Green Line Extension to Medford & Union Sq

Having seen how the push to finish 2nd Ave Subway Phase 1 caused the final product to be built deficient, I say take the extra time to get it right.

Counterpoint: Is California HSR really using the extra decade to get it right?
 
Counterpoint: Is California HSR really using the extra decade to get it right?
That's not really a counterpoint. Corruption doesn't have infinite space to expand inside of a locked-down design. You can only cut QC corners rushing too hard to finish the full-designed thing, so clearly not undercutting the execution with too big a rush is paramount. It's when you never stop navel-gazing at the design long enough to get the show on the road that overcontemplation becomes worlds-destroying like CAHSR.

SAS Pt. I was this weird hybrid of too much open-ended navel gazing AND manufactured rush to cut corners for the optics sanctity of an overly rigid Opening Date.
 
As long as they don't pull a Crossrail and delay it by a year every year. Crossrail has had trains running through the system testing for over a year and still doesn't plan on being revenue ready until 2022. Obviously a far more complex system but it makes you realise some of the downsides of more automated signal and vehicle systems. One of the few upsides to the simplicity of the green line signalling is that it can't possibly take 3 years to test once trains are running on the new tracks.

Totally unrelated to GLX but Crossrail is a real beauty, we don't build stations like that here.

And back on topic here is a far better screengrab of the construction schedules for this summer.

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As long as they don't pull a Crossrail and delay it by a year every year. Crossrail has had trains running through the system testing for over a year and still doesn't plan on being revenue ready until 2022. Obviously a far more complex system but it makes you realise some of the downsides of more automated signal and vehicle systems. One of the few upsides to the simplicity of the green line signalling is that it can't possibly take 3 years to test once trains are running on the new tracks.

Totally unrelated to GLX but Crossrail is a real beauty, we don't build stations like that here.

And back on topic here is a far better screengrab of the construction schedules for this summer.

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What is the Orange line TOD listed as "Bullfinch" on the August to December chart, showing weekend station closings (where)? Is this Haymarket (then say the station) and the Bulfinch Crossing development (spell it right)?
 
(And yes they're proposing another month long e branch closure despite having done a full depth reconstruction in that section a mere 12 months ago. I can only dream that perhaps this one will involve actually improving how it runs in mixed traffic)

FWIW, the full-depth reconstruction was only on the South Huntington portion of the line, between Riverway and Heath. I walk past the Brigham-Riverway section multiple times a week and it is in dire shape, IMO. I hope and expect that the closure would focus on replacing that portion of the line.
 
Didnt they close the harvard busway last year? And the year before? And the year before?

If I'm reading the CIP correctly, it looks like $9.62m is getting spent on the project this year, in addition to the $11.63m spent in prior years? I'm confused as well as to what's being done this year, I was under the impression the project was supposed to be mostly wrapped up last year? (Although I haven't been in the tunnel in the past year to see for myself).
 
As long as they don't pull a Crossrail and delay it by a year every year. Crossrail has had trains running through the system testing for over a year and still doesn't plan on being revenue ready until 2022. Obviously a far more complex system but it makes you realise some of the downsides of more automated signal and vehicle systems. One of the few upsides to the simplicity of the green line signalling is that it can't possibly take 3 years to test once trains are running on the new tracks.

Totally unrelated to GLX but Crossrail is a real beauty, we don't build stations like that here.

Not to go too far off-topic, but I'd say we do. North Station, Courthouse, and WTC all compare aesthetically to the London stations (minus, of course, the platform doors). At least, they did when they were new.
 
If I'm reading the CIP correctly, it looks like $9.62m is getting spent on the project this year, in addition to the $11.63m spent in prior years? I'm confused as well as to what's being done this year, I was under the impression the project was supposed to be mostly wrapped up last year? (Although I haven't been in the tunnel in the past year to see for myself).

The bus tunnel is definitely mostly done, so, is there mabye $2mn left to spend this year?
 
As long as they don't pull a Crossrail and delay it by a year every year. Crossrail has had trains running through the system testing for over a year and still doesn't plan on being revenue ready until 2022. Obviously a far more complex system but it makes you realise some of the downsides of more automated signal and vehicle systems. One of the few upsides to the simplicity of the green line signalling is that it can't possibly take 3 years to test once trains are running on the new tracks.

The delays plaguing Crossrail aren't pinned on just the realisation of automated signal/vehicle systems, though, the breaking in of automated signaling and vehicle systems do take longer given the highest standards demanded of those systems -- it's ever more likely to be delayed by the integration of the automated CrossLizPurp line with the non-automated systems of the West Coast Main Line and Great Eastern Main Line.
 
And back on topic here is a far better screengrab of the construction schedules for this summer.

I want to drill down on this a little bit. The MBTA refers to the North Station <-> Lechmere bus shuttle as May 24, 2020 – Spring 2021, but the slides presented yesterday show the shuttles replacing service through at least July. I just wish the MBTA would be more transparent, accurate, and consistent with its messaging. They know that service won't be restored until at least October, so why not just say so upfront from the start?
 
I want to drill down on this a little bit. The MBTA refers to the North Station <-> Lechmere bus shuttle as May 24, 2020 – Spring 2021, but the slides presented yesterday show the shuttles replacing service through at least July. I just wish the MBTA would be more transparent, accurate, and consistent with its messaging. They know that service won't be restored until at least October, so why not just say so upfront from the start?
My take on it is that they started the shutdown of the GL to Lechmere in May 2020 not knowing if they'd be able to make their schedule of spring 2021 given the corona pandemic. I'd hope they update all their materials soon though, now that they updated the board
 
[Great stuff on Crossrail, CAHSR, 2AS and the OL, but I may mod move some of the Whataboutism on other systems and lines to the General MBTA thread]
 
What is "Bullfinch" [sic] on the Orange line?
I asked the same question a page or so ago, no answer. I thought maybe Haymarket/Government Center Garage head house and Bulfinch Crossing. But that head house is more directly connected to the Green Line!
 
I asked the same question a page or so ago, no answer. I thought maybe Haymarket/Government Center Garage head house and Bulfinch Crossing. But that head house is more directly connected to the Green Line!

That's obviously what it refers to, though. That implies that the MBTA thinks the garage is coming down starting in August.
 
pix of the gilman sq platform, gravel-laden tracks to magoun sq, the transformer box or whatever that grey thing is at gilman, and snuck in a shot of the knights of malta directly across from the station b/c it's a cool-ass building and one of the very few old-school structures from back in the day.
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The third Somerville High School webcam has been repositioned today with a nice view of the Gilman Square Station and School Street bridge work.
 

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