Ok I get it and I’m with you for it being fully accessible first
MBTA Construction Projects
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WestMedford
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It’s starting
The EGE
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Two months of bustitutions on the Newburyport/Rockport line: https://www.mbta.com/news/2022-04-07/newburyportrockport-commuter-rail-line-service-changes
DrFreewind
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Drove by today and demolition has begun on the old Lowe's across from Quincy Adams station for the new bus facility
The T released a render for improvements to Lynn station: new canopies, elevators, stairs, platform and structural repairs.
Out of curiosity, what manner of construction deficiency here lead to the rather notably short life of the existing station & garage? Both the soon to be demolished garage and station were built in 1992, which is only 30 years ago, compared to the multitudes of 1970s and 80s eras stations on the system, or the approximately contemporaneous Blue Line stations. Given 40/50 year design lives, the South shore garages needed work @ ~50 years, as did Alewife, but I wouldn't have expected a station as new as Lynn to need such substantial touches.
Out of curiosity, what manner of construction deficiency here lead to the rather notably short life of the existing station & garage? Both the soon to be demolished garage and station were built in 1992, which is only 30 years ago, compared to the multitudes of 1970s and 80s eras stations on the system, or the approximately contemporaneous Blue Line stations. Given 40/50 year design lives, the South shore garages needed work @ ~50 years, as did Alewife, but I wouldn't have expected a station as new as Lynn to need such substantial touches.
JeffDowntown
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Alewife is not exactly the poster child of quality construction. The garage there started needing major structural repairs less than 2 decades after opening.
The T does not exactly have a track record of hiring quality contractors for their construction projects. Connected contractors are more the norm.
bigpicture7
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Failure to design/build for and maintain for corrosion mitigation has been a pervasive recurring theme for the MBTA, the the root of many of the premature re-builds. The T, IMO, needs design review checklists for all major builds and renovations/repairs that include corrosion control, and needs to hold contractors and themselves accountable. When rebar is rusting and causing concrete to disintegrate (case in point at Alewife) and you just patch things up to keep the garage structurally alive, you are setting yourself up for a future disaster. Every time something is "touched," a corrosion checklist should be applied. Another example, when the T recently replaced all of the track on the B branch of the greenline (outbound of Blandford), they quickly cut out all of the (solid/nice and not that old) black-painted middle divider fencing with a sawzall (to improve ease of access for the track work), then ground the paint off the ends of the fence posts and later welded the fencing back in place onto its prior post stumps without treating or painting these new exposed seems. I could be mistaken, but I'm 99% sure this was not galvanized or weathering steel alloy, but bare steel or aluminum that needed to be repainted. A weld joint of a non corrosion resistant alloy is extremely susceptible to corrosive decay. You cannot just leave it there exposed to Boston winters. It needs to be primed and repainted immediately; even if you do it late once the rust has already begun, it will still fail prematurely thereafter. And I get it, the track work contractors probably had nothing to do with fence paint integrity, so there was likely a coverage lapse here - but that's a major point of my comment. Meanwhile, there is rust everywhere in MBTA infrastructure. (also, I am not trying to be a know it all and I hope someone with inside knowledge corrects me about the Green Line fencing situation; but the bigger point is that corrosion control has to be at the absolute forefront of a public transit agency's mind when you're talking about trying to operate reliably in New England weather).
RandomWalk
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This also gets into the operations and maintenance budget vs. the capital budget. Routine SOGR maintenance is hemmed in by the funding sources available to the O&M budget and the other draws (e.g. salaries, benefits, etc.). The T has dealt with this by deferring maintenance into the capital budget, which leads to infrastructure decaying to an absurd degree between renewals.
In a better world, the operations and maintenance budget would be two separate budget, with distinct funding sources. Given the apathy towards the T by Western MA pols, it’s probably never going to happen unless the T service area is expanded to the whole Commonwealth. Technically the whole Commonwealth is an “urban area” for purposes of FAIR plan property insurance, so there is some precedent for a state-wide authority.
