Green Line Extension to Medford & Union Sq

[RandomWalk]

The T made a big deal back when they came up with the versioned paper maps. I recall them pitching them as easier to update than the enameled metal signs.

It’s clear that the person behind that plan got their promotion/bonus/resume entry and moved on.

 

[Ruairi]

I'm thrilled that the GLX got there in the end
but...
I can't believe how poorly designed and delivered the E. Somerville station is.
For years this area is the forgotten part of Somerville so when Bakers VE cut back plan hit, I guess it tracks that E. Somerville would be hit harder than the other stations.

It's barely a station, hidden behind junk yards.
The signage to access it is awful.
The stretch from Washington st. is uninviting to say the least.
And although there's no steps, I can't imagine how tricky it is to access this station for anyone with disabilities.
The area outside Cataldo and Autozone is poorly lit with no crosswalk at Joy st.
The washington st. crosswalk at Autozone is dangerous and the one at Oliveras is poorly lit.
I didn't see any public art.
The general construction finish in the area is shabby.
I'm not sure anyone advocated for this station.

Great to have the service but how is there no proper entrance from Joy st.

oh well.

 

[737900er]

I recall there were the old-school horizontally-oriented spider maps without the Old Colony lines still up in various places for literally decades after Old Colony service was restored. Baffles my why the T hasn't fixed this problem. It's not like they're opening new stations or expansions every other week.

This map infamously lasted at the inbound Orient Heights platform right up to the renovation in 2013. It looks like there had been something else covering it at some point, but it was like this for years.

 

[Friend-Union]

I'm thrilled that the GLX got there in the end, but...I can't believe how poorly designed and delivered the E. Somerville station is. For years this area is the forgotten part of Somerville so when Bakers VE cut back plan hit, I guess it tracks that E. Somerville would be hit harder than the other stations. It's barely a station hidden behind junk yards, The signage to access it is awful, The stretch from Washington St. is uninviting to say the least. And although there's no steps, I can't imagine how tricky it is to access this station for anyone with disabilities. The area outside Cataldo and Autozone is poorly lit with no crosswalk at Joy St. The Washington St. crosswalk at Autozone is dangerous and the one at Olivera's is poorly lit. I didn't see any public art, The general construction finish in the area is shabby. I'm not sure anyone advocated for this station. Great to have the service but how is there no proper entrance from Joy St. Oh well.

I feel your pain, but the City has a SomerVision2040 Plan that includes the transformation of Inner Belt and Brickbottom with development supported by the East Somerville Station. Let's say the T built it and now it's time for the City to come.

 

[FK4]

They have already started replacing the signs at other stations.

Great to know, why did they not replace them a month ago? This is not rocket science, and it’s not a “hey, it’s no big deal” thing, either. This is exactly the stuff that matters. Appearance and signage and attention to basic detail matter. A lot. And this is not something that ever, ever would have happened in any city in any other country. It’s so simple and basic that the fact that it didn’t happen speaks volumes about the depth of leadership and management lack at this organization.

Wasn't there a thread around here somewhere documenting the literal years it took for them to replace the maps at Park Street prominently showing Government Center as closed for renovation long after it had reopened? They have a habit of doing stuff like this.

It is a good question - albeit one of many useful questions we'll likely never get answers to, in part because it seems those in charge of overseeing it don't understand why they should ask. On the one hand, it's entirely possible that with shifting schedules and supply chain problems, things like new signs could be late and therefore unavailable for when the extension opens. It could be that they don't think some temporary stickers are appropriate for a short-term issue. Of course, to believe these things requires giving the agency a benefit of the doubt it tends to demonstrate it does not deserve. More likely is either they literally don't care, or are so mired in other issues that this one's too far down the priority list (which is what I think is likely).

The degree to which apparently "small-ticket" things like this get missed or screwed up, though, does tend to be a bit concerning. It'd be one thing if certain less-critical issues were being knowing and deliberately left to one side to allow them to focus on the most important matters, but I don't think they're in a position where we can trust them to do that. I worry that it's more like these things are the most visible indicators of the level of institutional rot (which, given the FTA's involvement lately seems a distinct possibility).

Very well said!

 

[Ruairi]

I feel your pain, but the City has a SomerVision2040 Plan that includes the transformation of Inner Belt and Brickbottom with development supported by the East Somerville Station. Let's say the T built it and now it's time for the City to come.

could the city and T not have worked together to at least get it to a reasonable starting point.
This station is sandwiched between ward 1 and 2 so the city just washed their hands of it,
Heaven forbid they do their part in a prompt fashion.
nooo, it'll be great in 2040!

 

[Dr. Rosen Rosen]

Finally, the stretch between Gilman and East Somerville on the community path. Lots of interesting features along the way - being under bridges, big graffiti walls, as well as being really close to passing trains.

