Pawtucket-Central Falls MBTA Commuter Rail Station | Pine and Barton Streets | Pawtucket

[New England Born & Raised]

Work on Rhode Island's newest MBTA commuter rail station is now quickly progressing. The Pawtucket station located near its border with Central Falls will be the fourth MBTA stop in the state joining Providence, TF Green Airport (Warwick), and Wickford Junction (N Kingstown). It is being built just south of the large but abandoned and decaying 1916 train station. Its location on a curve in the tracks (does not meet today's station codes) along with the extorbitent renovation cost made converting the old depot not feasible. A plan for a new station was therefore proposed and construction started. Funding was first approved back in 2016 with the cost now rising to an estimated $58M. Much of the high cost is attributed to construction taking place on the main Amtrak line around a highly active train schedule. After many delays, construction finally fully started back in 2020. The open target date is now sometime in 2022.

Construction Photo: 09-02-2021

 

[New England Born & Raised]

The station plan to date has had no parking as it includes just pick up and drop off for buses and cars. This article indicates that some other parking options are likely. The article states that RIDOT has acquired land for 200 spots that should be available upon the station's opening. It however does not elaborate on where it is. It also indicates that other private parking options may be on the horizon. 179 and 200 Conant Street are mentioned. They are however not even in sight of the station as they are a block away behind an old mill complex on Pine Street (see in photo above in background across the street from station) that is being renovated. These lots are located on a narrow street with poor access and egress routes.

RIDOT acquires land for parking at train station

PAWTUCKET – City officials confirmed this week that the Rhode Island Department of Transportation has acquired a parcel of land near the new train station being built off Pine Street to be used in part for parking at the station.Deputy Director of Administration Wilder Arboleda confirmed the arr

www.valleybreeze.com

 

[Arlington]

That bus hub would be a natural place for a TOD set of apartments atop. I think RIDOT would be forgiven for concluding that the best place to park is South Attleboro (its in the direction of most travel demand and "if I have to get in my car, I might as well drive to a cheaper zone"

 

[New England Born & Raised]

That bus hub would be a natural place for a TOD set of apartments atop. I think RIDOT would be forgiven for concluding that the best place to park is South Attleboro (its in the direction of most travel demand and "if I have to get in my car, I might as well drive to a cheaper zone"

South Attleboro right off Route 95 at Exit 2 (Newport Ave) is and would continue to be a better option for most Rhode Islanders that choose to drive and park at a station. Parking was however already often in short supply there. Unfortunately, S Attleboro is presently closed as it it was deemed unsafe back in January-2021 and no discernible work has been done since then to remedy its issues even for the short term. In the long term, it was slated for a complete overhaul which would minimally create use issues and possibly even take it off line during reconstruction.

Keep in mind that the Providence line is far and away the most used line by passengers in the MBTA Commuter rail system. Providence, Attleboro, Mansfield, and South Attleboro are each already among the busiest stations outside of Boston.

 

[jklo]

South Attleboro right off Route 95 at Exit 2 (Newport Ave) is and would continue to be a better option for most Rhode Islanders that choose to drive and park at a station. Parking was however already often in short supply there. Unfortunately, S Attleboro is presently closed as it it was deemed unsafe back in January-2021 and no discernible work has been done since then to remedy its issues even for the short term. In the long term, it was slated for a complete overhaul which would minimally create use issues and possibly even take it off line during reconstruction.

It was in short supply but there were a lot of spots. MBTA says 579.

 

[New England Born & Raised]

This article identifies the property intended for parking that RIDOT bought is at the corner of Pine Street and Goff Avenue which is directly adjacent to the station (just out of sight to the left in the above construction photo). This six acre site was once occupied by an old mill which was destroyed by fire with its remnants later demolished. Its proximity to the station is the best case scenario for parking. It will initially provide 200 spots with future expansion possible.

RIDOT purchase is for 6 acres, fully fixing train station parking problem

PAWTUCKET – The Rhode Island Department of Transportation’s purchase of about 6 more acres of property near an in-progress new commuter rail station will more than adequately address any parking

www.valleybreeze.com

 

[New England Born & Raised]

Finer details tied to access at train station being sorted out

• By ETHAN SHOREY Valley Breeze Editor
• Feb 16, 2022

Finer details tied to access at train station being sorted out

PAWTUCKET – City and state officials are working hard toward the goal of getting the new Pawtucket/Central Falls Commuter Rail Station open by late summer, but some aspects of getting

www.valleybreeze.com

 

[New England Born & Raised]

Construction delays push train station opening to December

PAWTUCKET – The Pawtucket/Central Falls Transit Center, while originally projected to open late this summer, will now not be complete until December as a result of labor and material supply

www.valleybreeze.com

 

[BBascule]

Photo by Ethan Shorey.

