Green Line Extension to Medford & Union Sq

Does anyone know the engineering firm which designed (and is presumably building) the GLX?
 
No escalator, only stairs and an elevator, from what I see in the renderings. An escalator is warranted for this high volume station.
 
I can see from the renders that the answer is "no". But I do recall people taking issue and I hoped that it would be accounted in the future. Is there any plans for a pedestrian bridge over O'Brien Highway?

With the volume Lechmere gets and particularly the number that goes to Cambridge Galleria, I feel like having to now cross 2 super busy streets (particularly O'Brien) is an accident waiting to happen. No matter the road diets, lights, and curb bumpouts. You can't beat literally just not being there at all.
 
Once the GLX opens, there's a strong case for putting the highway on a diet (from 3 travel lanes to 2)
1) the GLX can handle the "to & thru" passenger volumes better.
2) Greater Kendall is one of the busiest bike commuting places on the east coast, but this stretch is supremely bike hostile
3) pedestrians are going to be everywhere on both sides
4) fits better with the calming on the Museum of Science stretch and grounding McGrath.

A pedestrian overpass is not the solution. Given the Stations island platform, a overpass would triple the amount of stairs to access the platform (from "up" to "up-down-up")
 
chmeeee said:

Hop to page 47.
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Yes. That said it will likely be revised east of Gore Street. Those plans are already out of date given the changes made to Charles River Dam Road. The existing Cambridge Street intersection is now only two lanes straight through under the viaduct. Two lanes are now mandatory lefts to Charlestown and two continue past the MOS. I doubt they’ll change that after GLX is done.
 
Arlington said:
A pedestrian overpass is not the solution. Given the Stations island platform, a overpass would triple the amount of stairs to access the platform (from "up" to "up-down-up")
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Like I said, even in a road dieted version, it is still inherently less safe than a bridge. You can't beat with just not being there at all. And there's something to be said of the single street crossing of the current Lechmere to reach the Galleria.

But since it's a island platform, you're right that a pedestrian bridge would be a poor experience as nobody like going up stairs. Though to say it is not a solution is too final. It is a good solution. It is engineer-able to do something that is not a up-down-up experience but a seamless connection the station. Though not as easy versus if this station was set up like Science Park or something like that.
 
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dhawkins said:
Here is the PDF for Lechmere station. I didn't realize it would be an elevated platform, who knew it was designed the correct way!
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Can someone explain to me the bus loop to nowhere? The 80, 87, and 88 could/should all be eliminated once GLX opens. The primary bus service in this area should just be the 69 and a much needed MBTA route to replace EZride down first street. Potentially also the CT4 concept that will hop over the tracks from Inner Belt. None of those are well served by the bus loop. Maybe the 69 makes sense, but I would argue the 69 ideally would be extended as the route down First to Kendall.
 
fattony said:
Can someone explain to me the bus loop to nowhere? The 80, 87, and 88 could/should all be eliminated once GLX opens. The primary bus service in this area should just be the 69 and a much needed MBTA route to replace EZride down first street. Potentially also the CT4 concept that will hop over the tracks from Inner Belt. None of those are well served by the bus loop. Maybe the 69 makes sense, but I would argue the 69 ideally would be extended as the route down First to Kendall.
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Great question. I think:
1) We'll definitely see changes in the 80 (highly duplicative), but the 87 & 88 might still fill a collector-distributor role (and not kill the 87 until GLX2 goes to Porter)
(also a Boulevarded McGrath is probably bus-stop oriented for the 88 & 87)
2) A loop will come in handy for the inevitable bustitution
3) Local EZ ride / employee shuttles should use it
 
fattony said:
Can someone explain to me the bus loop to nowhere? The 80, 87, and 88 could/should all be eliminated once GLX opens. The primary bus service in this area should just be the 69 and a much needed MBTA route to replace EZride down first street. Potentially also the CT4 concept that will hop over the tracks from Inner Belt. None of those are well served by the bus loop. Maybe the 69 makes sense, but I would argue the 69 ideally would be extended as the route down First to Kendall.
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I think you're really missing the purpose of the bus routes. Obviously they are 100% necessary today to connect riders to the train, but GLX going in does nothing to make those routes unnecessary or redundant. The 80 is most replicative of the GLX, but even that I'd argue will still serve a purpose.

