Silver Line to Chelsea

[cybah]

Hey All-

After seeing some progress as I've casually gone by, I figured it was time for another installment of Silver Line Gateway Photos.

And I'm glad I did. Lots of activity today (since it's a week day), more so than I've seen in a while. Plus this whole set should seem like "Construction Pr0n" since you can really get an idea on how the sequence for the canopy's for the stations are being built (as you'll see below).

Overall construction is rapidly moving along. I think most of the forms should be up within a week or so for the remaining stations. And the concrete can set for a month or so while they finish retaining walls and drainage.

Once that's done, it's really the small utilities (station lights, roadway lights, etc), sidewalks & shared use path construction, and a final layer of pavement on the busway (plus a few minor upgrades at Airport station like signage, and countdown timers) and they should be done and ready to open by spring as anticipated! So exciting!!

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
Pics from 4/16/16
Pics from 5/15/16
Pics from 6/26/16
Pics from 8/13/16
Pics from 10/5/16

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

Now for the highlights..

Here's Eastern Ave Station as seen from Eastern Ave. The forms are going up and the roadway is done.

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Here's another shot of the forms. This is my favorite shot as you can see in detail the rebar that is used for the canopies.

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Looking from the Bellingham Street Bridge toward Box District Station with the finished retaining wall.

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The finished retaining wall, as seen from Library Street

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Building of a retaining wall near the Broadway Bridge.

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The nearly finished grating of the shared use path as seen from the Broadway Bridge.

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The finished retaining wall between the Washington Ave and Broadway Bridges (as seen from Washington Ave)

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The beginnings of Bellingham Square Station. The concrete rebar is being installed.

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A closer look inside the new concrete forms at Bellingham Square Station

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New signals at Sixth @ Arlington

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Looking into the busway from Everett Ave with new curbing. It just needs a final layer of pavement.

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Chelsea Station's new finished concrete footings for the canopy

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Concrete forms for the canopy at Chelsea Station as seen from Everett Ave. These things are massive!

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Another shot of the concrete forms for the canopy at Chelsea Station. Notice the rebar hasn't been adding to the above-ground support yet.

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A rendering of a finished canopy (for reference)

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As you can see, you can really get an idea on how these canopy's are being built. The concrete bases are poured first, then the walls, then probably the top. Pretty neat.

That's all for now. Probably more pics early December. And as always, let me know what you think!

 

[EdMc]

Nice update, cybah!
After all the new walls are tagged, this project will look ugly. Teardrops.

 

[tysmith95]

Nice update, cybah!
After all the new walls are tagged, this project will look ugly. Teardrops.

It's art man. You don't understand!!

+1 on the updates. CYBAH has done a great job updating us on this.

 

[JeffDowntown]

++ Thank you cybah!

 

[Arlington]

Will the Market Basket site be getting structured parking in this phase?

 

[F-Line to Dudley]

Will the Market Basket site be getting structured parking in this phase?

Not a whole lot of room for that. MB locations all across Eastern MA are packed as hell when everyone's stocking up for a weekend. I've never been to this one, but both Google 2015 and 2016 views show very high occupancy so I doubt Chelsea differs from the norm at most locations.

About the only place there's room is on the grass way in the NW corner of the property by 3rd St., but that's well beyond station limits and a whole block away from Everett Ave.

 

[Arlington]

So are they just hoping that commute parking and grocery parking rarely overlap by time of day?

 

[F-Line to Dudley]

So are they just hoping that commute parking and grocery parking rarely overlap by time of day?

No...pretty sure MB can have you towed if you use their lot for unauthorized commuter parking, just like any private business. There is no parking planned on any of the renders at any of the stations. Silver isn't intended to be a P&R service. It's an express bus facilitating better local access and transfers. The commuter rail station never had parking either.

 

[cybah]

I updated the original post so the pictures were bigger. Flickr always defaults to 'last used' and I had to post a smaller image for something else.

