General Infrastructure

Attleboro was a stop on the Cape Codder from 1986 to 1989. Its platforms are not Amtrak length - about 900 northbound and 725 southbound.

Wickford Junction, TF Green, Pawtucket/Central Falls, South Attleboro, Attleboro, Sharon, Readville, Hyde Park, and Ruggles (side platform) are all approximately MBTA standard length (800 feet). Mansfield and Canton have at least one sub-700 foot platform. Providence, Route 128, Forest Hills, Ruggles (center platform), Back Bay, and South Station all have 1050-foot (12-car) Amtrak standard platforms.
 
Attleboro was a stop on the Cape Codder from 1986 to 1989. Its platforms are not Amtrak length - about 900 northbound and 725 southbound.

Wickford Junction, TF Green, Pawtucket/Central Falls, South Attleboro, Attleboro, Sharon, Readville, Hyde Park, and Ruggles (side platform) are all approximately MBTA standard length (800 feet). Mansfield and Canton have at least one sub-700 foot platform. Providence, Route 128, Forest Hills, Ruggles (center platform), Back Bay, and South Station all have 1050-foot (12-car) Amtrak standard platforms.
Did you ever do a diagram for Braintree?
 
I have no idea where this would go so just putting it here.


More parkland, paths could be coming to the banks of the Neponset in Hyde Park

By adamg on Wed, 04/19/2023 - 10:25am
Aerial rendering of proposed new park along the Neponset off River Street


“The Boston Conservation Commission this evening is scheduled to review state plans to turn what is now a large grass field and poison-ivy-infested woods along the Neponset near the Shops at Riverwood into a new park with trails, a river observation platform and a performance area.
Separately, the Metropolitan Area Planning Council and the Neponset River Watershed Association are studying the idea of connecting the Neponset Greenway path, which now ends in Readville, to the Blue Hills Reservation on the other side of Neponset Valley Parkway.
Conservation Commission approval is one of the last things the state Department of Conservation and Recreation needs before it can begin turning the former Doyle Playground off River and Rosa streets into a riverside park. The commission's hearingsbegin at 6 p.m. DCR plans originally called for construction to have begun last fall.
People of Hyde Park Wanting Equal Representation first began fighting to do something with the nearly one-acre parcel - which runs along the river to the old dam behind the shopping-mall property - in 2016. Through local fundraising and grants, the group and the Southwest Community Development Corp. raised enough to hire a design firm to plot out a new park, even as POWHER members were spending time cleaning up the River Street side of the parcel and erecting a river-themed mural.”

https://www.universalhub.com/2023/more-parkland-paths-could-be-coming-shores
 
I have no idea where this would go so just putting it here.


More parkland, paths could be coming to the banks of the Neponset in Hyde Park

By adamg on Wed, 04/19/2023 - 10:25am
Aerial rendering of proposed new park along the Neponset off River Street


“The Boston Conservation Commission this evening is scheduled to review state plans to turn what is now a large grass field and poison-ivy-infested woods along the Neponset near the Shops at Riverwood into a new park with trails, a river observation platform and a performance area.
Separately, the Metropolitan Area Planning Council and the Neponset River Watershed Association are studying the idea of connecting the Neponset Greenway path, which now ends in Readville, to the Blue Hills Reservation on the other side of Neponset Valley Parkway.
Conservation Commission approval is one of the last things the state Department of Conservation and Recreation needs before it can begin turning the former Doyle Playground off River and Rosa streets into a riverside park. The commission's hearingsbegin at 6 p.m. DCR plans originally called for construction to have begun last fall.
People of Hyde Park Wanting Equal Representation first began fighting to do something with the nearly one-acre parcel - which runs along the river to the old dam behind the shopping-mall property - in 2016. Through local fundraising and grants, the group and the Southwest Community Development Corp. raised enough to hire a design firm to plot out a new park, even as POWHER members were spending time cleaning up the River Street side of the parcel and erecting a river-themed mural.”

https://www.universalhub.com/2023/more-parkland-paths-could-be-coming-shores

Hyde Park Infill & Small Developments?
 
This morning, a truck carrying heating oil struck a disabled car on the southbound span of the Gold Star bridge, which carries I-95 between Groton and New London, Connecticut. 2,200 gallons of oil spilled, massive fire, span closed for potentially days to weeks depending on damage. Sadly, the truck driver was killed.

1682110010845.png

Source: https://www.ctinsider.com/connecticut/article/fire-new-london-groton-gold-star-bridge-17910903.php

1682110066685.png

Source: https://www.wfsb.com/2023/04/21/crash-vehicle-fire-closes-i-95-groton/

There aren't any good alternate routes to the Mohegan-Pequot Bridge, 8 miles north. Routes 12 and 117 are both one lane per direction for most of their length, so today's traffic chaos is unsurprising:
1682110719229.png


If the span does end up out of service for an extended period during repairs, it's probably possible to built temporary crossovers for SB traffic to use part of the wide NB span.
 
This morning, a truck carrying heating oil struck a disabled car on the southbound span of the Gold Star bridge, which carries I-95 between Groton and New London, Connecticut. 2,200 gallons of oil spilled, massive fire, span closed for potentially days to weeks depending on damage. Sadly, the truck driver was killed.

