MBTA Construction Projects

Re: T construction news

EdFindlay said:
They are not going to close the station during the renovations, they will not close down one of their most important transfer stations let alone one of their busiest stations. And the bus service for Science Park has been such a problem to the point that the T is even saying "don't bother" asking people to walk instead of taking the shuttle buses.
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The Government Center shutdown has been talked about as recent as April of this year. It is easily the first time they are majorly considering shutting down for reconstruction. Care to change that bet?

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/re...al_would_close_govt_center_station_for_years/
 
Re: T construction news

omaja said:
Isn't the solution as easy as building bigger incentives for on-time and early completion into the Government Center schedule? Closing it down entirely seems like a non-starter for just about everyone (the people who actually use the T, mostly) except the morons who proposed it in the first place. Taking out a fourth of the crucial downtown interchange stations for two years or more is simply crazy.

On time and early completion work can be done. It has to be incentivized and compensated for properly.
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Yeah, but you have to start somewhere. And sometimes that's shock therapy. I would love it if the agency could structure its construction contracts around more punctuality, but you know that ain't gonna happen overnight. Now, putting a gun to their heads to finish the job on-time or face a mob of pitchforks from the public who donated their pain threshold for a closure...that's effective shock therapy. If they can get Science Park and GC chalked up as project successes with the gun-to-head method, then maybe we can talk about less draconian terms.

Right now...I don't think they're going to respond favorably to non-draconian terms. They have to be motivated to reform themselves to a place where project schedules and cost estimates mean more in the real world than just "adorable little suggestions." Giving them a very clear and present danger for failing to meet their own projections is motivational enough to try, especially given the encouraging (if limited-sample) signs of it being effective on the SP renovations and the DOT's I-93 project.
 
Re: T construction news

omaja said:
The Government Center shutdown has been talked about as recent as April of this year. It is easily the first time they are majorly considering shutting down for reconstruction. Care to change that bet?

http://www.bostonherald.com/news/re...al_would_close_govt_center_station_for_years/
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Actually no I would not, not after they have not closed Park, DTX, or State during any of their renovations and they have ways of keeping the station open and running during the renovation that can be used to keep the station open. I'll believe they will completely shut down the station when I actually see the closure notices plastered up along both lines.
 
Re: T construction news

This is an interesting thread. If even the enthusiasts are this ignorant to basic facts, it's obvious the T should give the press more background on how difficult and expensive it is to safely have an active construction site overlaying a mass transit station.
 
Re: T construction news

EdFindlay said:
Actually no I would not, not after they have not closed Park, DTX, or State during any of their renovations and they have ways of keeping the station open and running during the renovation that can be used to keep the station open. I'll believe they will completely shut down the station when I actually see the closure notices plastered up along both lines.
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GC is different. They're not just raising the platforms, building elevators, and resurfacing. They're ripping the entire steel/concrete roof off for skylights and demolishing/rebuilding the headhouse that's the only egress on the GL level. To do that piecemeal would drag a 2-year project into the 6-7 year range with essentially no limit on how much the budget can bloat and delays rack up. While feasible to do during regular ops it's orders of magnitude more difficult and painstaking to do here than any other underground station renovation attempted so far. Whereas they've got reasonable confidence with the schedule if they put wood scaffolding next to the tracks while the trains pass through and then rip that sucker to shreds in one fell swoop.

No, it's not a done deal. But it makes sense on a number of levels and public hasn't knee-jerked in opposition so far. Mostly because the upsides/downsides of each option have been pretty cleanly explained.


Only criticism I'd make here is that the planned reopening of the abandoned Blue Line exit to a new-construction small headhouse further up the Plaza is happening independent of the GL level major renovations. And can happen without any disruption whatsoever to BL service. I think it would make a lot more sense to do that first and keep the BL level, unaffected if the main stairs are blocked from construction debris upstairs, remained open. They don't want to do that because Bowdoin is nearby, but there's no functional reason why they need to close both levels if the new BL-only exit got front-loaded. Any mitigation like that takes a lot of the sting out of losing the upper level for a couple years, and I think that's something they need to strive to accommodate.
 
Re: T construction news

Could they keep the Green Line platforms open but only for transfer to the Blue Line level?
 
Re: T construction news

^ That's not a bad idea, Ron. Access to the up-only escalator might me curtailed, but it's only operable 40% of the time, so who cares, right?
 
Re: T construction news

Ron Newman said:
Could they keep the Green Line platforms open but only for transfer to the Blue Line level?
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Ron,

I think that any keeping of the Greenline open beyond -- just passing through will introduce most of the delay inducing factors

This is mostly due to the complex shape of the platform

best bet would be a shuttle bus between Park, Haymarket and State
 
Re: T construction news

whighlander said:
Ron,

I think that any keeping of the Greenline open beyond -- just passing through will introduce most of the delay inducing factors

This is mostly due to the complex shape of the platform

best bet would be a shuttle bus between Park, Haymarket and State
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No, it would not be. Traffic is already bad enough, adding the required shuttle buses along the route is going to be a nightmare and cause more problems than is worth to both the city and the T.


