MBTA Construction Projects

Re: T construction news

I really like how Charles/MGH came out too. Also, I saw Science Park/West End for the first time on Monday (passing through). It looks really nice. It's great that it's handicap accessible now.
 
Re: T construction news

datadyne007 said:
I really like how Charles/MGH came out too. Also, I saw Science Park/West End for the first time on Monday (passing through). It looks really nice. It's great that it's handicap accessible now.
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data -- I think that Charles missed being great by a few steps:

1) -- it snows and rains around here -- should have put a transparent canopy over the whole platform area including the tracks

2) at the very least extend the side roofs over the full length of the platform

Similarly with Science Park:

1) rename Science Park / West End -- a la Cambridge Center / Kendall / MIT

2) cover the active waiting area on the platform -- longer trains will soon start running wih the Medford Extension and most of the platfom is open to the weather -- it won;t be like this November forever!
 
Re: T construction news

Could'a would'a should'a.

Science Park was only an elevator and platform improvement project to make it ADA compliant.
 
Re: T construction news

They should have buried Charles/MGH if at all possible. That station is pretty nice. The problem I have is that the entrance area is nice and new, while the platform area is not quite as nice.
 
Re: T construction news

mass88 said:
They should have buried Charles/MGH if at all possible. That station is pretty nice. The problem I have is that the entrance area is nice and new, while the platform area is not quite as nice.
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Mass -- can't see how that would be possible wihout digging a tunnel for the Red Line under the Charles

Even with the proposed (probably dropped now) concept of digging the Blue Line a few hundrd yards down Cambridge St. to Charles -- the combined station would span several floors with huge banks of escalators and elevators tying the Red Lne and Blue Line platforms to the Street Level Lobby
 
Re: T construction news

BostonUrbEx said:
They've been running that thing all day long every day, it seems. It supposed to be rush hour only but I've seen it midday alot of times.
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I think originally it made only 2 round trips a day.
 
Re: T construction news

jass said:
This, I dont get. Why cant the train stop forward more, making a shorter walk for passengers...? Why the stupid fence?
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Maybe so that passengers running up the stairs don't slip and slide right into the trackbed?
 
Re: T construction news

mass88 said:
They should have buried Charles/MGH if at all possible. That station is pretty nice. The problem I have is that the entrance area is nice and new, while the platform area is not quite as nice.
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Can't. The Longfellow piers go deep underground at the edge. Charles itself was an infill station grafted on top of the viaduct 20 years after the rest of the line opened to break the long gap between Kendall and Park. They didn't put a station there at the start in 1912 because BERy was still at loggerheads about whether the Blue Line was changing from trolley to heavy rail and getting fed by a Cambridge St. El from the Longfellow, whether the Longfellow was exclusively feeding the downtown subway, or whether it would do both at a Charles junction. Took till the early 20's to make up their minds on the BL, and by that point RL was past its 10th anniversary and window was long closed at choosing a subway stop for the station gap. Had there not been that indecision they probably would've gone for subway stop straight off the bridge.


Red-Blue tunnel is designed to have its platform stop well short of the current station, with platforms offset something like >50 ft. up the street. The egress is supposed to be on the tip of the 'bulge' in the lower concourse (where the flower vendors set up shop) where it gets curiously spacious. Tail tracks for storage then split and contour around the start of the Charles Circle road split for a few train lengths to get around the first pier. Both bridge and El piers are anchored SOLIDLY deep in the terra firma.
 
Re: T construction news

mass88 said:
They should have buried Charles/MGH if at all possible. That station is pretty nice. The problem I have is that the entrance area is nice and new, while the platform area is not quite as nice.
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Mass -- F-Line gives you a tremendous amount of background on the history -- but doesn't really answer the questions -- "the entrance area is nice and new, while the platform area is not quite as nice."

The Entrance area is a brand new replacement for the aging "temorary station head house" and hence has escalators and elevators plus glass --- the rest of Charles/ MGH was just a renovation and restoration of the original (circa 1920's) platform enclosure (where threre is a roof and walls) and the much later (circa 1990) platform extension on the Longfelllow to enable 6 car trains

i never understood why a roof couldn't have been provided for the platform extension -- indeed if I was doing the rebuild -- I'd have put a plexiglass shield over the whole platform including the tracks to give the passengers a much more pleasant waoting area in rain and snow -- however for some reason just like Science Park -- the rebuild stopped short of improving comfort for the waiting passengers
 
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Re: T construction news

whighlander said:
Mass -- F-Line gives you a tremendous amount of background on the history -- but doesn't really answer the questions -- "the entrance area is nice and new, while the platform area is not quite as nice."

The Entrance area is a brand new replacement for the aging "temorary station head house" and hence has escalators and elevators plus glass --- the rest of Charles/ MGH was just a renovation and restoration of the original (circa 1920's) platform enclosure (where threre is a roof and walls) and the much later (circa 1990) platform extension on the Longfelllow to enable 6 car trains

i never understood why a roof couldn't have been provided for the platform extension -- indeed if I was doing the rebuild -- I'd have put a plexiglass shield over the whole platform including the tracks to give the passengers a much more pleasant waoting area in rain and snow -- however for some reason just like Science Park -- the rebuild stopped short of improving comfort for the waiting passengers
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The platform extension has to be partially replaced when they do the Longfellow restoration because it sits on top of the bridge deck over the Storrow East span. The track incline into the station and platform extension are on the bridge itself while the original platform starts just past the last pair of abutments. Minor footnote to the project where they'll replace the deck under that 80 ft. of track during a weekend bustitution or two at the very end of Longfellow construction. Current platform extension is hollow prefab construction so they just lift it out and plop another prefab slab back on when they're done with the deck. Then screw the existing fences and light fixtures back in.

Would've been pointless for the T to include any work on that end of the platforms in the scope of the station rebuild beyond a new coat of paint. They can install a shelter or extend the station facade after the construction warzone on the bridge is 100% wrapped up.
 
Re: T construction news

Nice! If only they were rolling out the paint system-wide. :(
 
Re: T construction news

They've been doing a lot of painting lately.

State Street (Orange Line, both platforms), Haymarket (I think?), and Park Street (Green Line, ceiling only). I'm sure there's more. All in the past 10 months maybe.
 
Re: T construction news

Who's inside at the T?

After installing very expensive faregates at Hynes east a few years ago (and never using them for revenue even once) the T has apparently removed them and then plywooded up the openings.

Seriously, the fuck is going on there? I think both entrances of Auditorium should be open all the time but leaving aside the reasons they claim it can't be done, where is the accountability from above in wastes like this?
 
Re: T construction news

I'd like to see them re-open the Berkeley St. entrance to Arlington, too.
 
Re: T construction news

We should riot. Riots always yield results. Kenmore bathroom too.
 
Re: T construction news

Forgive my ignorance, but was there a particular reason why those entrances were originally closed?
 
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