Red Line Construction

[castevens]

WOW, i'm never really in that part of the city, so i did NOT realize that it was that far along. Last time i was there, there was NOTHING

 

[tocoto]

IMHO the station is disappointing and will always look half finished since there is still a big chunk of ancient, crummy looking copper still there. After an incredibly long construction project considering how little was done, the old copper is still there so I assume that it's permanent. I was shocked when I realized that.

 

[Ron Newman]

I wonder if some of that will ultimately come down when the station is finished. It appears that the platforms are being extended somewhat towards Beacon Hill, which suggests that the part of the platforms nearest the Longfellow Bridge will be removed.

 

[ckb]

IMHO the station is disappointing and will always look half finished since there is still a big chunk of ancient, crummy looking copper still there. After an incredibly long construction project considering how little was done, the old copper is still there so I assume that it's permanent. I was shocked when I realized that.

The station is a little dissapointing considering the original design Justin posted just a bit upthread, but I find the retention of the copper cladding and its integration into the design of the new station (another push-out, green glass which recalls the color of the copper. The interterior of this "old portion" seems to have received some much-needed refurbishment already, and it appears that more is to come.

And I really don't understand why people complain about the length of this project. Traffic underneath the station has never been allowed to be blocked off for more than two lanes at a time. Shutdowns of the Red Line have been extremely minimal. A three story structure was demolished while car traffic ran below and train traffic ran through. And a new three story structure is being built in its place. I think things are moving pretty well for a government-run project in Massachusetts. Surely this project should take long than the Cambridge St. reconstruction (a straw man for sure!).

I wonder if some of that will ultimately come down when the station is finished. It appears that the platforms are being extended somewhat towards Beacon Hill, which suggests that the part of the platforms nearest the Longfellow Bridge will be removed.

I think the platforms may be extended a tad, but my guess is that they won't be extended significantly towards Beacon Hill so as to eliminate the uncovered portion of the platform extending on the Longfellow. This section is already about two car lengths. With the current configuration, the Red Line motormen have very little room to work with when spotting the train so that all doors will open onto the platform -- I think this is part of the reason trains are slow to enter Charles these days. I think any "extension" is just a "restoration" of the platform space which was lost when the old headhouse was demolished.

 

[Scott]

Hasn't been all good, though I suppose they have done as well as can be asked. The ramp off Storrow west has been real bad and it is hard to get across the Longfellow or its chaos if you turn left on Cambridge with no marked lanes, even with a traffic detail. You do the right thing and stay to the left and it can take 3 light cycles to get under the station.

Call me crazy but I like the copper and think the station is really nice as is. Its hard to explain in a few sentences but it reminds me of older times when Buzzy's was open and the jail was still in use and this area was VERY rough around the edges but was alive 24 hours.

 

[citytect]

I don't mind the green metal at all, but I do anticipate a somewhat disappointing unfinished look to the station.

 

[JoeGallows]

Moooore glass.

Looks like they like the greened copper so much, they went and painted the newer fence the same color.

 

[bosdevelopment]

Moooore glass.

Looks like they like the greened copper so much, they went and painted the newer fence the same color.

Am i the only person that likes the copper

 

[DudeUrSistersHot]

Am i the only person that likes the copper

nope

 

[vanshnookenraggen]

Am i the only person that likes the copper

nope

Ditto....but that paint....

 

[ckb]

Am i the only person that likes the copper

nope

Ditto....but that paint....

Ditto ditto .....

of course it is the MBTA, so the paint will never be cleaned again and eventually will take on a darker color that will hopefully be less obnoxious to the eye ...

 

[DowntownDave]

I really do like how its coming along.

