Silver Line to Chelsea

[cybah]

Hey All -

So it's time for an update of the Silver Line Gateway project here in Chelsea. Sorry for the delay, life happens, and with the cold weather and snow, I didn't anticipate much being done between the last set and now. And I was right, not much has been going on (see below). However I wanted to take some pictures before alot of the brush grows back, and we'll have a nice starting point of lots of anticipated progress over the summer. (something I regretfully did not do last year)

As far as the construction itself.. some, but not much as you'll see below. Its more grading, some drainage work in some areas, and other stuff. Really not that much.

If you'd like to see the previous photo sets they can be found here by clicking on the links below:
Pics from 4/25/15
Pics from 6/20/15
Pics from 8/1/15
Pics from 9/19/15
Pics from 10/31/15
Pics from 1/9/16

And if you'd like to see the ALL of NEW photos, you can click here

Now for the highlights..

Here's looking at the busway from Eastern Ave (itself). You can see the jersey barriers going up between the busway and the community path.

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Here's looking into the busway from the Bellingham Street bridge toward Box District Station. Seems like they are doing something with the community path on the left

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Some drainage work just before Box District Station. Once this is in the pavement (behind me) can continue to the station

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The arches are finished for Box District Station! It also looks like the grading is just about done also. I think once the drainage work is done as seen above, the pavement can continue to the station.

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Another look at Box District Station's arches

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And another view of the arches!

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Looking into the busway toward Washington Ave from the Broadway Bridge. I know we've had some rain and snow lately but I hope this minor flooding problem will be addressed/fixed. It would suck to have it flood every time. It also has some minor flooding near Bellingham Sq station also.

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The finished part of the reconstructed Washington Ave bridge.

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The unfinished part of the Washington Ave bridge

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New retaining wall behind the MITC building near the Spurce Street Crossing

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Looking into the busway toward Bellingham Sq Station from the Six Street Crossing with new retaining wall on the right

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The Everett Ave Crossing with its new jersey barries between the busway (right) and CR line (left)

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One day there will be Chelsea Station here (Silver Line and CR Rail). But for now, not much going on.

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That's it. Like I said, not too much going on, however I do anticipate as it gets warmer, more will happen. From here on out, I will try to make the frequency be a bit closer together (~once a month?). There should be lot of noticeable progress happening in the coming months!

 

[found5dollar]

Thanks for these updates!

I love the arches.

 

[cybah]

Hey All -

So it's time for an update of the Silver Line Gateway project here in Chelsea. As I said in my last post, I would increase the frequency of picture sets since this year the majority of the work should be getting done.

As far as the construction itself, it's all about little bits here and there (as you'll see below). There's just enough small changes and work areas to know that the project is just humming along.

If you'd like to see the previous photo sets they can be found here by clicking on the links below:
Pics from 4/25/15
Pics from 6/20/15
Pics from 8/1/15
Pics from 9/19/15
Pics from 10/31/15
Pics from 1/9/16
Pics from 3/12/16

And if you'd like to see the ALL of NEW photos, you can click here

Now for the highlights..


Here's looking into the busway from the Bellingham Street bridge toward Box District Station. Seems like they are doing something with the community path on the left

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Some drainage issuss near Box Distrct Station (as seen from Library Street

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Here's some drainage work as seen from Library Street

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Utility/Conduit work near Box District Station

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A look at Box District Station

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Grading work between the Broadway and Washington Ave Bridge

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Continuing reconstruction of the Washington Ave Bridge.

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The underside of the Washington Ave Bridge reconstruction

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Finished retaining wall behind the MITC building near the Spurce Street Crossing

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Cement work between Spruce Street Crossing & Everett Ave Crossing

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The Everett Ave Crossing with the cement work running busway toward Spruce

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Site prepping for Chelesa Station

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That's it. So lots of little changes. More pics to come in a month

 

[Equilibria]

^

That last one is without a doubt the best picture of the FBI building that's been taken yet. Come back to that spot when the station and landscaping are done, and it will probably the best picture that's ever taken of it...