In a better world, the operations and maintenance budget would be two separate budget, with distinct funding sources. Given the apathy towards the T by Western MA pols, it’s probably never going to happen unless the T service area is expanded to the whole Commonwealth. Technically the whole Commonwealth is an “urban area” for purposes of FAIR plan property insurance, so there is some precedent for a state-wide authority.
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Correct me if I'm wrong but the T is required by law to award contracts based on lowest qualified bidder as are most public contracts in the Commonwealth.
Charlie_mta
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Don't know about the state of Massachusetts, but FHWA for its contracts oftentimes allows a competitive "best value" bidding process in which points are given for a bidder's competency and experience in certain specified skills, and then added to points for their bid, to arrive at a the bid's total value. This helps to get skilled contractors while still using price as an important component of the bid.
North Shore
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State and Municipal procurement for large contracts required a public bid process where the low bidder will receive the contract. There are a few mechanisms for the awarding authority to award the work to another bidder, but they do not get employed often as they are difficult to prove and/or utilize without getting tied up in potential lawsuits.
I did some research on this you are correct but some "design-build" contracts have a point system which are utilized based on multiple factors that I won't list here. Mass DOT has numerous design build contracts like the Route 3 widening Burlington to NH, statewide electronic tolling, Longfellow Bridge, and 93 "Fast 14" contracts. The MBTA also utilizes design build, such as one of their current bridge replacement contracts replacing bridges in Lawrence, Lynn, Melrose, Somerville, and Weston.
As far as design-build is concerned, while it is quite common and popular today, it was not even 20 years ago.
Design-Build is still considered an alternative delivery model to the traditional Design-Bid-Build model, where design and construction are separately contracted. Even if the GSA started using it in 1991, it was rare and uncommon federally through the 1990s until FAR reform in 1996. In fact, the final rule allowing for Design-Build in FHWA federally funded highway projects was only promogulated in 2002, and even now it remains an alternative choice to the traditional model.
Similarly, about the same time in 1994 there was a shift to allow for, and indeed ultimately favor, a "best value" approach in contracting, which would accept a higher cost in exchange for quality, (this is why there's more often than not a technical scoring of qualifications and proposals) alongsides the low bidder appoach, which the federal government now refers to as "Lowest Price Technically Acceptable." As of 1999, only 250 contracts were awarded federally under best value terms. These days, it's more common than not for large contracts, but yes it is more susceptible to award challenges due to variability and application of evaluation criteria, as it can be pretty subjective. Most big bid protests contest on evaluation grounds,(See JEDI, workhorse/USPS, etc), but these days a bid protest is all but de rigeur in the mil- contracting space.
Locally, Design-Build was only introduced by the legislature in 2004 and came into force in 2005, and the MBTA actually was considered non-exempt until 2015. (meaning it had to individually apply to use the DB model for a specific project, and only used it twice until 2015.) Also, the legislation inforce until 2005 all but required lowest cost bid awards exclusively- the BV approach was also introduced as part of the 2004 reform package.
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TrolleybusFoaming
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The harbor tunnel Blue Line shutdown has been extended another week. On May 12th and 13th, Blue Line riders north of Orient Heights will enjoy the experience of a shuttle to there, a train to Airport, and another shuttle downtown.
On a side note, do we really need to shut down a line for 2 weeks to repair a pedestrian footbridge?
On a side note, do we really need to shut down a line for 2 weeks to repair a pedestrian footbridge?
Are you sure its to repair a ped bridge or a tunnel that was built in 1904?
There are two separate shutdowns: one related to the tunnel, one related to the pedestrian bridge. Both were scheduled for 2 weeks. The tunnel shutdown has been extended by 1 week to 3 weeks.
Newbury/Rockport Commuter Rail is supposed to be offloading onto Blue Line at Orient Heights and busses starting tomorrow as well. Gonna be messy...
The EGE
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JeffDowntown
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But per the T trip planner today, there is no service on the commuter rail Beverly to Boston. And no Blue Line service from Airport to Bowdoin. All routes into Boston from Lynn are showing 2+ hours service (for a 10 mile trip).
Last minute change they postponed the planned work on the Newburyport Rockport line inside of Beverly.