Gov't Center Station Rebuild

Re: Gov't Center Rebuild

bigeman312 said:
Here's a question posed to the board:

Government Center is closed due to the rebuild. You do not have a monthly MBTA pass, or a Hubway membership (could get you part of the way). It is 5:15 pm on a Friday. You are standing at the corner of Arlington & Boylston in Back Bay. You want to get to Maverick Square in East Boston. What do you do? I can think of a few options, but I'd like to hear your opinions.
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Is it nice out? If so, I would walk the 15 minutes through the edge of the parks to the State Street Blue Line stop and take the train from there. Your question is more difficult to answer if it is nasty out and/or you are standing further up Boylston and that 15 or so min. walk is closer to 30 min.
 
Re: Gov't Center Rebuild

Walk to State or walk about 5 mins to Back Bay Station for Orange to State.
 
Re: Gov't Center Rebuild

underground said:
Walk to State or walk about 5 mins to Back Bay Station for Orange to State.
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From Arlington street it's closer to walk to Chinatown than to Back Bay, and quicker since you're walking in the right direction. Any further west than Arlington street and I'd agree with going to Back Bay.
 
Re: Gov't Center Rebuild

FenwayResident said:
From Arlington street it's closer to walk to Chinatown than to Back Bay, and quicker since you're walking in the right direction. Any further west than Arlington street and I'd agree with going to Back Bay.
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Or walk to Tufts Medical Center, Tremont Entrance.
 
Re: Gov't Center Rebuild

BosDevelop said:
Is it nice out? If so, I would walk the 15 minutes through the edge of the parks to the State Street Blue Line stop and take the train from there. Your question is more difficult to answer if it is nasty out and/or you are standing further up Boylston and that 15 or so min. walk is closer to 30 min.
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BosDev -- Bad weather walk to BackBay to get Orange [change at State] or walk to Arlington take any Green Line to Park [including the ones unaffected by anything after Park] -- pedestrian tunnel to DTX Orange Line to State as above

This one good example of where the Orange to Orange pedestrian connection from DTX to State along Washington St. would be a valuable option allowing an underground stroll from Park to State and direct Green to Blue transition -- they should have built this connector in the past two years
 
Re: Gov't Center Rebuild

datadyne007 said:
I forgot to mention they are also redoing the entire platform surface. Plan:

24eddol.png
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They are still keeping the old trolley platform section (in the bottom left)! My favorite part of that station is looking past the stairs where the old light fixtures and low platform are.


I hate that the media is hyping the "badly announced" closure, instead of the fact that the T said they were going to reopen the blue-only egress, and now did a 180 on it (just like Arlington's Berkeley St entrance).
 
Re: Gov't Center Rebuild

bigeman312 said:
Also, if I'm not mistaken, ending at Park Street means deadheading to Government Center and looping there. Is this true?
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Not necessarily, they can use the inner loop at Park Street. I don't know whether they will, though. If they intend to terminate both B and D at Park Street during rush hour, then it seems to make sense to make use of both turnarounds: turn the train running behind schedule at Park and turn the one on or close to schedule at Gov't Center. Assuming that the loop is usable.
 
Re: Gov't Center Rebuild

From the last time Government Center was rebuilt:
9502400203_3a1d440850_c.jpg


9502403107_b818d4b5a7_c.jpg


9502581061_907334b7af_c.jpg
 
Re: Gov't Center Rebuild

Matthew said:
Not necessarily, they can use the inner loop at Park Street. I don't know whether they will, though. If they intend to terminate both B and D at Park Street during rush hour, then it seems to make sense to make use of both turnarounds: turn the train running behind schedule at Park and turn the one on or close to schedule at Gov't Center. Assuming that the loop is usable.
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I vaguely recall seeing a claim somewhere that the D will turn at Gov't Center so it can continue to use the same berth at Park Street westbound... not sure about the B, but there doesn't seem to be a barrier to turning it at Park.
 