 

[cybah]

^

That last one is without a doubt the best picture of the FBI building that's been taken yet. Come back to that spot when the station and landscaping are done, and it will probably the best picture that's ever taken of it...

Yeah it's almost complete. Look in the set, I have more.

Honestly I'm afraid to take pictures of that building because it's heavily guarded and security camera's everywhere. I don't need or want to be seen as a terrorist taking plotting pictures. (okay I'm weird but I try to stay under the radar as much as possible with these pictures)

 

[BostonObserver]

Is there any chance the community path can ever be extended?

 

[cybah]

Is there any chance the community path can ever be extended?

In what direction?

 

[F-Line to Dudley]

In what direction?

Not out there. There's absolutely nowhere to graft a path onto through Chelsea or along the Chelsea River and mouth of Mystic River with all the tanker terminals. Nor is there any way to plow straight through Winter Hill, East Somerville, or Brickbottom to spur the SCP over to the Mystic.

The Northern Strand trail in Everett will eventually connect to the upper Mystic system when the Route 16 Medford bridges are replaced/widened. The Mystic system will connect to the Harborwalk system in Sullivan Sq. when the last gaps are filled between Assembly, Sullivan, and Little Mystic. The SCP will (sorta) connect to the Charles system at Lechmere, and the Charles system with Watertown Greenway at Arsenal. And Alewife becomes the massive quintuple-junction of the SCP, Minuteman, Watertown Greenway, Belmont/Fitchburg Cutoff, and Mystic paths. Those have been the envisioned interconnections all along; the green, unused strips of land physically aren't available anywhere else. It's an amazing feat in itself that all of them can be physically connected at all, much less connected together at big convenient multimodal nodes like Alewife, Wellington, Sullivan, and Lechmere.

 

[cybah]

Not out there. (snip) convenient multimodal nodes like Alewife, Wellington, Sullivan, and Lechmere.

This is why I asked in what direction. Because at the southern end (Eastern Ave Station) the thought is that it would connect to the East Boston Greenway.

Yeah behind Mystic Mall erm Chelsea Station, it's a crap shoot. But it could go the other way.

 

[bigeman312]

When are the first buses scheduled to run? 2016? 2017?

 

[AmericanFolkLegend]

Great work Cybah. Thanks!
The renderings that you include in the full album are really helpful to see how this project is progressing. Also makes me feel like this is what the GLX stations should look like.

 

[JumboBuc]

Also makes me feel like this is what the GLX stations should look like.

I don't want to derail this (great) thread, but the Silver Line Gateway stations are actually more elaborate than what is most recently being proposed for the GLX, despite the fact that Silver Line will have significantly smaller ridership. Silver Line Gateway stations have weather protection and architectural elements for placemaking while the most recent GLX proposals are basically just slabs, stairs, and ramps.

We'll see what the final GLX station proposals look like in a few weeks.

 

[cybah]

I don't want to derail this (great) thread, but the Silver Line Gateway stations are actually more elaborate than what is most recently being proposed for the GLX, despite the fact that Silver Line will have significantly smaller ridership. Silver Line Gateway stations have weather protection and architectural elements for placemaking while the most recent GLX proposals are basically just slabs, stairs, and ramps.

We'll see what the final GLX station proposals look like in a few weeks.

Yes but the cost is significantly lower than the GLX.. SLG is a cheap, easy-win project.

But also consider that most of the SLG is at ground level, so no stairs or elevators will be needed or installed (except for a ramp connecting Bellingham Sq Station to Washington Ave)

 

[cybah]

When are the first buses scheduled to run? 2016? 2017?

Early 2017 I believe.

 

[bigeman312]

From a cost-benefit, and a time-to-completion standpoint (some pretty good metrics), this is the best transit project we've had in decades.

