MBTA Construction Projects

Tallguy · Jul 27, 2023

BigWind said:
Has anyone else noticed the work ongoing at the Allston railyard? It looks like they are laying two new sets of rails north of the existing tracks, immediately next to the Pike.

I have been noticing that myself

HenryAlan · Jul 27, 2023

DowntownDave said:
Concrete ties are noisier than wooden ties, be and so probably not suitable here.

I think @F-Line to Dudley might have mentioned this before, but I seem to recall that the concrete ties don't do well in New England winters, where the ground consistently freezes over night, but then thaws during the day. The wood ties are far more flexible and can handle the pattern of frequent expansion and contraction, whereas the concrete cracks (and then crumbles).

F-Line to Dudley · Jul 27, 2023

HenryAlan said:
I think @F-Line to Dudley might have mentioned this before, but I seem to recall that the concrete ties don't do well in New England winters, where the ground consistently freezes over night, but then thaws during the day. The wood ties are far more flexible and can handle the pattern of frequent expansion and contraction, whereas the concrete cracks (and then crumbles).

It's not necessarily that they do worse. A water-tight concrete tie will hold up way longer in any climate than a wooden tie. It's when they're not water-tight that the freeze-thaw destroys them more thoroughly than any wooden tie because of the rigidness. Especially when there's spalling around the anchors and tieplates. It's a total all-or-nothing, and if an entire batch of ties is affected by defects you end up losing nearly every tie instead of the variable rates that wood decays. The T has been burned twice by concrete tie batches with manufacturing defects...on the rebuilt Needham Line in the late-80's, and the 3 Old Colony lines in the 2000's. And Amtrak got burned by manufacturing defects on the NEC Shoreline in the 2000's. Both of the T instances required total line-wide replacement because the defects were so widespread across the batches. Those bad experiences have made both agencies reluctant to deploy them here.

Koopzilla24 · Jul 27, 2023

They just recently tested installation of plastic ties on either Newburyport or Rockport I think. Those are apparently quite successful.

The EGE · Jul 31, 2023

And yet another commuter rail station has to be closed for reconstruction. Ashland closes on August 26, reopens "Fall 2023".

Ashland Station to Receive $2.5 Million in Repairs and Improvements | News | MBTA

Official website of the MBTA -- schedules, maps, and fare information for Greater Boston's public transportation system, including subway, commuter rail, bus routes, and boat lines.

www.mbta.com

At least this work is fully funded and relatively short.

Java King · Jul 31, 2023

The EGE said:
And yet another commuter rail station has to be closed for reconstruction. Ashland closes on August 26, reopens "Fall 2023".

Ashland Station to Receive $2.5 Million in Repairs and Improvements | News | MBTA

Official website of the MBTA -- schedules, maps, and fare information for Greater Boston's public transportation system, including subway, commuter rail, bus routes, and boat lines.

www.mbta.com

At least this work is fully funded and relatively short.

I'm surprised they don't use the effort to make fully high level boarding? That seems like a wasted opportunity.

The EGE · Jul 31, 2023

Framingham to Worcester is still a freight clearance route. Adding full-high platforms will require adding either a gauntlet track or a third track, which is a bigger task than this fix-it work. It is doable - there's enough space between the footbridge towers - but it's probably something you want to tackle at Ashland, Southborough, Westborough, and Grafton all at once.

The highest priorities for the line are the Newton stations (currently in final design) and the Wellesley stations + West Natick (early design). Those get you 100% accessibility on the line, no need to switch tracks for the Newton stations, and knock down dwell times in the most congested portion of the line. Then it's just adding full-highs at Back Bay and Framingham so you can have auto doors from Framingham eastward. Full-highs at the western stations will be very nice to have given the ridership at those stops, but it's not the most pressing need right now.

sneijder · Aug 1, 2023

The EGE said:
Framingham to Worcester is still a freight clearance route. Adding full-high platforms will require adding either a gauntlet track or a third track, which is a bigger task than this fix-it work. It is doable - there's enough space between the footbridge towers - but it's probably something you want to tackle at Ashland, Southborough, Westborough, and Grafton all at once.