As far as parking, F-Line is correct. Both the CR and SL station aren't really meant for Park and Ride type service. They are really more 'community' stations to service the surrounding community mainly from pedestrian/bike/drop off. This goes for all stops along the SLG. And yes, Market Basket said they would heavily tow people commuters parking in their lot.

Plus Market Basket does want to expand its plaza a bit, and with new condo's (if they can ever get it off the ground) going up a block or so away behind Stop & Shop, "Chelsea Station" will serve its community nicely. My only real complaint is that the T did not incorporate a bus connection to the 112 at Chelsea Station as it will remain at its current location next to Market Basket. yeah it's a 30 second walk but still.

But its the same with the rest of the stations.. more neighborhoody than big transit stations. Bellingham Sq will serve 'downtown' and connections from the 111. Box District will serve that area and its complexes nearby, and to a less extend a connection from the 116/117 via the shared path. Eastern Ave will serve the current residential area up Central Ave, and any new development along the waterfront (as planned), plus a connection to the 112 again.

And as far as graffiti, I hope it won't be an issue. The entire busway will be well lit so that should deter some. Plus the texture used on the retaining walls is suppose to deter graffiti also. But only time will tell if it and lighting do.

 

[JeffDowntown]

And as far as graffiti, I hope it won't be an issue. The entire busway will be well lit so that should deter some. Plus the texture used on the retaining walls is suppose to deter graffiti also. But only time will tell if it and lighting do.

One of the biggest deterrents to graffiti is erasing it quickly. The busway provide plenty of access, so the T need to be out there with a power washer on a truck on a regular basis.

 

[F-Line to Dudley]

One of the biggest deterrents to graffiti is erasing it quickly. The busway provide plenty of access, so the T need to be out there with a power washer on a truck on a regular basis.

T's always, to its credit, been very quick to stamp out graffiti. Boston has never ever tolerated that like NYC has, and that includes rapidness of response when something does get tagged. I don't even think that's necessarily a policy difference, just a pervasive cultural thing with this region. Appearances can be left to rot from neglect, but defacement of public property is usually met with immediate response up in New England.

 

[JeffDowntown]

T's always, to its credit, been very quick to stamp out graffiti. Boston has never ever tolerated that like NYC has, and that includes rapidness of response when something does get tagged. I don't even think that's necessarily a policy difference, just a pervasive cultural thing with this region. Appearances can be left to rot from neglect, but defacement of public property is usually met with immediate response up in New England.

But they don't do it in the NEC cut from Back Bay to South Station -- probably because the access is harder with all the train and subway traffic. Lots of graffiti there.

 

[F-Line to Dudley]

But they don't do it in the NEC cut from Back Bay to South Station -- probably because the access is harder with all the train and subway traffic. Lots of graffiti there.

Well, yeah...hard-to-reach places. But even MassHighway will make the rounds during routine bridge inspections with a paint roller and gray paint for overpass abutments that get tagged. In New York State you simply have ever-evolving spraypaint murals on every structure. It's a jarring cultural difference once you cross the CT state line in how much that is tolerated as the natural order of things.

 

[cybah]

Well also remember this is a MassDOT owned road, not the MBTA. MBTA will just provide the service on the road. So I hope MassDOT would be far more apt to remove graffiti very quickly.

The other thing is that Chelsea doesn't have that much of a graffiti problem. There's *some* trouble spots, but the city is addressing them by allowing murals to be painted on them. Same could be done with the SLG retaining walls, especially ones that abut the shared use path near Library/Willow/Bellingham Streets. (where its busway/median/path/wall not busway/wall/path). It would make a great canvas for some artist.

 

[F-Line to Dudley]

Well also remember this is a MassDOT owned road, not the MBTA. MBTA will just provide the service on the road. So I hope MassDOT would be far more apt to remove graffiti very quickly.