Escalators, stairs and elevator are clearly visible. I wonder to what extent the elevated track and supports will remain visible:

The other side:

Overall:

 

[chumbolly]

I noticed during my commute this morning that workers have begun installing the wall surfaces inside Charles in the existing portion of the section. I didn't get a great look from my vantage point inside the train, but at first glance, it looked like 16"x16" walnut or mahogany paneling. That's crazy from a maintenance point of view, so I think it may instead be some sort of dark brown stone. Either way, it looks incredibly good contrasted against the brushed steel window trim and ceilings. That station is beginning to look like the lobby of a W Hotel.

 

[DowntownDave]

 

[statler]

Longwood transportation upgrade ready to roll
Officials hope $55m in road, transit improvements helps the medical area grow, relieves workers' travel woes

By Ron DePasquale, Globe Correspondent | September 16, 2006

The Longwood Medical Area and the surrounding Fenway and Kenmore neighborhoods are set to get long-overdue transportation improvements, which should help the booming district grow and remain competitive.

The Yawkey and Ruggles commuter rail stations will be lengthened to allow for longer trains, making them more convenient destinations for workers who now must travel into Back Bay before heading back to the Longwood area by other transit. And the MBTA's Longwood, Fenway, and Kenmore stations on the Green Line will also get makeovers.

Meanwhile, the intersection in front of the Landmark Center will be redesigned and other road improvements could include special one-way lanes in the area during peak travel times. These improvements will come courtesy of a $55 million transportation spending package the Legislature recently approved.

``Whenever we talk about our needs, helping people get here has been at the top of our list every year," said Marilyn Swartz-Lloyd , president of the Medical, Academic and Scientific Community Organization, which represents 21 Longwood institutions. ``All the institutions are incredibly concerned, because it's the reason a number of people will not come to work here, and decide to leave here." At least 60 percent of Longwood's workers already use public transit, according to MASCO, and are enticed to use the T with subsidized passes and shuttle buses. About half of the vehicles in Longwood are through-traffic, according to MASCO. More than 37,000 people work in the area.

Boston Red Sox executives, who have been buying property near Fenway Park, supported the transportation improvements, which made the legislation controversial. But backers of the spending bill said it is Longwood's economic power that was the catalyst for approving the transportation upgrades. Representative Dan Bosley , a North Adams Democrat and House chairman of the Legislature's Economic Development Committee, said Longwood drives not only Boston's economy, but the state's as well.

``It's such an economic engine that it makes sense to move people around better," Bosley said. ``It has tremendous potential growth, but it's strangled under the current system. We have to get the cars out of there." If more commuters ride instead of drive to Longwood, surface parking lots could be developed into biomedical facilities or housing, the plan's supporters say. Separately, the MBTA is conducting a $450,000 study on tunneling under Longwood, which would be part of the Urban Ring, a long-discussed circumferential transportation network that would link the area to existing transit lines.

Already Longwood is hosting several building projects, including an 18-story Center for Life Sciences Boston by Lyme Properties; Brigham & Women's Hospital Center for Advanced Medicine, an ambulatory care center at 68 Francis St.; Dana-Farber Cancer Institute's planned 400,000-square-foot complex; and Joslin Diabetes Center's planned nine-story lab/clinic and 150-unit residential building at 1 Joslin Place.

Meanwhile, the Red Sox are buying property in an effort to control development around the ballpark. The team now owns a McDonald's on Upper Boylston Street, along with the old WBCN-FM and Town Taxi buildings. It plans to partner with the Sage family to build a hotel and condo complex that would replace the Howard Johnson's Motor Lodge on Boylston.

Road improvements, along with reworking the Landmark Center intersection, include installing traffic signal management systems. Studies will be conducted on whether on-street parking could be eliminated on busy streets like Brookline Avenue.

Several Longwood advocates said that while the state improvement package helps in the short term, congestion will cloud Longwood's future until the T completes the Urban Ring. The plan would use bus and rail services to create a transit loop through seven communities, from Chelsea and Everett to Cambridge, Somerville, Brookline and many parts of Boston, including Longwood, and connect to major T lines.

