Green Line Extension Lechmere to Medford

[Charliemta]

"East Somerville" is the only name that makes sense for the new station, now that "Brickbottom" is out. To name it Washington Street would confuse a lot of people.

[Arlington]

"East Somerville" is the only name that makes sense for the new station, now that "Brickbottom" is out. To name it Washington Street would confuse a lot of people.

Maybe it was on ArchBoston.org that this was explained, but Brickbottom isn't out.

It went like this:
1) Early on, as they were exploring whether the line would branch (or be a single line tunneled from Union Sq under Prospect Hill), there were a lot of closely-spaced alternative stations depending on whether the line was Lowell-only, Union-Sq+Tunnel-to-Gilman, or branched between Fitchburg & Lowell (as was eventually chosen), and also the stations got nudged here and there depending on where the storage/maintenance yard would go.

2) There was originally a Brickbottom proposed that was too close to the Brickbottom lofts (closer to Lechmere) (and the storage yard was at Washington St back then) while in other scenarios, there was a Washington St that might have been as as close to Union as a Lowell-only alternative route would permit.

3) About the same time they settled on a branched configuration (with a terminus "in" Union Sq), Brickbottom "Lofts" location was rejected, it got combined/moved to Washington St and was called Washington/Brickbottom. This was then shortened to Washington as much to say "it serves Brickbottom, but it is at Washington St so the artists in their lofts can chill out" and as much just to save 50% on keystrokes.

So you can do all the engineering for a stop called "Washington" and (being engineers) not care what it is named (but do care that it has to deal directly with the Washington St bridges). They're fully capable of calling it anything they like, and Brickbottom hasn't been ruled out, and I think will be the people's choice some time (any time) before the new signs and maps go to the sign-makers.

[CRail]

I'm glad this has been brought up because it's been driving me nuts! I think Cobble Hill is the right name for that station, although I don't take any issue with the name Brickbottom, in fact I like it. Washington Street, however, is a terrible name. If I'm at South Station and someone asks for Washington St., I'm sending them over to the SL4. Somerville wouldn't even come to mind!

Good explaination, Arlington.

[Gerry6309]

I'm glad this has been brought up because it's been driving me nuts! I think Cobble Hill is the right name for that station, although I don't take any issue with the name Brickbottom, in fact I like it. Washington Street, however, is a terrible name. If I'm at South Station and someone asks for Washington St., I'm sending them over to the SL4. Somerville wouldn't even come to mind!

Good explaination, Arlington.

How about "Milk Row"? (Nice historic name associated with the location)

[rethcir]

It appears that the New Starts federal grant has been approved: http://bit.ly/1AbQPgE" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

June 2021 though? That seems to be another slippage.

[Arlington]

As hoped (Mass has been counting on it) The FTA has committed to $996m for the GLX!

In the Dec. 1 letter, the acting administrator of the Federal Transit Administration wrote members of Congress about the agency’s intention to give the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority $996 million, or 43 percent of the entire project, in “New Start” grant funds.

This answers my question upthread:

Wasn't the GLX due for its FTA Full Funding Grant Agreement(FFGA) right about now? (November 2014?).

[Arlington]

June 2021 though? That seems to be another slippage.

It'd be a whole year's slip. Where's the hold up?
As recently as August 2014 our best take on the schedule was:

Code: Select all

July 2014 90% Plans for phase 2/2A Lechmere, Washington St, & Union Sq Submitted
July 2014 60% Plans for "Beyond Washington St" recommence
Aug. 2014 Demolition complete on 21 Water St[NEW 8/1/14]
Sept 2014 FTA submission for Full Funding Grant Agreement (FFGA) under New Starts to be submitted
Fall 2014 Temporary (Construction) easements acquisition
End 2014 Medford St Bridge Reconstruction (5 tracks wide) complete[NEW 8/1/14]
Sprg 2015 Design begins on Vehicle Storage & Maintenance Facility (VSMF / Stage 3)
???? 2014 MBTA is "proceeding" with rehab of eight existing cars to support Phase 2/2A ops
July 2015 Harvard St Bridge Reconstruction (4 tracks) & expanded retaining wall complete[NEW 8/1/14]
Dec  2015 FTA/Congressional approval of FFGA expected
???? 2015 Construction on Phase 2/2A Begins
Late 2017 Completion of Phase 2/2A Complete
Late 2017 New Type 9 Cars start arriving
Sprg 2018 New Type 9 Cars all delivered
???? ????  VSMF completed (as precondition for "Beyond Washington" ops)
June 2020 Completion of "Beyond Washington St" & "Project Completion"

A tiny bit of good schedule news: The Harvard Street reconstruction, by the way, looks to be on schedule for the July 2015 that they claimed back in July 2014. (One set of CR tracks has already been moved over its slot)

[orange1234]

The site for the new Union Square station is being cleared right now. There is fencing all around it with signs for S&R Corporation, which is the company that was contracted by the City of Somerville to clear the site.