The other thing is that Chelsea doesn't have that much of a graffiti problem. There's *some* trouble spots, but the city is addressing them by allowing murals to be painted on them. Same could be done with the SLG retaining walls, especially ones that abut the shared use path near Library/Willow/Bellingham Streets. (where its busway/median/path/wall not busway/wall/path). It would make a great canvas for some artist.

Definitely...and they've already made use of some retaining walls on the system with side paths as designated murals. Here's one on the Mattapan Line/Neponset Greenway I snapped this summer. This is up against the short trolley incline about 200 paces east of the Central Ave. grade crossing, right where the old Lower Mills freight spur bridge forks off across the river:

I'm sure you'll get plenty of this on GLX with the Somerville Community Path up atop the Lowell Line cut's retaining walls. Maybe even some opportunities for local artists to paint a station-facing wall across the tracks before the tracks go active.



The ROW ownership out here is pretty kooky. Eastern Route co-running is definitely T owned, bought from Boston & Maine in 1976 along with the East Boston Branch north of Chelsea St. Though I'm sure it's MassDOT doing the snow plowing and whatnot for the busway. The wye and Eastie Branch south of Chelsea St. were bought by MassDOT much later (mid-90's?) from a completely different carrier, Conrail...later transferring the Eastie Greenway part to DCR. Pan Am, B&M's successor, still has freight rights on the Eastern Route and the north-half Eastie Branch that's been out-of-service since the mid-90's (but still is a going concern for revival). But then note you've got that weird overlap to this day of CSX coming up from the southside with co-rights to Everett Terminal. That situation used to extend east with CSX's predecessor, Conrail, serving the Eastie docks until they went dead in the early-80's and a factory on the wye until that closed around 1990 (reason why there was that track buried smack in the middle of Chelsea CR station's outbound platform pavement).

All of these ownership and rights oddities go back through 150 years of contractual entanglements. Boston & Albany originally built the whole east-west portion of Eastern Route ROW on Tracks 3 & 4 as the east half of the Grand Junction Branch from Beacon Park (reason why the grade crossings in Chelsea are equally awful as the ones through Cambridge), and B&A built its own shipping terminals in Everett and Eastie. Then B&A leased the Tracks 1 & 2 to the Eastern RR--builders of the north-south Eastern mainline and other docks in Eastie--so they could run their passenger service straight into Downtown instead of sending people on ferries from Eastie. Eastern begat B&M in 1901 begat the T in '76/Pan Am in '83. B&A begat Penn Central in 1967 begat Conrail in '74 begat MassDOT mid-90's/CSX in '99.

 

[cybah]

Though I'm sure it's MassDOT doing the snow plowing and whatnot for the busway.

No, City of Chelsea will be doing the plowing. It's in the SEIR on page 2-26

Actually this might answer all our questions

Operations and Maintenance Responsibilities

The City of Chelsea has committed to snow removal on the busway within the City of Chelsea. The MBTA will be responsible for snow removal at the BRT Station platforms and for all other maintenance of the BRT system.

 

[cybah]

Hey All-

Since I saw one of the canopy's at Eastern Ave Station was done a few days ago, I figured it was time for another update.

Overall it's still moving along. Forms at all the stations for the canopy's are going up. The only one that does not have forms yet is Bellingham Square Station, but the foundations are in. It seems like they are doing Eastern Ave first, then Chelsea Station, and Bellingham Sq last. Not sure why. but OK.

It also seems like the forms are going up faster. It seemed like the forms were up at Box District Station for months before they were taken down (~2 months) but that was in the dead of winter so it may have taken more time for the concrete to form. Who knows.

What else is done? They are finishing up the retaining walls (still). But they have rebar on the tops so they should be poured shortly. They are also installing the jersey barriers now along one side of the busway, this is happening between the Broadway Bridge and roughly stops at Library Street. The jersey barriers are already in between Washington Ave and Broadway.

