (West).

From I-93, take exit 26, and follow the signs to Back Bay along Storrow Drive West, approximately 1.5 miles, to the exit for Route 2A. The exit will be on the left, just before the Harvard Bridge (more appropriately called the Massachusetts Avenue Bridge). The Charles River will be on your right. As you cross the bridge, you will be looking at MIT - the Great Dome and academic facilities are on the right, the dormitories and athletic facilities are on the left.
After you have passed the traffic light at the forbidding columned campus entrance, the next light is Vassar Street. Turn here in either direction (left is sometimes difficult), and take the nearest legal parking space.
Follow the Finally on Foot directions at the bottom.

From Tohoku
If you are coming directly from Tohoku, drive East on Somerville Ave. As you approach Union Square, drive in the right lane. Cross straight through the traffic light at Union Square and continue straight through the next light.
At the third traffic light, you are at a 5-way intersection. Take the 90-degree right turn onto Prospect.
Drive south on Prospect straight through two traffic lights (crossing over Cambridge St. and Hampshire).
Turn left at the third light onto Broadway. You will go through a good number of intersections before you cross over the railroad tracks.
Turn right immediately after the railroad tracks onto Vassar Street. Go straight through the traffic light at Main St (where straight is defined as anything that is not a right turn). Continue straight on Vassar.
You will pass a giant construction hole on your left that will become the Bill Gates computer center. Once you have passed it, park somewhere on the side of the street.
Follow the Finally on Foot directions at the bottom.

Some Notes On Parking
Read signs. Parking restrictions are in force on Saturdays, and the City of Cambridge makes a staggeringly large part of its revenue from parking enforcement. Minor violations are $10/ticket.

Your best bet is on Vassar. It is free. You can find parallel parking northeast of Mass Ave, or you can find delineated roadside spaces southwest of Mass Ave toward the river. Most of these spaces are just beyond the dorm construction on the right side of the road across from the athletic fields.

Massachusetts Avenue meters are largely shut down right now due to construction, and did you really want to park that close to those cranes, anyway?

Memorial Drive (along the river) parking is free, as well, and it should not be difficult to find early on a Saturday morning. On the down side, parallel parking from this active highway can be harrowing, and you will have a bit of a walk.

Other local streets, such as Albany, also allow non-resident parking, but you may have to deal with two-hour parking limits.

Athletic Center W32

Finally on Foot

You need to get to the DuPont Athletic Center (building W32), which is on the corner of Vassar Street and Massachusetts Avenue. Regardless of what the maps say, YOU CANNOT ACCESS THE ATHLETIC CENTER FROM VASSAR STREET. Construction on campus is far from pedestrian-friendly, so you must walk to Massachusetts Avenue, which is looking like a bombing zone these days.

On the four corners of Mass Ave, you have a parking lot, a fireproof warehouse, the Aero/Astro building, and the Campus Police in a red-brick castle-like building. Get on the corner with the brick castle.

Walk past the castle (the castle is connected to DuPont, but access is not granted). You are now faced with a giant concrete mushroom with windows, which is the Stratton Student Center.

The DuPont Athletic Center is behind the concrete mushroom and the castle. Climb the stairs next to the garbage dumpsters and loading dock, walk down the next set of stairs, and walk through a nicely gardened area to your right.

The entrance to the DuPont Athletic Center is now marked with a makeshift wooden covered wheelchair ramp. The signs on the door forbiddingly declare that you must present your MIT ID. We will do something about this obstacle before the seminar.

Welcome! You made it. The locker rooms are on the first floor down the hall to the right. The Wrestling Room is on the second floor.


Last updated April 22, 2001

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