[johnpbarlow]

"Provocative" entry from the Swellesley Report blog catching Green Line car being trucked westward through Wellesley Square on Rte 135: http://theswellesleyreport.com/

Warning: As is pointed out in the reply below, this entry really is a bit OT as it is a whimsical play on the GLX project by the Swellesley Report blogger.

Having said that, we don't see as many trolley cars coming through Wellesley as maybe we should...

[Gerry6309]

"Provocative" entry from the Swellesley Report blog catching Green Line car being trucked westward through Wellesley Square on Rte 135: http://theswellesleyreport.com/

Although there is a mild connection to this thread, the basic event relates more closely to the Type 7 Rebuild Thread.

[kwf]

I'm glad this has been brought up because it's been driving me nuts! I think Cobble Hill is the right name for that station, although I don't take any issue with the name Brickbottom, in fact I like it. Washington Street, however, is a terrible name. If I'm at South Station and someone asks for Washington St., I'm sending them over to the SL4. Somerville wouldn't even come to mind!

Good explaination, Arlington.

How about "Milk Row"? (Nice historic name associated with the location)

Nice historical reference. The Milk Row station was at the east side of the Washington St bridge. At one point there was a station on the west side. It's name was Prospect Hill...

[Arlington]

Havard Street in Medford will be closed this weekend for what should be the second round of bridge-raising (they're doing it one slot at a time, 2 old slots get raised about 2 feet, and 2 new slots get built higher than the old "empty slots" in the concrete anticipated

[Gerry6309]

I'm glad this has been brought up because it's been driving me nuts! I think Cobble Hill is the right name for that station, although I don't take any issue with the name Brickbottom, in fact I like it. Washington Street, however, is a terrible name. If I'm at South Station and someone asks for Washington St., I'm sending them over to the SL4. Somerville wouldn't even come to mind!

Good explaination, Arlington.

How about "Milk Row"? (Nice historic name associated with the location)

Nice historical reference. The Milk Row station was at the east side of the Washington St bridge. At one point there was a station on the west side. It's name was Prospect Hill...

The Bridge at this location was known as the Milk Row Bridge due to the large number of dairies located along Washington Street and Cambridge St. between there and Sullivan Square. Then, as today, it was a notorious low clearance point, requiring the West End to buy 8 small cars with low roofs, to handle the clearances. It was also a factor in the design of the Type 5. The present day depressed roadway was constructed to alleviate some of the problem, but it is also a drainage headache. Thus, the name Milk Row has a streetcar connection.

[CRail]

Transit station naming gives the opportunity to completely rebrand an area. They know this, and they try it all the time (although typically to stations which already had other names). Changing Summer St., Winter St., and [yet another] Washington St. to a consolidated Downtown Crossing is a perfect example.

I wonder if they ever anticipated calling Newmarket "Mass Ave." The principle is the same.

[Arlington]

On Monday, you can ignore the non-Newsy News Event. No actual news will happen, but pictures will be taken. Instead they are likely to sign the FFGA after the required 30-day waiting period since Congress was notified of the DOT's decision on Dec 2nd. (which was the real news...but no politicians got to have their pictures taken). So we must endure this showpiece:

On Monday, Governor Patrick and US Department of Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx are joining with Senator Warren, Senator Markey, Congressman Capuano, and Congresswoman Clarke for an important announcement about the Green Line Extension (GLX) project.

MassDOT and the MBTA would like to invite you to join us on Monday, January 5, 2015 at 3:00 p.m. at the Somerville High School auditorium (81 Highland Avenue) to hear more about this next exciting development for GLX.

It does, however officially mean they'll have a SIGNED FFGA in place before the "February 2015" deadline that the latest GLX project schedule called for.