Re: Silver Line to Chelsea (Study Meeting)
*walks in with tail between his legs*
SO I am probably the *last* person who should be posting here however...
After several people, some regulars on here, plus some lurkers of this site (who are close friends) talked to me directly (and a few that gave me a reality check) I'm going to open my big mouth and insert
BOTH my feet. And then I'm gonna on my knees and profusely apologize to everyone.
Just know that it was a
really bad day all around yesterday for me, and I think this site (and a few people unrelated to here) got the brunt of my extreme grumpiness. So it wasn't you, it was me. I will try refrain from that in the future, as I do want to contribute here (if you'll let me) because after reading some of the previous posts and talking with a few fellow AB members elsewhere, I really can answer many, many questions about this project and bring a lot to this thread (and forum). And I want to be apart of that. So again, please accept my very sincere apologies.
With that said, I've unlocked the
original album on flickr and restored the previous post with all the pictures (post is on
page 13 ). Luckily, I write all my better posts in notepad before I post (and save them!) so the post wasn't lost. So it's back. Enjoy. And yes I will go take pictures again in a few weeks and post them here also. (and no, I wont remove them in a huff after!) I feel I need to now, as it's going to be very exciting to see it come together very quickly and that's something that I'd like to share that here in picture essays!
And now that is behind us.. I do feel the need to reply to a few things I've seen in the last few previous posts.
F Line's re-configuration of the intersection with Everett Ave:
I want to remind folks of two things, One is that one of the many reasons why this project is moving so fast with short money is that MassDOT owns the ROW already so little to no new land had to be purchased for the busway. So with any changes, while being nice, it wouldn't meet the criteria for the project which is keeping costs down, because to do something like F-Line suggests would add to the cost since it would require taking over part of MGH's parking lot also)
However, I do agree that there's no way (anywhere, except Eastern Ave Station busway entrance) for the buses to leave the busway, but as I understand it, the buses will not layover at Mystic Mall station. They will just turn around and head back to South Boston in with no layover. And remember, the bus facilities that service the Silver Line are no where near Chelsea, but in South Boston so the buses always would go back into the city before going out of service. And as far as a truly out of service bus that needs a tow, one could assume that the signalized BRT lights that would be at Everett Ave would be controlled in a way NOT to go down while this is happening so the broken bus can be removed out of the busway quickly. Yeah it's a tight corner turn, but in an emergency it could be done.
The other thing to keep in mind is that Mystic Mall station, if reconfigured wouldn't be a straight shot from DT Chelsea station, AND if this is ever extended to further to Wellington (a la Urban Ring), only one platform will need to be re-worked to eliminate the bus loop. (essentially removing the pine trees as seen
here). A cost savings move for later.
And yes it could be years before that happens, however, remember how fast this one got started? From Mystic Mall Station to Santilli Circle is just like the this project, an abandoned ROW. SO it could come together for that section very easily. The hard and costly part would be the bridge over the Malden river like you said. One could hope that once this project is finished and the ridership goes up, that extending this to Wellington will eventually happen as another easy win.
And then of course, the other thing to remember is that this is a busway for BRT, so it's not really meant to have the buses divert onto streets unless it's apart of the route and in this design, it's not. Doing that kinda defeats the purpose of a BRT IMHO (other than for having out of service buses leave the busway earlier), plus if you look at other BRT lines in other cities (like LA), any at grade crossing is very similar to what the MassDOT has done here.
I should also add that in early renderings as seen below (from an May 2013 presentation), they did originally plan to have the busway run the entire length of Market Basket and have the loop closer to Third Street with an exit to third for off route, plus a standard Box District platform layout where the busloop is now. I can't find the exact one with the exit to third, but I will keep looking thru my stuff) but the pictures below gives you an idea.
Now as far as "Mystic Mall" Station...
And for the record, I agree this is a dumb name, but it does describe the station's real location. It
is on the edge of the mall property. Although most people, myself included, call this mall "Market Basket Mall" since the main reason to come here is to go to Market Basket. So I guess "Mystic Mall" is better than actually calling it "Market Basket Station" which is probably what the 'locals' will call it. LOL
A better name would be West Chelsea Station.. and would give that part of Chelsea it's own identity. And I wouldn't be surprised if the station's name eventually changed. There is a community group/facebook page trying to change that area (and Admiral's Hill) to the "West Chelsea" name. That area is Chelsea's last area that can be 'redeveloped' (think more condos). There's already a large complex going in where the Chelsea Clock Company is on Everett Ave behind Stop & Shop (a 5 minute walk from Mystic Mall Station) and I am sure more will follow. Its just a wasteland behind over there and its inevetiable that area will eventually be re-developed.