 

[BBascule]

Yesterday RIDOT announced a vague opening date of "winter."

 

[New England Born & Raised]

Went by the site today. There is still a lot of work to be done. There is no way it will be open for December and the target of winter may more likely now be LATE winter.

I took these photos today:


I believe the oval roadway in the center is the RIPTA Bus Transfer Area (north bound track side)

I believe the circle rotary will be the car passenger drop off spot (north bound track side)

 

[New England Born & Raised]

Another housing project is moving forward in the Conant Thread district close to the new station. The location is 327 Pine Street in Pawtucket across from its intersection with Conant Street. This is about a block NW from the new station's south bound tracks just tens of feet from the Central Falls border (it would be behind the saw tooth roof mill in the 2nd passenger drop off photo in the immediate preceding post). The two phased project will eventually create 182 residential units with 153 parking spaces.

Planning for Pine Street development pushes ahead

CENTRAL FALLS/PAWTUCKET – Plans to add more than 180 new housing units to a vacant mill on Pine Street continue to push ahead.

www.valleybreeze.com

 

[nicanbot]

Another housing project is moving forward in the Conant Thread district close to the new station. The location is 327 Pine Street in Pawtucket across from its intersection with Conant Street. This is about a block NW from the new station's south bound tracks just tens of feet from the Central Falls border (it would be behind the saw tooth roof mill in the 2nd passenger drop off photo in the immediate preceding post). The two phased project will eventually create 182 residential units with 153 parking spaces.

Planning for Pine Street development pushes ahead

CENTRAL FALLS/PAWTUCKET – Plans to add more than 180 new housing units to a vacant mill on Pine Street continue to push ahead.

www.valleybreeze.com

Does anyone know is parking minimums are reduced in TOD districts, eliminated or no consequence? Seems weird to have minimums in such designated spaces.... but I don't know much about them.

 

[New England Born & Raised]

Latest revised open target date is now late January-2023

Opening in January, new Pawtucket/CF train station set in motion two decades ago

PAWTUCKET – Most everyone locally knows that the new Pawtucket/Central Falls Commuter Rail Station has been a long time coming, but some might not realize that a series of steps

www.valleybreeze.com

 

[New England Born & Raised]

There is now an actual projected open date for the new station - Monday, January 23rd, 2023. While there have been general previous projected open targets such as year, summer, December, and then winter which have gone unmet, there has never been a specific date listed before.

RI sets opening date for Pawtucket-Central Falls train station

Agencies are still working to set an opening date for the new Pawtucket-Central Falls Transit Center, according to a spokesperson from the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA).

www.wpri.com

 

[New England Born & Raised]

Things actually look like they might be done for the January 23rd opening. The adjacent parking lot is complete. It will have an exit out to the intersection of Pine and Goff Ave. This four way intersection currently has stop signs. Not sure if this is the long term plan. The design of the parking lot has a long entrance roads with spaces on one side. It then opens into the only in/out access point of the larger main parking area.

Centerpiece art piece at train station is tribute to textile past

PAWTUCKET – When riders start boarding trains at the new Pawtucket/Central Falls Commuter Rail Station and Bus Hub on Jan. 23, they won’t be able to miss the giant ball

www.valleybreeze.com

 

[New England Born & Raised]

Some photos I took in the parking lot two weeks ago back on December 29th:

A view from the parking lot of the south bound side of the station. Note the yarn ball art installation had already been hung. The area in the immediate front of the station where the vehicles are parked is the RIPTA bus transfer loop section. The south bound passenger drop off circle is to the right just out of view. The station will initially have just 200 parking spaces upon its opening. There is however ample open undeveloped area in two directions to add a few hundred more spaces if eventually needed.

The adjacent parking area for the station. Note the stop sign in middle of the photo. This is the only access point to the parking. Pine Street runs left to right with Goff Avenue ending at this four way intersection. Note the barrier (behind car in center) runs unbroken from Pine to behind where I took the photo. Cars will have to drive this long entrance road section (with parking on one side) before gaining access to the larger part of the parking area. The passenger drop off and RIPTA bus transfer areas are separate with their own access point just out of view in the left top corner (see Nov 8th photos above).