 

[Arlington]

There's all kinds of "opportunities" for Somerville to get abutters to improve access. I'm a bit alarmed that it hasn't already happened or been programmed in:
1) an Eastern entrance to USq from Boynton Yards (paid for by the huge new buildings there)
2) East Somerville access tied to developments in Brickbottom
3) Magoun Square entrance from Hinkley Street (the emergency exit's path extends that far)
4) Ball Sq access from Granville Ave (this is a Medford thing)
5) Medford/Tufts western access. The emergency exit here is fully ADA (switchback ramps). How hard can it be to open it for direct access to Tufts Garage? (particularly if you paired it with a set of regular stairs)

 

[Delvin4519]

The MBTA has an internal shuttle route for the Medford Branch Shuttle

The map can be accessed here. https://www.mbta.com/schedules/Shuttle-EastSomervilleMedford

NOTE: The URL link will expire into a 404 page after the MBTA refreshes the internal GTFS underlying schedule data. This usually happens the day after or two, up to a week, of the shuttle buses running when the MBTA deletes the shuttle routes from their list of routes.

Magoun Sq. stop will be located a half mile away from the train station, use the Route 89 stop to access the shuttle buses. Shuttle buses will not serve the Magoun station's location directly, as they must use Route 89's bus route on Broadway due to hilly terrain.

Buses will loop at Medford at Boston Ave. Outbound buses will use Boston Ave. Inbound buses will use Powder House Circle.

The bus stop in Medford will be located ~600 feet southeast of the train station. The stop will be located at College Ave @ Boston Ave (ID: 2379) at the southwest corner of the intersection.

Buses will loop in Joy St. in East Somerville. Outbound riders toward Medford will ride around the loop back to reach McGrath Hwy.

Shuttle buses will omit Cross St. and instead deviate to Medford St. as a diversion, unlike outbound Route 80 buses.

Note. Eastbound service travels towards Medford, Westbound service travels toward Lechmere. Directions are opposite what the MBTA website displays.

 

[#bancars]

Finally, the stretch between Gilman and East Somerville on the community path. Lots of interesting features along the way - being under bridges, big graffiti walls, as well as being really close to passing trains.

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Nice photos! Is this officially open now?

Also, I know this has been done to death, but the path is so, so, narrow. Really a bummer.

 

[Delvin4519]

The MBTA has an internal shuttle route for the Medford Branch Shuttle

The map can be accessed here. https://www.mbta.com/schedules/Shuttle-EastSomervilleMedford

NOTE: The URL link will expire into a 404 page after the MBTA refreshes the internal GTFS underlying schedule data. This usually happens the day after or two, up to a week, of the shuttle buses running when the MBTA deletes the shuttle routes from their list of routes.

Magoun Sq. stop will be located a half mile away from the train station, use the Route 89 stop to access the shuttle buses. Shuttle buses will not serve the Magoun station's location directly, as they must use Route 89's bus route on Broadway due to hilly terrain.

Buses will loop at Medford at Boston Ave. Outbound buses will use Boston Ave. Inbound buses will use Powder House Circle.

The bus stop in Medford will be located ~600 feet southeast of the train station. The stop will be located at College Ave @ Boston Ave (ID: 2379) at the southwest corner of the intersection.

Buses will loop in Joy St. in East Somerville. Outbound riders toward Medford will ride around the loop back to reach McGrath Hwy.

Shuttle buses will omit Cross St. and instead deviate to Medford St. as a diversion, unlike outbound Route 80 buses.

Note. Eastbound service travels towards Medford, Westbound service travels toward Lechmere. Directions are opposite what the MBTA website displays.

This just went past my mind since the schedules are blank on the shuttle buses for the MBTA. The "paper schedules" for the shuttle buses are supposed to be accessed using the schedule finder on the widget on the right hand side of the page.

Anyhow, there's actually publicily accessible without the need to process GTFS data with technical knowledge, unlike subway schedules (first and last trains were finally made publicilly available recently). You just need to use the widget on the right hand side of the page to access them. Technically, you still need to know the exact URL for the shuttle buses, which isn't linked on the MBTA website (so actually, you do need the GTFS data to fetch the URL subheader, so actually the first statement is wrong). Since buses get stuck in traffic, they're not much use, but at least we can check the exact headways/frequencies, even if the specific times are almost meaningless.

Anyhow, they are supposed to run on 12 minute headways until early-mid morning, 9-10 minute headways until mid evening, then 15 minute headways late evening/night. Mirrors regular headways on the E on Sundays pretty much. One doesn't really need to open the schedules much for much else.

https://www.mbta.com/schedules/Shuttle-EastSomervilleMedford/line?schedule_finder%5Bdirection_id%5D=0&schedule_finder%5Borigin%5D=2379

Also, my earier post forgot to mention in picture, on the ground form, this is the layover for buses in Medford:

And East Somerville:

So a quiet college campus becomes a hub for MBTA shuttle bus operations and layover, as well as an industrial area on the other end of the route.