 

[FK4]

Not out there. There's absolutely nowhere to graft a path onto through Chelsea or along the Chelsea River and mouth of Mystic River with all the tanker terminals. Nor is there any way to plow straight through Winter Hill, East Somerville, or Brickbottom to spur the SCP over to the Mystic.

The Northern Strand trail in Everett will eventually connect to the upper Mystic system when the Route 16 Medford bridges are replaced/widened. The Mystic system will connect to the Harborwalk system in Sullivan Sq. when the last gaps are filled between Assembly, Sullivan, and Little Mystic. The SCP will (sorta) connect to the Charles system at Lechmere, and the Charles system with Watertown Greenway at Arsenal. And Alewife becomes the massive quintuple-junction of the SCP, Minuteman, Watertown Greenway, Belmont/Fitchburg Cutoff, and Mystic paths. Those have been the envisioned interconnections all along; the green, unused strips of land physically aren't available anywhere else. It's an amazing feat in itself that all of them can be physically connected at all, much less connected together at big convenient multimodal nodes like Alewife, Wellington, Sullivan, and Lechmere.

Why couldnt it be extended along the rail ROW from the Chelsea River to Sweetser Rotary and thence to the Mystic paths and the Northern Strand?

 

[The EGE]

The Newburyport/Rockport Line plus the busway max out the right-of-way width through downtown Chelsea. West of Market Basket, you run into active freight sidings and a drainage ditch. It's also a heavily industrial area with poor connections to well-trafficked streets - that's not a very safe environment to be on a trail where you have only two ways to run.

I could see a extension to connect with the East Boston Greenway being valuable. It's only an extra half-mile from the Chelsea Street Bridge, but that's a brutal half-mile to shiv any kind of trail in.

 

[F-Line to Dudley]

Why couldnt it be extended along the rail ROW from the Chelsea River to Sweetser Rotary and thence to the Mystic paths and the Northern Strand?

What EGE said. Look at that last set of pictures around Washington Ave.:

Commuter rail + busway + power lines w/necessary side access to the towers = literally not an inch to spare.


Eastern Route in Chelsea is not like the Lowell Line in Somerville. The SCP extension follows a stretch of Lowell ROW that historically was 5-6 tracks out to Lowell St./Somerville Jct. All of the space for GLX and the path are available within the original property lines, with no land acquisition required. It's only around stations and a couple spots where the embankment was more recently backfilled to stabilize the cut where they have to do the most expensive bits of retaining wall construction to judiciously widen out the cut.

The Eastern was capped at 4 contiguous tracks from Everett Jct. (the Monsato siding/Everett Terminal/Saugus Branch split on the Everett side of the bridge) to Broadway. Other than various freight sidings forking off to individual buildings en route, that was all it ever historically was. The power lines, which were added in the last 50 years, cannibalized all buffer space around the tracks and spread out onto most of the long-vacated small freight turnouts. East of the Mall you're at the ROW property lines right this second with the ongoing construction. Shivving in a path requires all-new land acquisition on the blocks where embankment room is physically possible, at blowout cost. And then some blocks, like Washington-Arlington-Spruce, it's just physically impossible because of abutters and Route 1, and you'll have vexing breaks in the path. You can't move the power lines elsewhere; they connect the Everett power plant to the substation that provides juice to parts of downtown Chelsea and Revere Beach.


This is the same reason why the SCP can't be spurred up the Fitchburg Line to Union Sq. or further up the Lowell Line to College Ave. and Route 16. Land acquisition costs make it a total no-go regardless of what Google Maps may show for 10 ft. wide green strips flanking the ROW. For all the engineering complexity of doing the SCP the 2 miles from Lowell St. to Lechmere, it would probably cost twice as much for a 2/3 mile spur to Union because of private property acquisition and all the tricky mitigation required for commercial businesses that would lose their rear building access.

 

[whighlander]

What EGE said. Look at that last set of pictures around Washington Ave.:

Commuter rail + busway + power lines w/necessary side access to the towers = literally not an inch to spare.


