Green Line Extension to Medford & Union Sq

RandomWalk said:
They want to give folks hope for a Bedford-Tufts routing.
Click to expand...

In that case, there'll have to be some eminient domain of some residential areas of East Arlington to connect the B&L mainline ROW in Somerville with the Minuteman ROW to reach Bedford from Medford/Tufts. Don't get hopes too high up for that to happen. The last direct ROW from Somerville to Bedford branches off just before Magoun Sq., through Davis and Alewife to head up the Minuteman ROW.

Anyhow, now that the GLX to Tufts is done, is this thread now the "Green Line Extension extension to Route 16", if it ever happens?
 
Medford branch is already being closed for construction.

7C1EC627-07AA-4679-9086-080632284E68.jpeg
 
Last edited by a moderator:
cubbe8 said:
Medford branch is already being closed for construction.
[...on Sunday, January 8 to allow for emergency repair work on waterlines at Medford/Tufts station]
Click to expand...
I wonder whose water lines? Might be this big distribution line that crosses the tracks there at the station. It is big enough that you'd probably want to de-energize the OCS served from Ball Sq (roughly the stations they're closing)
MWRA.jpg
 
Arlington said:
I wonder whose water lines? Might be this big distribution line that crosses the tracks there at the station. It is big enough that you'd probably want to de-energize the OCS served from Ball Sq (roughly the stations they're closing)
View attachment 32393
Click to expand...
Couldn’t they have at least ran service to Magoun? I know there is a switch over just north of the station.
 
fatnoah said:
I think you misspelled Woburn Center. ;)
Click to expand...

Route 16 or West Medford is probably as far as the GLX should go. As such, there's only really 1 more stop, maybe 2 if crossing the bridge is desired, to add to the GLX past Medford/Tufts.

Winchester and Woburn are going to need a make a good land use plan to justify full rapid transit extension past West Medford, to what is currently a low-density suburb. Otherwise, all transit service past West Medford that could be justified is that hourly 134 bus, or the commuter rail. Car centric sprawl means running transit becomes a lot more expensive, with more areas to cover, when development is spread out in low density and automobile oriented suburbs..
 
Brattle Loop said:
Huh, and right after Baker leaves office, too... :rolleyes: :ROFLMAO:
Click to expand...

Wouldn't they have done it Jan. 1st, before Baker leaves office, if it weren't for the holiday?

cubbe8 said:
Couldn’t they have at least ran service to Magoun? I know there is a switch over just north of the station.
Click to expand...

I'm curious to know how would they run the shuttle buses. Medford/Tufts isn't exactly a terminal station for any existing bus route, unlike the other stops on the MBTA subway when busitution is done. Nor is there a busway (like Oak Grove has) at the terminal or any of the GLX stations for buses.

Is there a loop at Medford/Tufts or East Somerville?

Also very curious to see if shuttle buses will use the Magoun Sq. GLX stop, or instead use the Route 89 stop 1/2 mile away. The MBTA doesn't really want to run buses north-south through Somerville, due to the hilly terrain. Broadway, Highland Ave., and Medford St., are kinda the only options, plus McGrath Hwy.
 
Delvin4519 said:
Wouldn't they have done it Jan. 1st, before Baker leaves office, if it weren't for the holiday?



I'm curious to know how would they run the shuttle buses. Medford/Tufts isn't exactly a terminal station for any existing bus route, unlike the other stops on the MBTA subway when busitution is done. Nor is there a busway (like Oak Grove has) at the terminal or any of the GLX stations for buses.

Is there a loop at Medford/Tufts or East Somerville?

Also very curious to see if shuttle buses will use the Magoun Sq. GLX stop, or instead use the Route 89 stop 1/2 mile away. The MBTA doesn't really want to run buses north-south through Somerville, due to the hilly terrain. Broadway, Highland Ave., and Medford St., are kinda the only options, plus McGrath Hwy.
Click to expand...
Also where will they run buses at East Somerville as there isn’t really a place for them to stop.
 
Last edited:
Delvin4519 said:
I'm curious to know how would they run the shuttle buses. Medford/Tufts isn't exactly a terminal station for any existing bus route, unlike the other stops on the MBTA subway when busitution is done. Nor is there a busway (like Oak Grove has) at the terminal or any of the GLX stations for buses.

