MBTA "Transformation" (Green Line, Red Line, & Orange Line Transformation Projects)

B Branch Full Access Closure Begins April 17 | Updates | MBTA

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B-branch station consolidation project switching to 7 weeks of 24/7 busing with a goal of finishing the project in 2021, the previous plan had it stretching through winter and into 2022.
 
I suppose "rip off ALL OF THE BAND-AIDS" is a cromulent enough pivot for '21 since we're still in a pretty fragile portion of COVID recovery. But why do I get the suspicion that 1 week after Baker got very publicly shamed into walking back a bunch of heavily-upsold service cuts that it serves up another excuse to stealth some buried austerity onto the backside of these outages? Right this second, I wouldn't trust 'em as far as I could throw 'em that service levels will resume afterwards at the same levels they were supposed to be.
 
F-Line to Dudley said:
I suppose "rip off ALL OF THE BAND-AIDS" is a cromulent enough pivot for '21 since we're still in a pretty fragile portion of COVID recovery. But why do I get the suspicion that 1 week after Baker got very publicly shamed into walking back a bunch of heavily-upsold service cuts that it serves up another excuse to stealth some buried austerity onto the backside of these outages? Right this second, I wouldn't trust 'em as far as I could throw 'em that service levels will resume afterwards at the same levels they were supposed to be.
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Yup, Ive always been highly suspicious of the whole "rip off the band-aid" mantra.

My suspicion is that instead of 8 hours of night work, we're simply getting 8 hours of cheaper day work.
 
jass said:
Yup, Ive always been highly suspicious of the whole "rip off the band-aid" mantra.

My suspicion is that instead of 8 hours of night work, we're simply getting 8 hours of cheaper day work.
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Even if it is made up of daytime work plus additional hours somewhere else during a day, I think the logistics of the daytime+ work hours works out better for many. And of course, in some cases these are 24/7 3-shift work schedules too.
 
Do anyone on the forum have knowledge of signalling on GL, particularly costs?
 
Buried in today's CIP update (page 28) is this item:

Short Term Accessibility Improvements – FTA Compliance Actions (NEW)
Addresses ADA compliance on Green Line B and C Branch street level stations. Funds design and construction for 14 stations
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It's listed as $5.8M in FY 2022, out of $57.5 M authorized.

Curiously, there are 9 B stations* and 9 C stations** that are not currently/soon-to-be accessible. Either some stations won't be modified, or the MBTA expects to drop 4 stops. If it's the latter, I imagine it would be some combination of Allston, Chiswick, Dean, Fairbanks or Brandon, and Kent. Chiswick is reasonable stop spacing and was kept in 2004, but making Sutherland accessible probably involves moving it west to Leamington.

** Blandford, Packards, Griggs, Allston, Warren, Sutherland, Chiswick, Chestnut Hill, South
** Hawes, Kent, St Paul, Summit, Brandon, Fairbanks, Tappan, Dean, Englewood
 
It's noteworthy just how fast the MBTA is moving towards being 100% accessible. That project will likely mop up the B and C, the remaining D stops are in design, and Hynes and Symphony are both happening soon. On the rapid transit side, that leaves only Bowdoin (likely gone with RBX), Boylston (difficult because of preservation status, but not that difficult), Valley Road (permanently exempt), and the four E stops (doable).

On the CR side, closing the 5 useless stops brought us from 76.6% (108/141) to 78.7% (107/136). By 2023, current construction will bring us to 116/142 (81.7%). Projects that are definitely in the pipeline (the Newton and Wellesley stations, the Franklin Line double-tracking) would get to 88.0% (125/142) by later in the decade. (When you weight by ridership, the span goes from about 93% to 97%.)
 
Some track work at BU East/Central during the consolidation shutdown today.
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Officially suggesting as Red Line Transformation:
1) Charles MGH Transformation: (RBX)
2) Porter Transformation ( GLX Porter to USq)

both will radically transform the Red and its ability to serve its catchment
 
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It slipped under the radar, but MBTA alerts indicate that Brookline Hills station closed on April 12 until "winter 2021" for the final portion of the BHS building/station renovations.
 
bigeman312 said:
I'm not 100% sure based on the low resolution and the stretched map to fit the rendering, but it appears that rendering is using this "MBTA map." I love the optimism!
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Can’t believe that map has Blue to Lynn and Red to Lexington, but the Orange still doesn’t reach Roslindale!
 
Slides for yesterday's D Branch accessibility project meeting have been posted. It includes preliminary site plans for Chestnut Hill, Waban, Eliot, and Beaconsfield. No real surprises as far as the station designs go - platforms being raised on the same footprints, with upgrades to paths, parking, etc as needed. Construction from Q3 2022 to Q2 2023.

It does have an interesting tidbit about the Type 10 cars. Apparently they will have onboard bridge plates to serve the existing 8" accessible platforms, but those platforms will gradually be raised to 14" to support true level boarding with no bridge plates needed.
 
The EGE said:
It does have an interesting tidbit about the Type 10 cars. Apparently they will have onboard bridge plates to serve the existing 8" accessible platforms, but those platforms will gradually be raised to 14" to support true level boarding with no bridge plates needed.
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So we're rebuilding all these stations to 8" platforms heights to presumably come back in 5 years and rebuild them again to 14" platforms?
 
I would hope that they're being designed for easy conversion - jack up the precast platform slabs by 6", adjust a few ramps that are pre-sized for the 14" platforms, and done.
 
The EGE said:
I would hope that they're being designed for easy conversion - jack up the precast platform slabs by 6", adjust a few ramps that are pre-sized for the 14" platforms, and done.
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Would this actually be precast though? 8in is basically a tall sidewalk; I would assume that these platforms could be pretty easily built by pouring onto subgrade.
 
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