 

[TrolleybusFoaming]

Alright, so I see an express shuttle for the Braintree branch this weekend originating from... Quincy Center. Nope, that won't be confusing at all. Though... I haven't seen any official mention of this? Also, a brutal longest scheduled travel time of *42* minutes. This runs every 15 minutes, while a local, taking up to 31 minutes to go from Broadway to North Quincy, runs every 3.

The shuttle for the Ashmont branch will run every 3 minutes and is scheduled for up to... *42* minutes as well???

Hope you're not trying to get anywhere this weekend, and that's not even including how this will screw up the trunk's scheduling...

 

[Teban54]

and that's not even including how this will screw up the trunk's scheduling...

As a regular Red Line user, I can attest that whenever part of the line is bustituted on weekends (which happens an awful lot these days), the entire line's frequency becomes completely messed up.

 

[Whats Really Good?]

Ahhh, the (T) has been going downhill for so long. Shit, I bought a car due to the Washington st closure by the East Sommerville station for so long. It was absolutely worth it to spend the time and money to purchase a car to to sit in (traffic, mind you) to get to my former job in Charlestown, rather than sit on the 86 bus and the 20+min re-routing the bus had to do to get by that bridge closure (ironically for transit expansion). It was a decision that to this day, still pays its dividends. Now mind you, I'm still a transit fan (I can tell ya what type of train is running in Boston just by the whirr of its traction motors) but I don't regret my decision to purchase a car one bit. I couldn't imagine being beholden to the (T) these days and working full time.

 

[found5dollar]

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If we still did the archboston awards I'd be nominating this picture. Love it!

 

[Charlie_mta]

If we still did the archboston awards I'd be nominating this picture. Love it!

It also shows that the trail was made as wide as it could be, given the space constraints.

 

[AndrewOnTheMBTA]

There's all kinds of "opportunities" for Somerville to get abutters to improve access. I'm a bit alarmed that it hasn't already happened or been programmed in:
1) an Eastern entrance to USq from Boynton Yards (paid for by the huge new buildings there)
2) East Somerville access tied to developments in Brickbottom
3) Magoun Square entrance from Hinkley Street (the emergency exit's path extends that far)
4) Ball Sq access from Granville Ave (this is a Medford thing)
5) Medford/Tufts western access. The emergency exit here is fully ADA (switchback ramps). How hard can it be to open it for direct access to Tufts Garage? (particularly if you paired it with a set of regular stairs)

From my knowledge and opinion:
1) Very likely soon because it looks like there's a path and entrance there for it now. Seems like it would be necessary to spur traffic and handle it (esp during rush hour).
2) Should happen - because the entrance now is so poorly designed - to the point of it being a placeholder until the station's smack dab in the middle of a thriving Brickbottom and Inner Loop
3) Local neighborhood isn't dense and single family and small multi-family homes seem likely to be NIMBY
4) Feels the same as 3. Similar to seeing a Sullivan Sq entrance to East Somerville: neighborhood opposition.
5) Seems do-able but not sure of the support/RoI. Not a really densely trafficked area and maybe Tufts would support this. The exit is there - why not?

 

[ceo]

4) Ball Sq access from Granville Ave (this is a Medford thing)

I don't see how that could work. It's a narrow, dead-end street with residences right up to the sound wall; there's no place to put the stairs and elevators that would be needed to get over the commuter rail and outbound GLX tracks, unless you take part of 44 Granville Ave's large side yard.

 

[The EGE]

I agree that the Union Square and East Somerville entrances are the highest priority. Magoun and Ball are both nonstarters - there's not enough room for an up-and-over, and the portion of the catchment that gets a substantially shorter walk is pretty low.

At Medford/Tufts, converting the emergency exit would substantially shorten the walk for all of Medford Hillside. A footbridge at Brookings Street would pair well with it, since there is enough room on Brookings for the elevator and stairs. That would be especially valuable since a Route 16 extension will require modifications to the Winthrop Street and North Street bridges.

I do also think a northeast headhouse at Gilman Square will become desirable, both to shorten walks and to separate path traffic from station walkups.

 

[Wash]

I agree that the Union Square and East Somerville entrances are the highest priority. Magoun and Ball are both nonstarters - there's not enough room for an up-and-over, and the portion of the catchment that gets a substantially shorter walk is pretty low.

At Medford/Tufts, converting the emergency exit would substantially shorten the walk for all of Medford Hillside. A footbridge at Brookings Street would pair well with it, since there is enough room on Brookings for the elevator and stairs. That would be especially valuable since a Route 16 extension will require modifications to the Winthrop Street and North Street bridges.

I do also think a northeast headhouse at Gilman Square will become desirable, both to shorten walks and to separate path traffic from station walkups.

I don't think converting the emergency exit at Tufts would shorten the walk from Medford hillside - the ramps are windy and switchback-y enough that from street to platform it would probably be faster to walk the extra block or so to the main entrance and then just get the stairs. Actually making the secondary exit useful would require the installation of at least one elevator.