Assembly Square Orange Line Station Discussion

It is official: IKEA is letting their building permits expire and will not be building a store there.

This is probably good news for Somerville, since it will permit a more transit-oriented development to be built on the site:
http://www.boston.com/businessupdates/2 ... story.html

The Ikea store shouldn't have been much of a justification for building the Orange Line station anyways - most of the items you would typically buy at one of those stores aren't exactly convenient to bring home by subway.

The MBTA is preparing to install a crossover to maintain service during construction. Here's a quick map of where they've used spraypaint to denote the location of the crossovers. https://maps.google.com/maps/ms?msid=21 ... dcbd&msa=0

I previously noted that crossovers were going to be dropped in... well, not quite. The outbound track and the express track were severed during this weekend's shutdown and the outbound track now feeds into the express track between Sullivan and Assembly, and then feeds back in to the outbound track in the middle of the Mystic River bridge -- no switches installed, just a straight shot. I'm not sure I know what they're going for here, though. The inbound track will still be fouled by construction, so I'm not sure I see where they're going with this.

Sounds like a temporary arrangement.

BostonUrbEx wrote:I previously noted that crossovers were going to be dropped in... well, not quite. The outbound track and the express track were severed during this weekend's shutdown and the outbound track now feeds into the express track between Sullivan and Assembly, and then feeds back in to the outbound track in the middle of the Mystic River bridge -- no switches installed, just a straight shot. I'm not sure I know what they're going for here, though. The inbound track will still be fouled by construction, so I'm not sure I see where they're going with this.

Installing switches would complicate things, ATO blocks changes, adding wayside interlocking signals, moving parts (rails and switch motors) and a higher chance of a source of derailments. So a straight shot is the best and it is temporary. My guess they will shift the inbound rail over to the outbound rail before the end of the diversion season on December 28th.

JoeD

I think the diversions after 9PM are over. On the last outbound to Haverhill, I saw no activity at Assembly Square, completely dark. And there was train sitting at Oak Grove, waiting to go.

Not sure why the OL was running tonight, the diversion is running to the end of the year. The only exception is nights events are going on at the Garden(there was no event tonight).

sery2831 wrote:Not sure why the OL was running tonight, the diversion is running to the end of the year. The only exception is nights events are going on at the Garden(there was no event tonight).

They called it early in the day, my guess they were afraid of the weather. And no shuttle tonight, 11/28, for the Celtics game. Weekend shuttles December 15, 16, 22 and 23.

JoeD

How would the proposed Everett casino at the old Monsanto chemical works affect this trackage, would there be a station for the heavy hitters?

Teamdriver wrote:How would the proposed Everett casino at the old Monsanto chemical works affect this trackage, would there be a station for the heavy hitters?

If I had to guess, there'd probably be some sort of pedestrian bridge intended for people coming to/from this station at Assembly Square. This could include opening up the Amelia Earhart Dam to pedestrians, which officials in Medford, Malden, and Everett have been pushing for, but the state is resisting. I'm unaware of any argument made by the state, but I can only presume they have safety in mind... to which, I point to the Charles River Dam. Crossing the dam would then mean getting over/under the Newburport/Rockport Line tracks, though, which isn't as easy as on the Assembly Square side, where they can extend the riverfront path (as they plan and intend to do) and then plop a pedestrian bridge where Draw 7 used to be.

Can't help but wonder if they'll want a commuter rail stop on the Newburyport/Rockport Line for off-peak, nights, and weekends. Just as New Balance is offering in Brighton, I can see the same happening here. Ideally, I could imagine them kicking a chunk of money into reviving the Urban Ring rail line project, but alas, 'tis all for another thread.

helium wrote:The article states that the Feds have approved $25 million for the station.
How much can an at grade station cost?
All they need to build is the platforms, they don't even need a building, just make it like Lechmere with a few weather shelters.

$25mil won't do it. Utility rooms, booths, disavantaged, signal & power modifiction, access to both platforms from shpping center, kiss and ride etc, planning and design would probably cost more than 25 mil.

Since Sullivan SQ pking overflows AS would be an ideal place for add. parking and cars parked will attrck more customers to shop.

Why not deal with mall developers on wgHat it would take forthem to finance a new station.

Busing Christmas weekend? I don't think even the trackwork-heavy NYC Transit Authority would try that.

All tracks have been shifted one track bed east now. Over the weekend the inbound track was tied into the disconnected outbound track. And of course, the outbound is still tied into the express track. This now leaves the inbound track (where the platform will eventually go) severed.

Grabbed this picture from Mystic Avenue on Sunday. As UrbEx noted, the tracks have been shifted. There are several concrete abutments now in place.


http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File: ... y_2013.JPG