Assembly Sq <-> Casino Footbridge

andrew.816 said:
Finally some news on this.

https://mass.streetsblog.org/2023/06/20/car-free-mystic-river-bridge-will-begin-construction-in-2024
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Why do we have to half-ass everything? The fact this doesn’t provide encore a direction OL connection is a real big draw back, is it not?

This area is so ripe for major development. It’s underserved for sure

I know the slope of the CR bridge makes it hard for an CR station immediately at encore but why can’t the bridge be rebuilt? or a CR station be built a few hundred yards north from Encore and have a walking path leading to the pedestrian bridge that crosses the water and then splits in two directions - one right into the OL station and another directly into the Assembly retain area
 
Found some new renders.

1687749677881.jpeg

1687749690344.jpeg

1687749702523.jpeg

Brownlie-Ernst-and-Marks-BEaM-Mystic-River-Footbridge-d2.jpg
rendering.jpg

Brownlie-Ernst-and-Marks-BEaM-Mystic-River-Footbridge-b2.jpg

QA43S52MI6BNQBQERLDOB2L3JI.JPG
1687749715462.jpeg

https://mysticriver.org/greenways-blog/2018/3/28/mystic-river-crossing-everett-and-somerville
 
stick n move said:
Found some new renders.
Brownlie-Ernst-and-Marks-BEaM-Mystic-River-Footbridge-b2.jpg


QA43S52MI6BNQBQERLDOB2L3JI.JPG
View attachment 39568

https://mysticriver.org/greenways-blog/2018/3/28/mystic-river-crossing-everett-and-somerville
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Now this changes things a lot because this presents a connection to the OL - making the investment and project as a whole worthwhile

Tallguy said:
Such a waste of taxpayer funds
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If it connects with the Orange Line at Assembly it’s a worthwhile project. By the same token I do think a large scale investment would be better.

Imagine if the OL branched into two services (IE the RL) and turned at Assembly to a station between Encore and the Encore expansion across the street - with a connection to a CR stop behind Encore (bordering Gateway)… that would take cars off the road and boost all 4 properties tremendously
 
NoShJFK said:
Now this changes things a lot because this presents a connection to the OL - making the investment and project as a whole worthwhile



If it connects with the Orange Line at Assembly it’s a worthwhile project. By the same token I do think a large scale investment would be better.

Imagine if the OL branched into two services (IE the RL) and turned at Assembly to a station between Encore and the Encore expansion across the street - with a connection to a CR stop behind Encore (bordering Gateway)… that would take cars off the road and boost all 4 properties tremendously
Click to expand...
The station that would make the most sense would be a new connection to the Grand Junction line hitting CR, Silver, Orange, Green and Red. But that’s going to be much more expensive — and more out of reach — because this overbuilt thing has to cross two existing ROWs to connect directly to the casino. Instead of going toward the back of Costco in a straight line and maybe building a bridge to the back of the casino property.
The casino shiny suits have too much influence on Beacon Hill.
But I repeat myself
 
NoShJFK said:
Now this changes things a lot because this presents a connection to the OL - making the investment and project as a whole worthwhile

It's nearly a half mile from OL to Encore. 75 ft in the air above an ocean estuary. In January. This is no "connection", this is a disaster.

If it connects with the Orange Line at Assembly it’s a worthwhile project. By the same token I do think a large scale investment would be better.

Imagine if the OL branched into two services (IE the RL) and turned at Assembly to a station between Encore and the Encore expansion across the street - with a connection to a CR stop behind Encore (bordering Gateway)… that would take cars off the road and boost all 4 properties tremendously
Click to expand...
 
NoShJFK said:
Now this changes things a lot because this presents a connection to the OL - making the investment and project as a whole worthwhile



If it connects with the Orange Line at Assembly it’s a worthwhile project. By the same token I do think a large scale investment would be better.

Imagine if the OL branched into two services (IE the RL) and turned at Assembly to a station between Encore and the Encore expansion across the street - with a connection to a CR stop behind Encore (bordering Gateway)… that would take cars off the road and boost all 4 properties tremendously
Click to expand...
From the 2023 news article:
The T's latest Capital Investment Plan, its 5-year budget for upcoming construction projects, does not include any projects for the Assembly station.

That means that even though the Somerville end of the new bridge will land right next to the Assembly station, MBTA riders will only be able to get there by walking half a mile out of their way in order to cross under the Orange Line at Artisan Way (see map above).
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The renders posted above are from 2018.
 
I find that description of the Alford Street bridge to be quite inaccurate. It's actually a pretty comfortable route to ride up until you hit Sullivan Square. And even that isn't so bad once you are familiar with it. I definitely support the pedestrian/bike bridge, but I don't think the current setup is a complete disaster by any measure.
 
HenryAlan said:
I find that description of the Alford Street bridge to be quite inaccurate. It's actually a pretty comfortable route to ride up until you hit Sullivan Square. And even that isn't so bad once you are familiar with it. I definitely support the pedestrian/bike bridge, but I don't think the current setup is a complete disaster by any measure.
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I dunno, I find Sullivan square on a bike terrifying.
 
Ruairi said:
I dunno, I find Sullivan square on a bike terrifying.
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Agreed. I'm actually more comfortable riding through the intersection of North Washington/Chelsea Street (City Square) than at Sullivan. I think by the time cars' light cycles let them into Sullivan, they accelerate far faster than is safe for vulnerable road users to make it around comfortably. Especially any time the underpass is closed (like now).
 
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