87 runs from Arlington Center to Davis via Teele, Davis to Porter, Porter to Union via Somerville Ave, and Union to Lechmere via MGrath/Obrien.
88 runs from the Arlington/Somerville Line to Davis via Teele, Davis to Prospect Hill via Highland Ave, and Prospect Hill to Lechmere via McGrath/Obrien

GLX does not replace those routes at all. In fact, the buses are instrumental in bringing riders to the T stations in the first place. If you live between Porter and Union, for example, the 87 is how you'll get to a T station. Even the 80 bridges the gap between the GLX stations, which don't easily follow the street grid because the RR line cuts a diagonal swath across the city.

I guess theoretically you could truncate the 87 at Union Square and the 88 at East Somerville, but those buses also take people between Somerville locales and the Target shopping plaza (ex-Milk Square), and Twin City Plaza–which is walkable to Lechmere, but not super close, nor a very nice walk with groceries. Plus a lot of these new stations will not have separated busways due to the constraints of the sites. Absolutely the nature of these buses will change, and in the years after GLX opens the T should consider how to change the buses in Somerville and Medford, but the 87/88 will continue to be needed links between the Red Line and Green Line sides of Somerville and the thousands of riders who live in-between. I'd argue that even the 80 is a needed link between Green Line stations, though it's probably the most likely to be expendable or dramatically rerouted.
 
George_Apley said:
I guess theoretically you could truncate the 87 at Union Square and the 88 at East Somerville, but those buses also take people between Somerville locales and the Target shopping plaza (ex-Milk Square), and Twin City Plaza–which is walkable to Lechmere, but not super close, nor a very nice walk with groceries. Plus a lot of these new stations will not have separated busways due to the constraints of the sites. Absolutely the nature of these buses will change, and in the years after GLX opens the T should consider how to change the buses in Somerville and Medford, but the 87/88 will continue to be needed links between the Red Line and Green Line sides of Somerville and the thousands of riders who live in-between. I'd argue that even the 80 is a needed link between Green Line stations, though it's probably the most likely to be expendable or dramatically rerouted.
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I only meant truncate, not eliminate the routes entirely. I think the entirety of Somerville and East Cambridge needs a bus re-plan following GLX. I'll grant that bus service between Union and Twin City Plaza is fairly high-value, but commuters will be switching to GL as soon as possible an not riding all the way to Lechmere. I just don't see Lechmere as a bus hub any longer, so the bus loop seems completely backward looking rather than forward. They've had decades to re-plan the bus routes post-GLX and they seem to not have even started.
 
Arlington said:
3) Local EZ ride / employee shuttles should use it
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But that demand is pointed south to Kendall, not up McGrath. I see EZride and shuttles at the North First Street bus stop, not on the loop oriented west/northwest.
 
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Charlie_mta said:
No escalator, only stairs and an elevator, from what I see in the renderings. An escalator is warranted for this high volume station.
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Imagine being in one of the richest cities in the richest country in the world and not being able to afford an escalator to a high volume transit station. SAD.

One of the first things you notice when using systems around the world is that escalators are ubiquitous.

In the US, this is only the case in DC.

LA is horrendous where their elevated stations are 20 feet up and it's just stairs.
 
fattony said:
I only meant truncate, not eliminate the routes entirely. I think the entirety of Somerville and East Cambridge needs a bus re-plan following GLX. I'll grant that bus service between Union and Twin City Plaza is fairly high-value, but commuters will be switching to GL as soon as possible an not riding all the way to Lechmere. I just don't see Lechmere as a bus hub any longer, so the bus loop seems completely backward looking rather than forward. They've had decades to re-plan the bus routes post-GLX and they seem to not have even started.
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Isn't Lechmere one of the few stations on the line with enough land area to support a large bus loop? A large number of buses terminating at a station takes space, which is lacking along a lot of GLX.
 
I'd love to see 2 free circulator buses pinging back and forth between Kendall and New Lechmere:
C1 = First Street Circulator (with Binney leg)
C3 = Third Street Circulator

For the MBTA, my plan would have only the 88 and 69 terminating at Lechmere

80:
The outer 80 would be retained, but "turn back" after tagging the GLX@College & Red@Davis (doing the busway loop) using its current fleet to double frequency on this "outer" zone.
80 eliminated between College Ave and Lechmere

87:
The 87 would terminate at Union Sq GLX and its current bus allocation would increase service or extend it to Arlington Heights
The inner 87 (Union to Lechmere) would be deleted (in favor of the 88)

88:
Davis to Highland Ridge + OBrien Dash to Lechmere would see increased service
The outer 88 beyond Davis Sq would be deleted (in favor of the 87)
 
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