The $55 million ``obviously helps us," said Rick Shea , Dana-Farber's vice president for facilities management and former MASCO president. ``But the Urban Ring is what really would make a huge difference. Then you could go underground in Longwood."

The MBTA has initiated some bus portions of the Urban Ring plan, and continues to study others. But David Dixon, an urban planner with Goody, Clancy who has studied the area for MASCO, said the T only has stations around Longwood's edges and poorly serves commuters who work in the district's center.

``The Urban Ring must be built, if only to get people to and from Longwood," Dixon said

Link

 

[ablarc]

``Whenever we talk about our needs, helping people get here has been at the top of our list every year," said Marilyn Swartz-Lloyd , president of the Medical, Academic and Scientific Community Organization, which represents 21 Longwood institutions. ``All the institutions are incredibly concerned, because it's the reason a number of people will not come to work here, and decide to leave here."

Longwood in a nutshell: isolated by ill-conceived transport.

Boston Red Sox executives, who have been buying property near Fenway Park, supported the transportation improvements, which made the legislation controversial.

Whoa. Come gain? Red Sox support: the kiss of death?

``It's such an economic engine that it makes sense to move people around better," Bosley said. ``It has tremendous potential growth, but it's strangled under the current system. We have to get the cars out of there." If more commuters ride instead of drive to Longwood, surface parking lots could be developed into biomedical facilities or housing, the plan's supporters say.

Truth is, this can be done whether more commuters ride or drive. Perhaps they?ve heard of parking garages? Just put shops on the ground floors.

Separately, the MBTA is conducting a $450,000 study on tunneling under Longwood, which would be part of the Urban Ring, a long-discussed circumferential transportation network that would link the area to existing transit lines.

By all means, tunnel.

But don?t forget to put a station dead smack in the middle, where it belongs. Longwood,-- like Charlestown, East Cambridge. MIT, the South End, the North End and even Beacon Hill-- suffers from peripheral transportation. It?s a disease that occurs when you use existing rights-of-way instead of tunneling. How much preferable it is to come up right in the middle of Harvard Square!

(A digression in the form of a list of places I wish I could emerge from the subway: Hanover at Prince, Post Office Square, Joy Street at Myrtle, Mass. Ave. right at the MIT dome, Northampton Square, Blackstone Square, Bunker Hill, Navy Yard, Inman Square. If I lived in Paris, chances are I could.)

Road improvements, along with reworking the Landmark Center intersection, include installing traffic signal management systems. Studies will be conducted on whether on-street parking could be eliminated on busy streets like Brookline Avenue.

Bad idea. That converts a street into a highway. We don?t need to get cars moving faster; we need to get folks to leave them at home. Less traffic flow, not more.
The $55 million ``obviously helps us," said Rick Shea , Dana-Farber's vice president for facilities management and former MASCO president. ``But the Urban Ring is what really would make a huge difference. Then you could go underground in Longwood."

The MBTA has initiated some bus portions of the Urban Ring plan, and continues to study others. But David Dixon, an urban planner with Goody, Clancy who has studied the area for MASCO, said the T only has stations around Longwood's edges and poorly serves commuters who work in the district's center.

This problem afflicts the T as a whole.


Btw, I suspect that this post and the one it's a response to are both misplaced in this thread. Sorry.

 

[castevens]

This is probably in here somewhere, but any idea when this will be completed? I will be working at MGH next semester, and it would be spectacular if it was done

 

[justin]

Last I heard, it's due January.

justin

 

[castevens]

Great! Just in time!

I'm applying to BID, BMC and MGH...I'm working in the Emergency Department, and I know MGH is insane...

 

[Scott]

Great! Just in time!

I'm applying to BID, BMC and MGH...I'm working in the Emergency Department, and I know MGH is insane...

Mass General and Beth Israel ER's are a cupcake compared to BMC where level 3 traumas go, the homeless and prisoners from South Bay.