Is there a loop at Medford/Tufts or East Somerville?
Click to expand...
When the Union Square branch was bustituited at various times in fall, Shuttle buses had roadside layovers on Prospect St.

Tufts has much less traffic, so that's a plus. The minus is that unlike Union Square, there isn't really a good way to turn the buses around.
 
as02143 said:
My assumption is that they will mostly follow the route of the 80.
Click to expand...

That's my thinking too, but it means if you getting off and on at Magoun Sq., the shuttle bus stop will be a full 1/2 mile away from where the trains stop (Lowell St.), as it would use Route 89's stop at Magoun Sq @ Broadway (assumption). Hence why I posed the thought directly.
 
Delvin4519 said:
That's my thinking too, but it means if you getting off and on at Magoun Sq., the shuttle bus stop will be a full 1/2 mile away from where the trains stop (Lowell St.), as it would use Route 89's stop at Magoun Sq @ Broadway (assumption). Hence why I posed the thought directly.
Click to expand...

Perhaps they haven't even had a time to test run a shuttle route for this new branch too
 
Can’t they terminate at Magoun or Ball instead of East Somerville? There is a crossover between the 2 stations.
 
cubbe8 said:
Can’t they terminate at Magoun or Ball instead of East Somerville? There is a crossover between the 2 stations.
Click to expand...
The crossover doesn’t matter much if it is under wires they have to de-energize as fed from Ball Sq.

Magoun doesn’t have the.curb space for idling shuttles.
 
Arlington said:
The crossover doesn’t matter much if it is under wires they have to de-energize as fed from Ball Sq.

Magoun doesn’t have the.curb space for idling shuttles.
Click to expand...
I wonder if any of the proposals have any digrams of the proposed power system.
 
Delvin4519 said:
Route 16 or West Medford is probably as far as the GLX should go. As such, there's only really 1 more stop, maybe 2 if crossing the bridge is desired, to add to the GLX past Medford/Tufts.

Winchester and Woburn are going to need a make a good land use plan to justify full rapid transit extension past West Medford, to what is currently a low-density suburb. Otherwise, all transit service past West Medford that could be justified is that hourly 134 bus, or the commuter rail. Car centric sprawl means running transit becomes a lot more expensive, with more areas to cover, when development is spread out in low density and automobile oriented suburbs..
Click to expand...

Winchester sure, but I would argue against putting Woburn in a "low-density suburb" category here long-term -- there's a pretty decent amount of development in progress around the Anderson/Woburn RTC area, and it is higher density than many neighboring towns. If that's the chief argument against the GL going further north then the same one could be applied to RLX to Lexington or OLX to Reading, all of which would terminate in lower-density suburbs than Woburn.
 
grand_junction said:
Winchester sure, but I would argue against putting Woburn in a "low-density suburb" category here long-term -- there's a pretty decent amount of development in progress around the Anderson/Woburn RTC area, and it is higher density than many neighboring towns. If that's the chief argument against the GL going further north then the same one could be applied to RLX to Lexington or OLX to Reading, all of which would terminate in lower-density suburbs than Woburn.
Click to expand...

True, but in the case of Winchester, they'll still need a good land use plan, otherwise, it would be several miles of additional rapid transit track that could signficantly reduce frequency on the Green Line. I think a regional rail model for Commuter Rail, with more frequent departures (every 20 or 30 minutes) from Woburn, might make more sense. I think all rapid transit and bus service in the inner core (from West Medford inwards), would need to first have headways reduced to at least 5 minute intervals between trains/buses. Any extension further from West Medford would need the ability to retain 5 minute headways on the GLX branch within West Medford, or some service could short turn from West Medford.

If the 20/30 minute frequency regional rail works well in Woburn, I suppose an extension of the GLX past West Medford could help, but any additional parking lots constructed in current ongoing developement projects in Woburn will all need to have a plan to redevelop into something other than mostly parking lots, and Winchester would need to be along for the ride. High frequency transit like the Green Line doesn't work well when much of the urban development consists of parking lots, otherwise it will be extremely costly to run frequency far out from downtown without a good high enough density to justify demand/ridership/cost.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.

Back
Top