Eastern Route in Chelsea is not like the Lowell Line in Somerville. The SCP extension follows a stretch of Lowell ROW that historically was 5-6 tracks out to Lowell St./Somerville Jct. All of the space for GLX and the path are available within the original property lines, with no land acquisition required. It's only around stations and a couple spots where the embankment was more recently backfilled to stabilize the cut where they have to do the most expensive bits of retaining wall construction to judiciously widen out the cut.

The Eastern was capped at 4 contiguous tracks from Everett Jct. (the Monsato siding/Everett Terminal/Saugus Branch split on the Everett side of the bridge) to Broadway. Other than various freight sidings forking off to individual buildings en route, that was all it ever historically was. The power lines, which were added in the last 50 years, cannibalized all buffer space around the tracks and spread out onto most of the long-vacated small freight turnouts. East of the Mall you're at the ROW property lines right this second with the ongoing construction. Shivving in a path requires all-new land acquisition on the blocks where embankment room is physically possible, at blowout cost. And then some blocks, like Washington-Arlington-Spruce, it's just physically impossible because of abutters and Route 1, and you'll have vexing breaks in the path. You can't move the power lines elsewhere; they connect the Everett power plant to the substation that provides juice to parts of downtown Chelsea and Revere Beach.


This is the same reason why the SCP can't be spurred up the Fitchburg Line to Union Sq. or further up the Lowell Line to College Ave. and Route 16. Land acquisition costs make it a total no-go regardless of what Google Maps may show for 10 ft. wide green strips flanking the ROW. For all the engineering complexity of doing the SCP the 2 miles from Lowell St. to Lechmere, it would probably cost twice as much for a 2/3 mile spur to Union because of private property acquisition and all the tricky mitigation required for commercial businesses that would lose their rear building access.

F-Line -- hit this one out of the park -- it's all about the cost of acquiring the ROW

for example the Hibernia II Terabit capacity fiber directly links London to Boston via Northern Ireland and Nova Scotia with an ocean terminus in Lynn. The company who originally built the link spend almost as much getting from Lynn to 3rd & Bent Sts in Cambridge as crossing the bottom of the Atlantic Ocean.

For these kinds of projects its not Location Location is acquisition of the ROW

 

[cybah]

F-Line -- hit this one out of the park -- it's all about the cost of acquiring the ROW

(snip)

For these kinds of projects its not Location Location is acquisition of the ROW

Correct.

I've often wondered why, at least they didn't continue the community path to at least to Market Basket. So its within the project's scope. And provide some green space that lacks and desperately needs some. (it's barren, as you've seen in my photos)

But the main focus of this project is to cost effective. and any option that had land takings (there were a couple), was quickly scrapped to keep the costs down.

However, if they DID want to do it... at least to Market Basket. It wouldn't be too hard, except for a few spots.

The state already owns 2/3's of the land. Most of it would abut the MITC parking lots and US 1. There's enough room (see below) under US 1 near sixth street (near the current CR stop) to have a narrow path.

The main issue with land taking would be MGH Chelsea, but considering they've already cannibalized the edge of their parking lot for this project, taking a few extra feet for a community path wouldn't be so bad (plus it would replace vegetation/trees that was removed when the prep work was done last year).

The other two hard parts (blue line on map) would be routing it near (and probably thru) the BRT station itself @ Bellingham Square without taking the industrial building (teal marker on map). The easy part would be that you could use the ramp being built (purple star marker on map) that connects the BRT station to the Washington Ave bridge.

The other hard part would be connecting it from Washington Ave to Chestnut Street, where the current path (yellow) will be built. 63 Washington Ave is very close to the ROW (as seen below, the building on right), but there's some space. It would just require a large retaining wall and would be a TIGHT squeeze.

But it could be done.

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Of course upon closer inspection of my own pictures, the space UNDER route 1 (see below).. it would be a very tight squeeze or just not be doable without modifying US 1 bridge above (so the width below) to make the ROW wider.