I propose a shuttle train- normal Green Line trains run through the station without discharging passengers and the Brattle Loop to be used for a shuttle train making stops at Haymarket and North Station and if desired by need or logistics Science Park and Lechmere as well. The Brattle platform is right behind the wall at the Blue Line's mid-platform stairway, remove the wall and block off the rest of the station as well as reopening the Hanover Street entrance(which must be done anyway) and that fulfills the need to keep the station open while supplying service to the station as well as retaining the transfer to the Green Line even if it requires a one or two stop backtracking.
 
Re: T construction news

EdFindlay said:
No, it would not be. Traffic is already bad enough, adding the required shuttle buses along the route is going to be a nightmare and cause more problems than is worth to both the city and the T.


I propose a shuttle train- normal Green Line trains run through the station without discharging passengers and the Brattle Loop to be used for a shuttle train making stops at Haymarket and North Station and if desired by need or logistics Science Park and Lechmere as well. The Brattle platform is right behind the wall at the Blue Line's mid-platform stairway, remove the wall and block off the rest of the station as well as reopening the Hanover Street entrance(which must be done anyway) and that fulfills the need to keep the station open while supplying service to the station as well as retaining the transfer to the Green Line even if it requires a one or two stop backtracking.
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If you read the discussions by Rail gurus/affectionados/groupies -- (e.g. Ron) it seems unclear as to what other uses of the Brattle Loop are potentially a problem to the shuttle train

I still think a bus loop properly timed and routed is the best option
 
Re: T construction news

whighlander said:
If you read the discussions by Rail gurus/affectionados/groupies -- (e.g. Ron) it seems unclear as to what other uses of the Brattle Loop are potentially a problem to the shuttle train

I still think a bus loop properly timed and routed is the best option
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I don't see any actual problem for the use of the loop as its use would solve the problems presented.
 
Re: T construction news

Science Park is opening again on November 5th

http://bostinnovation.com/2011/10/2...s-at-science-park-lechmere-ahead-of-schedule/

MBTA to Reopen Green Line Trolleys at Science Park & Lechmere Ahead of Schedule
Lisa DeCanio

In the eyes of most Boston commuters, the MBTA can’t do anything right. Just this weekend, the MTBA announced that on weekends from November to March, Red Line trains north of Harvard Square will be replaced with shuttle buses due to tunnel repairs. And this weekend (Oct. 29 & 30), the Red Line will be closed from Broadway to Kendall for repairs at Park Street. With a mounting debt nearing $450 million and fare increases are on the horizon, the MBTA is not good in anyone’s good graces right now.

Since April, the MBTA has shut down Science Park and Lechmere, running shuttle buses rather than trolleys to and from North Station in order to complete a $22 million upgrade at Science Park station. However, according to the Boston Herald, commuters will no longer have to deal with the inconvenience of these shuttle buses. Yesterday, MBTA Acting General Manager Jonathan Davis announced Science Park will reopen on November 5, much earlier than expected.

While it’s a massive pain for commuters, shutting down entire stations for lengthy periods proves beneficial in completing work on time. As the oldest public transportation system in the country, the MBTA faces billions in repairs, and unlike New York’s subway, the MBTA doesn’t have a third track. Due to this, all repairs must take place at night or stations must be fully shut down for lengthy periods of time to complete bigger projects. The MBTA’s website outlines reasons for running shuttle buses instead of trolleys, including earlier project completion dates, cost savings, reduced noise and commuter safety. With Science Park up and running again next week, we can’t argue with any of that reasoning.
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Re: T construction news

Does anyone have an update on how the Park Street elevator project is going? It seems like they are making great progress and moving along nicely.
 
Re: T construction news

Could it be that they're figuring their shit out so they won't have to close down Government Center for some horrendously long time? :D
 
Re: T construction news

Government Center will be less about raised platforms and a few elevators, and more about ripping the entire roof off the station and rebuilding the whole Green Line level from the trackbed to the street.

It's going to take a while, no matter what.
 
Re: T construction news

has anyone been in the new science park station? is it only one fare area?
 
Re: T construction news

Does anybody know what's going on at Back Bay Station? A big section of the concourse is tarped off and there appears to be scaffolding behind it. I can't find anything on MBTA.com, though.
 
Re: T construction news

HenryAlan said:
Does anybody know what's going on at Back Bay Station? A big section of the concourse is tarped off and there appears to be scaffolding behind it. I can't find anything on MBTA.com, though.
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Henry -- could it be related to this story

http://www.boston.com/yourtown/news/back_bay/2011/02/in_back_bay_station_rain_drops.html

Back Bay
In Back Bay station, rotting wood delays roof replacement
February 10, 2011 02:29 PM
By Matt Rocheleau, Town Correspondent

"Rotting wooden framing in the lofty, leaky ceiling of Back Bay station has delayed progress on a $1.4-million roof-replacement project....."
 
Re: T construction news

Ive heard a few people here say they dislike the new T style of station construction.

Those people are wrong. It looks great.

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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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Onto Porter then.

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New Harvard elevator
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Nooooooooo the classic maps are gone!

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But these? Theyre here forever.

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Bonus:

Apparently big red has expanded holiday hours.

Saw him at 3pm (first big red ride) and then again at 7:30pm.

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Re: T construction news

jass said:
Apparently big red has expanded holiday hours.

Saw him at 3pm (first big red ride) and then again at 7:30pm.
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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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