Re: Gov't Center Rebuild

That's true but they quite frequently announce platform changes for outbound D trains at Park Street for such circumstances.

Of course it's usually the B which is running further behind and needs to be expedited at Park Street anyway.
 
Re: Gov't Center Rebuild

novitiate said:
I vaguely recall seeing a claim somewhere that the D will turn at Gov't Center so it can continue to use the same berth at Park Street westbound... not sure about the B, but there doesn't seem to be a barrier to turning it at Park.
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from the T's project page:

During Government Center's closure, Green Line trains will pass through Government Center Station but not stop there. The last downtown stop will generally be the following for each branch:

• B Branch (Boston College) will end at Park Street
• C Branch (Cleveland Circle) will end at North Station
• D Branch (Riverside) will end at Park Street during rush hours and North Station at other times
• E Branch will end at Lechmere
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Re: Gov't Center Rebuild

Hopefully there will be a big upgrade in the lighting around this station. That area of Boston is pretty dark thanks to the poor street lighting that currently exists and the massive brick wasteland.
 
Re: Gov't Center Rebuild

Matthew said:
That's true but they quite frequently announce platform changes for outbound D trains at Park Street for such circumstances.

Of course it's usually the B which is running further behind and needs to be expedited at Park Street anyway.
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Why wouldn't they just temporarily resign the platforms so that D and B are on the inner track and E and C on the outer? Granted they'll always be making adjustments, but might be better from a crowd-control standpoint to be as consistent as possible through the closure.
 
Articles like this drive me INSANE.

http://bostinno.streetwise.co/2014/03/18/mbta-government-center-station-construction-schedule-1/

13 Massive Projects Done in Same or Less Time than Anticipated Gov. Center Station Revamp

BREAKING: MBTA Government Center Station will close this Saturday, March 22, for two years. Wait. You've heard about that? I bet Bostonians had a field day on Twitter. Oh. They did? Well, they should at least schedule a meeting with the T to hash out any differences. Damnit. Too late.

That's right, Boston, enjoy those Green and Blue Line trips in-and-out of Government Center while you still can – because they're limited. Riders will get picked up and dropped off there again, but only after a two-year hiatus. During which time, construction crews will work to improve accessibility inside and around the station, upgrade platform and fare collection areas, and revamp technological systems.

The MBTA plans to reopen Government Center Station by Spring 2016, and complete all construction sometime in the Fourth Quarter that same year.

As Matthew Durand suggested on Twitter, though, two years is a long time; plenty of time, history indicates, to build some of the most impressive structures in the world. So, Durand, you've inspired BostInno to let people know ...
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Five people died building the Empire State Building, so I guess we should push the schedule to 6 months and then not complain if we lose a couple of workers.

I get that it sucks the station will be closed, but it pisses me off to no end when the folks at BostInno complain about the T and then also are at the vanguard to stop the software services sales tax which is money that - you guessed it - would have gone to the T.
 
BostInno is a poor excuse for "journalism" in general. I can't take anything they say with more than a grain of salt. Sensationalism is a better term to describe what they do.

Also, this isn't the right time and place for a fight about the software services tax, but even I as a bleeding heart can realize it was deeply flawed and actually hurt people and businesses. There are plenty of other ways to fund the T.
 
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Passed through Gov't Center today, they have employees standing around handing out flyers and talking to people about the upcoming closure.
 
MBTAddict said:
I get that it sucks the station will be closed, but it pisses me off to no end when the folks at BostInno complain about the T and then also are at the vanguard to stop the software services sales tax which is money that - you guessed it - would have gone to the T.
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It was a stupid tax, poorly written, which is why it was repealed so quickly.

Besides, I think there's some room between rushing things to a fatal extent and the relaxed pace that things require in Boston.
 
RABBLE RABBLE RABBLE.

It's amazing what you can build in a vacuum. Nevermind what you can build in one of the countries oldest cities. Fuck these kids.
 
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