View attachment 36807
Source: https://www.ctinsider.com/connecticut/article/fire-new-london-groton-gold-star-bridge-17910903.php

View attachment 36808
Source: https://www.wfsb.com/2023/04/21/crash-vehicle-fire-closes-i-95-groton/

There aren't any good alternate routes to the Mohegan-Pequot Bridge, 8 miles north. Routes 12 and 117 are both one lane per direction for most of their length, so today's traffic chaos is unsurprising:
View attachment 36813

If the span does end up out of service for an extended period during repairs, it's probably possible to built temporary crossovers for SB traffic to use part of the wide NB span.
The federal government needs to step in and close the bridge entirely and institute slow zones along the entire length of I-95 for at least 12 months until 100% safety can be assured.
 
It seems that most of the southbound lanes on the deadly and dangerous Gold Star Bridge have been reopened to traffic.

I’m looking to find the thorough study of the causes of Friday’s fatality and environmental disaster, as well as a report on what will be done to prevent future events like it, but I can’t find one. Surely the government required lots of careful analysis and costly redesign work to ensure that such a disaster won’t repeat itself. Right?
 
I’m looking to find the thorough study of the causes of Friday’s fatality and environmental disaster, as well as a report on what will be done to prevent future events like it, but I can’t find one. Surely the government required lots of careful analysis and costly redesign work to ensure that such a disaster won’t repeat itself. Right?

I get the satirical point, though I am legitimately curious as to whether this one would be big enough to draw the NTSB's interest. (Seeing as how it sounds like the tanker hit a car that had a blowout or something, it seems like more "freak accident" than anything else.)
 
I get the satirical point, though I am legitimately curious as to whether this one would be big enough to draw the NTSB's interest. (Seeing as how it sounds like the tanker hit a car that had a blowout or something, it seems like more "freak accident" than anything else.)
You’ve gotta be fucking kidding me if you think anything could possibly change.
 
The NTSB is not going to get involved and if they do get involved they’ll write a report that says, “pobody’s nerfect, carry on.”
 
The NTSB is not going to get involved and if they do get involved they’ll write a report that says, “pobody’s nerfect, carry on.”

I mean, I wouldn't be entirely surprised if they didn't investigate this one, but they don't tend to be dismissive of safety concerns in their reports (they tend to be politely if noticeably annoyed when the actual regulatory agencies ignore their recommendations). I fully agree that the regulatory agencies aren't likely to do anything in response to this one (or, really, a lot of highway/road accidents that don't have seriously-high fatality numbers).
 
This morning, a truck carrying heating oil struck a disabled car on the southbound span of the Gold Star bridge, which carries I-95 between Groton and New London, Connecticut. 2,200 gallons of oil spilled, massive fire, span closed for potentially days to weeks depending on damage. Sadly, the truck driver was killed.

View attachment 36807
Source: https://www.ctinsider.com/connecticut/article/fire-new-london-groton-gold-star-bridge-17910903.php

View attachment 36808
Source: https://www.wfsb.com/2023/04/21/crash-vehicle-fire-closes-i-95-groton/

There aren't any good alternate routes to the Mohegan-Pequot Bridge, 8 miles north. Routes 12 and 117 are both one lane per direction for most of their length, so today's traffic chaos is unsurprising:
View attachment 36813

If the span does end up out of service for an extended period during repairs, it's probably possible to built temporary crossovers for SB traffic to use part of the wide NB span.
Heating oil should be shipped by rail instead of by highway.
 
^ My parents will be thrilled to see rail spurs installed at every house in the neighborhood!
I meant via rail as the principal route, then trucks from rail transfer points to homes.
 
I meant via rail as the principal route, then trucks from rail transfer points to homes.
Correct me if I'm wrong, but I thought the truck that tipped was one of those residential delivery tankers? Besides - the actual cure for this is to reduce residential hydrocarbon use through heat pumps and induction stoves gaining popularity.
 
The old Pawtucket-Central Falls Depot in Pawtucket continues to deteriorate. The 30,000 sf building opened in 1916 and sits above several tracks which carry Amtrak, MBTA Commuter rail, and freight. The structure has sat mostly empty and unused for decades. Despite efforts to secure all entrance points, people have still been able to get in and a fire had to be put out there in 2021. There had been talk over the years about rehabilitating it but it would be too costly. This along with its location over a curve in the tracks which no longer meets stations codes resulted in the new commuter rail station being opened nearby. It now appears that the station's days are numbered as it finally looks headed to demolition. Demolition over such a busy stretch of tracks will however be complicated and very costly.


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The old Pawtucket-Central Falls Depot in Pawtucket continues to deteriorate. The 30,000 sf building opened in 1916 and sits above several tracks which carry Amtrak, MBTA Commuter rail, and freight. The structure has sat mostly empty and unused for decades. Despite efforts to secure all entrance points, people have still been able to get in and a fire had to be put out there in 2021. There had been talk over the years about rehabilitating it but it would be too costly. This along with its location over a curve in the tracks which no longer meets stations codes resulted in the new commuter rail station being opened nearby. It now appears that the station's days are numbered as it finally looks headed to demolition. Demolition over such a busy stretch of tracks will however be complicated and very costly.


View attachment 37351



What a shame. I wonder if just offering the building for free plus $10m (or preferably an amount cheaper) would save it?
 

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