The highest priorities for the line are the Newton stations (currently in final design) and the Wellesley stations + West Natick (early design). Those get you 100% accessibility on the line, no need to switch tracks for the Newton stations, and knock down dwell times in the most congested portion of the line. Then it's just adding full-highs at Back Bay and Framingham so you can have auto doors from Framingham eastward. Full-highs at the western stations will be very nice to have given the ridership at those stops, but it's not the most pressing need right now.

I legit cannot fathom how full-high's haven't been put in at Back Bay yet for the Worcester Line tracks., given how much ridership it gets. At least put in some temporary metal raised platforms or something.

Java King · Aug 1, 2023

The EGE said:
Framingham to Worcester is still a freight clearance route. Adding full-high platforms will require adding either a gauntlet track or a third track, which is a bigger task than this fix-it work. It is doable - there's enough space between the footbridge towers - but it's probably something you want to tackle at Ashland, Southborough, Westborough, and Grafton all at once.

The highest priorities for the line are the Newton stations (currently in final design) and the Wellesley stations + West Natick (early design). Those get you 100% accessibility on the line, no need to switch tracks for the Newton stations, and knock down dwell times in the most congested portion of the line. Then it's just adding full-highs at Back Bay and Framingham so you can have auto doors from Framingham eastward. Full-highs at the western stations will be very nice to have given the ridership at those stops, but it's not the most pressing need right now.

Just so I understand fully, we don't need to provide any freight clearance from Framingham into South Station? I'm just curious. Are there other stations within the whole MBTA Commuter rail system that have full high-level platforms as well as freight clearance via a gauntlet or third track?

cubbe8 · Aug 1, 2023

Java King said:
Just so I understand fully, we don't need to provide any freight clearance from Framingham into South Station? I'm just curious. Are there other stations within the whole MBTA Commuter rail system that have full high-level platforms as well as freight clearance via a gauntlet or third track?

Anderson/Woburn

F-Line to Dudley · Aug 1, 2023

The EGE said:
And yet another commuter rail station has to be closed for reconstruction. Ashland closes on August 26, reopens "Fall 2023".

Ashland Station to Receive $2.5 Million in Repairs and Improvements | News | MBTA

Official website of the MBTA -- schedules, maps, and fare information for Greater Boston's public transportation system, including subway, commuter rail, bus routes, and boat lines.

www.mbta.com

At least this work is fully funded and relatively short.

Only 21 years old and it's already shot.

Java King said:
Just so I understand fully, we don't need to provide any freight clearance from Framingham into South Station? I'm just curious. Are there other stations within the whole MBTA Commuter rail system that have full high-level platforms as well as freight clearance via a gauntlet or third track?

Correct. Framingham to Allston's freight clearance was contractually sunset in 2018. Framingham Station itself is still technically under the freight clearance provision, but that likely can be waived as freights can/do go around the wye to avoid the platforms.

Worcester, Lawrence, Anderson RTC, and Wachusett are the only full-high stations with freight passing tracks. Fitchburg, Lowell, and Foxboro are mini-highs on freight clearance routes that can be fully raised in-place because of pre-existing passing tracks. Winchester Ctr. had to put a gauntlet track into its 100% design to net full highs, but that's currently not in the final construction plans because of a temporary waiver of too little high-and-wide traffic (it might have to go back in at a future date). The others on the system affected by high-and-wide freight traffic are:

Ashland
Southborough
Westborough
Grafton
Readville (Fairmount platform only)
Endicott
Dedham Corporate Ctr.
Islington
Norwood Depot
Norwood Central
Windsor Gardens
Mansfield
Attleboro
West Medford
Wedgemere
Mishawum
Wilmington
North Billerica
Ballardvale
Andover
Bradford
Haverhill
Ayer
Shirley
North Leominster

themissinglink · Aug 18, 2023

Double Track Delays Expected | Franklin Observer

Aug 19-20, buses will make the Franklin connection

franklinobserver.town.news

The MBTA is getting into the home stretch of the double-tracking project... but that may mean temporary delays.

On the weekend of August 19-20, buses will replace regular train service between Forge Park/495 and Walpole to allow for work on the Franklin Line double track project. Normal train service will operate between Walpole and South Station. Buses will operate on the regular train schedule, but passengers may experience delays up to 15 minutes.