There's still work to be done. As it gets colder, I think the forms, curbing, finishing of the retaining walls, jersey barriers, and what not will be done during the winter. Then electrical and finishes in the early spring. (of course I said the same thing last time about construction sequence and I was wrong before............. so we'll see )

A couple of photographer notes.. I really wasn't into this today. I only went, as I planned on going this weekend, but it's gonna be too damn cold this weekend to walk around and take photos. So many of the photos, I'm kinda "meh" about. But I had to do it otherwise I wouldn't have had time until after Janary 5th (too long). I also was unable to get many photos of the Spruce Street crossing as they were digging up part of the CR bed. Just too many people. Anyways....

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
Pics from 4/16/16
Pics from 5/15/16
Pics from 6/26/16
Pics from 8/13/16
Pics from 10/5/16
Pics from 11/10/16

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

Now for the highlights..

Here's Eastern Ave Station as seen from Eastern Ave with a shot of the finished canopy. (Editors Note: kinda surprised at how they came out, they look a bit different than the renderings, see last picture for rendering photos)

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Here's another shot of the finished canopy with the second canopy being worked on.

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And one final shot of the finished canopy at Eastern Ave Station.

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Looking from the Bellingham Street Bridge toward Box District Station with the nearly finished retaining wall.

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Looking from Willow Street at the top of the finished retaining wall. Rebar exists, so tops should appear soon.

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This photo it's hard to see what they are doing, but they appear to be installing the jersey barrier. This is near the end of Library Street. One thing that bothers me about this photo is the pool of water. A few months ago it was all dug up to install drainage, yet it still ponds over. I hope this doesn't become an issue.................

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Not much going on at Box District Station except being used as a storage area!

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More work being done on the nearly completed retaining wall just north of Box District Station

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The nearly finished retaining wall of the shared use path as seen from the Broadway Bridge.

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Looking into the nearly completed busway toward Box Distrct Station as seen from the Broadway Bridge

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The nearly finished busway between the Washington Ave and Broadway Bridges (as seen from Washington Ave)

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The concrete bases are done at Bellingham Square Station (for the outbound side)

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The finished jersey barrier at Bellingham Square Station

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Sidewalk and curbing done near Spruce Street

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Concrete forms for the canopy at Chelsea Station as seen from Everett Ave.

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Another shot of the concrete forms for the canopy at Chelsea Station.

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And another shot of the concrete forms as seen from Market Basket's Parking lot. Notice how they are installing the forms. Looks like concrete may be happening soon!

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A rendering of a finished canopy (for reference)

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That's all for now. Probably more pics mid January, unless big changes happen. And as always, let me know what you think!

PS - If anyone.. either here or on my twitter (@cybah) page.. uses Airport Station daily, could someone please give me a heads up when they start adding signage and what not to the bus loop there in the spring. I rarely go by there, and if I do I'm coming from Wood Island so I'm on a train (and can't see the bus loop). I'd hate to miss good photography moment for the project.

 

[FitchburgLine]

Thank you for these! The busway progress looks quite impressive, but I'm not sure about the choice of canopy, since it seems to provide less sq ft of shelter compared to a normal "rectangular box" station.

 

[cybah]

Thank you for these! The busway progress looks quite impressive, but I'm not sure about the choice of canopy, since it seems to provide less sq ft of shelter compared to a normal "rectangular box" station.

I'm confused. Are you taking about the concrete canopy or the larger than a bus shelter thingy (in the rendering). I pondered that too, I think these are going to be a bit larger than the average bus shelter. And there will be three of them at each station. Should be OK.. I hope.

But I'm curious to know what the final will really look like.

 

[FitchburgLine]

The concrete "disconnected arches" canopy, as opposed to just one larger arch, since the cracks between the arches with allow some precipitation into the protected areas (that in a shorter canopy with no cracks would be dry), unless there's some additional protection yet to be installed- I'll of course reserve judgement till its open!