Westwood Station Developments

Looks like they're trying to replicate Fresh Pond / North Cambridge in a single build...
 
This is going up fast. Drove through last night and couldn't believe the progress made over the past month. Next time I'm driving through the area I'll have to snap a couple of pics.
 
I will as well. Both the retail and residential will probably be opening sometime in late spring 2015
 
Are they ever planning to connect Blue Hill Dr. with Green Lodge St. with this project to de-isolate that area just a tad with a little bit of easterly access to 138 that doesn't require getting on 128? This ski jump here over the train station roof looks like it's begging to touch down on the other side.
 
Highly doubtful. That would play into the 128/95 interchange reconfiguration though so there may be some more info in that thread. Wasn't the state looking to make Green Lodge St. a ramp at some point?
 
F-Line to Dudley said:
Are they ever planning to connect Blue Hill Dr. with Green Lodge St. with this project to de-isolate that area just a tad with a little bit of easterly access to 138 that doesn't require getting on 128? This ski jump here over the train station roof looks like it's begging to touch down on the other side.
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Some years back, I had to meet somebody at the train station, and wasn't quite sure where it was. pre-GPS, map quest era, and my printed directions took me right to that spot!
 
There used to be a bridge there according to Historic Aerials. Came down sometime between 1980 and 1986 nearest I can estimate. Way, way before they built the new train station. I'm gonna guess it was in worse condition than this Neponset River crossing on Green Lodge date-stamped from 1931, and they took it down before it fell down. Why they never reconnected is a mystery. There's housing developments on both sides of 95 separated by that broken link, as well as parts of the Neponset/Ponkapoag reservation path system.
 
Bergeron37 said:
Highly doubtful. That would play into the 128/95 interchange reconfiguration though so there may be some more info in that thread. Wasn't the state looking to make Green Lodge St. a ramp at some point?
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http://www.massdot.state.ma.us/highway/HighlightedProjects/cantoninterchange.aspx

There used to be a much deeper website for this project, which puts a little credence in the 2014 start date, although that's just for the small potatoes, Westwood Station related stuff. The minuscule and nearly illegible project map does seem to show a connected Green Lodge, and I remember it from prior renderings as being a listed priority.

EDIT: Actually, straining my eyes, it seems to be converted into an entrance ramp for 93NB. It's possible the neighbors wanted that to keep it from becoming a detour route.
 
Historical trivia: I believe that Green Lodge St was the historical routing of 128, prior to the superhighway built in the 1950s.
 
I grew up there. There was a bridge there that was taken down in the 1970s. Greenlodge was used as a connector for a lot of traffic from 138 to Westwood/Dedham on Blue Hill Ave. I was told that a state rep lived on that street and fought to keep the bridge from being replaced to reduce traffic on his street. It just moved traffic so it went over the Dedham St. bridge over 95/NEC. The current bridge on Greenlodge over 95 is in very poor condition. I drove over it a couple years ago and was worried it might fall down. I assume it will be taken down and not replaced as part of the 95/128 interchange overhaul.
 
TallIsGood said:
I grew up there. There was a bridge there that was taken down in the 1970s. Greenlodge was used as a connector for a lot of traffic from 138 to Westwood/Dedham on Blue Hill Ave. I was told that a state rep lived on that street and fought to keep the bridge from being replaced to reduce traffic on his street. It just moved traffic so it went over the Dedham St. bridge over 95/NEC. The current bridge on Greenlodge over 95 is in very poor condition. I drove over it a couple years ago and was worried it might fall down. I assume it will be taken down and not replaced as part of the 95/128 interchange overhaul.
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It is due to be outright replaced for the Canton Split reconstruction. It's got to be kept as a service road for utilities, so outright abandonment isn't an option. Besides, it is jammed full of parked cars all day long as free parking for the commuter rail station...so state reps are going to jab a finger in the eye of any attempts that prevent the rich locals in Canton down the street closer to 138 from being denied their God-given right to never ever have to pay a parking fee into the T's coffers.


Frankly, I think the upside of reconnecting over the station is going to be way higher when all this redev is finished than the traffic concerns. It might very well become a local advocacy push eventually (not now, but eventually).
 
They are really going to town with the construction now, with a lot of the masonry done and the tenant build-outs are beginning to start up. I still think it resembles a strip-mall but the materials they choose are of high quality and several of the street facing buildings have a New England feel with blue and other colored siding and a lot of stonefacing type material.

They still haven't publicly announced a lot of the retailers and restaurants so continue to stay tuned for that.

I will try and take some pictures this weekend and post back on here soon.
 
I actually just checked the builders website and they list out several of the stores, so does that mean it's now public?
 
Other than the Target and Wegmans -- these stores are really kind of blah.
 
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