I'm glad to see the Franklin Line double-track project progressing after the previous delays. I wonder how much longer until Phase 2 is finished.

The EGE · Aug 18, 2023

Charles/MGH and Longfellow Approach Viaduct Rehabilitation | Projects | MBTA

Official website of the MBTA -- schedules, maps, and fare information for Greater Boston's public transportation system, including subway, commuter rail, bus routes, and boat lines.

www.mbta.com

Build a new accessible entrance/exit on the opposite side of Charles Circle near the Longfellow Bridge with access to both platforms

This is new! Hasn't been mentioned before to my knowledge. I assume it will be here: https://www.google.com/maps/@42.361...4!1sHJ9nQcxqb65tpvsNOAMk8w!2e0!7i16384!8i8192

ulrichomega · Aug 18, 2023

What would be the reasoning behind such an entrance? It seems to be farther away from everything than the existing entrance. I suppose it removes a bunch of street crossings for people coming from the bridge/Esplanade, but that can't be a high percentage of the people using this station. Are they expecting some sort of impact from Red/Blue connector work that would mean they need a second, accessible, entrance?

JeffDowntown · Aug 19, 2023

ulrichomega said:
What would be the reasoning behind such an entrance? It seems to be farther away from everything than the existing entrance. I suppose it removes a bunch of street crossings for people coming from the bridge/Esplanade, but that can't be a high percentage of the people using this station. Are they expecting some sort of impact from Red/Blue connector work that would mean they need a second, accessible, entrance?

Might this simply be the way to provide accessible access between the two platforms for transfers? And at the same time make it an entrance. Neither the accessible entrance for Charles Red today, nor the planned accessible entrance at MGH for Charles Blue actually provides an accessible transfer (unless I missed some magic in there).

bakgwailo · Aug 19, 2023

You'd think this would have been done and incorporated into the years long full bridge restoration that was just done.

sneijder · Aug 19, 2023

JeffDowntown said:
Might this simply be the way to provide accessible access between the two platforms for transfers? And at the same time make it an entrance. Neither the accessible entrance for Charles Red today, nor the planned accessible entrance at MGH for Charles Blue actually provides an accessible transfer (unless I missed some magic in there).

hopefully this involves some charles circle road reconfiguration or other road diet. The entire area is pretty hostile outside of a car needing to cross multiple lanes of traffic in all directions on a bike or on foot.

BosMaineiac · Aug 19, 2023

sneijder said:
hopefully this involves some charles circle road reconfiguration or other road diet. The entire area is pretty hostile outside of a car needing to cross multiple lanes of traffic in all directions on a bike or on foot.

I wonder if the addition of this entrance has anything to do with the Storrow drive reconfiguration/new ME&E garage proposal. I haven’t heard much publicly on this project since ‘21 but I imagine this and Red/Blue would be closely coordinated.

Bond Bill Boosts Proposal to Reconfigure Boston's Charles Circle - Streetsblog Massachusetts

"It would be the largest expansion of Esplanade parkland in decades," says Rep. Jay Livingstone, the state representative for the neighborhood.

mass.streetsblog.org

The EGE · Aug 21, 2023

JeffDowntown said:
Might this simply be the way to provide accessible access between the two platforms for transfers? And at the same time make it an entrance. Neither the accessible entrance for Charles Red today, nor the planned accessible entrance at MGH for Charles Blue actually provides an accessible transfer (unless I missed some magic in there).

The current configuration allows for an accessible transfer between platforms - there's a single fare control area for both directions.

I suspect the behind-the-scenes reasoning goes like this:
1912-built viaduct needs reconstruction since it's 111 years old; station platforms need repair since the were built poorly
The station work is substantial enough to trigger code compliance needs - most notably, having a second egress point
There's no way you can have an emergency exit directly onto the traffic lanes, so there's only one place you can put it
Might as well make it a public entrance - it'll make the construction/cost, and possibly the alterations to the historic structure, more palatable.

It's certainly not a bad thing to have the second entrance. It's far from the the most valuable to add, but it will improve access to the Esplanade (getting from the station to Francis Appleton Bridge will be 1 crosswalk instead of 4) and to the west side of Charles Street.