Mass Transit put out a release on the new station January 10th. It indicates that the MBTA will make 40 weekday stops and 18 weekend stops at the new Pawtucket-Central Falls Transit Center.

Link:

RIDOT, MBTA to open Pawtucket-Central Falls Transit Center on Jan. 23

The center will allow riders to switch modes of transportation easily between commuter rail operated by MBTA and RIPTA’s statewide bus network.

www.masstransitmag.com

 

[New England Born & Raised]

TRAIN TRAVEL HISTORY IN PAWTUCKET OVER THE LAST 175 YEARS - Monday January 23, 2023 marks the return of passenger train travel in and out of Pawtucket after a decades long absence. The new MBTA and RIPTA Transit Center will be the fourth train station to operate in downtown Pawtucket. The first station was built in the 1850’s and occupied a location near the present intersection of Broad and Exchange Streets. The tracks had several at grade street crossings throughout the city with many in and around the station. The second station was built opposite the first and opened in 1872. The City of Pawtucket was at this time booming and trains crossing its busy streets in its downtown became an issue for both safety and commerce. The tracks were therefore eventually moved a bit to the north and sunk for much of its path (same route today) through the city in 1914. A grand new depot with parts of it in both Pawtucket and Central Falls was then constructed further north on Broad Street in 1916. It was an over 30,000 square foot brick and granite beaux-arts style structure that sat above the tracks that are now known today as Amtrak’s Northeast Corridor. This station had two levels; the upper level housed the 96’ by 64’ waiting room along with a barber shop, restaurant, ticket office, and baggage areas. The lower level had the outdoor track area with two island platforms providing access to all four tracks. Some 140 trains a day stopped at the new station with an average of seventy thousand passenger departures a month. The station however began to decline in time as less people used the train for transportation with the rise of the auto and it was closed in 1959. It still sits empty today further deteriorating with time. Its location on a bend in the tracks no longer meets station site codes. That along with prohibitive renovation costs necessitated building the new station just a bit to its southwest. After many years of campaigning, Pawtucket was finally able to secure the federal, state, and municipal funding for a new combined intermodal transportation center which included MBTA and RIPTA service. Ground was broken in 2018 and the process of construction around an extremely busy active stretch of track was slow. The $63M station will now open this Monday. MBTA trains will make 40 weekday and 18 weekend stops at the new Pawtucket-Central Falls Transit Center. It currently has 200 adjacent parking spaces with area available for future expansion. In addition to the trains, this facility will also become the RIPTA bus transfer point for the city of Pawtucket as it will move from the Slater Mill area on Roosevelt Ave.


The first station from the 1850's

The second station built 1872

The third station opened in 1916

The fourth and present station opened in January-2023

 

[Java King]

I've never seen the third station in person, but pictures make it look wonderful. I just hope this 2023 MBTA Station has better maintenance than the nearby South Attleboro Station. I totally remember when that opened back in the 90's and it was shiny and new. Now, it's closed.

 

[New England Born & Raised]

I've never seen the third station in person, but pictures make it look wonderful. I just hope this 2023 MBTA Station has better maintenance than the nearby South Attleboro Station. I totally remember when that opened back in the 90's and it was shiny and new. Now, it's closed.

WAS wonderful. Sadly no more. It is in very bad shape. It has not been used as a station since 1959. About 40 years ago it was used for occasional flea markets. Other than that it has been empty for several decades except for vagrants illegally using it. It may now be past the point of ever saving. Just removing it will however be a very expensive and problematic task. The active tracks below it see Amtrak, MBTA, and freight train traffic on a daily basis. Other than in the middle of the night, there are not long stretches of time where there are not trains running in close intervals.

I took the South Attleboro Station daily for a Boston commute several years before it closed in 2021. It had been in bad shape for some time with one set of stairs long closed. The exposed to the elements steel superstructure did not age well. The use of copious amounts of rock salt in the winter to remove ice also only further hastened corrosion. The one set of stairs that were still in use when I frequented it had a lot of rust holes. The poor maintenance by the MBTA resulted in having to be condemned for safety reasons. There is supposedly a new design approved but the funding for it has not yet been secured. Some speculate that the MBTA is deliberately taking its time assessing the situation with the reduction of passengers due to working from home after Covid and the opening of the Pawtucket station just two miles down the tracks.