MBTA F40PH-2C 1050 wrote:This was all going to be fixed with the MassHighway project to grade separate Route 135 in a duck-under cut under Route 126, install surface-level frontage ramps for all turn lanes, and realign some adjacent intersections for better traffic flow. Had that happened the worst of the crossing hazards would've been removed by un-snarling that intersection and moving all traffic signals safely away from the 126 crossing on protected cycles. Along with that project they would've settled up all this smaller-scale stuff like ROW fencing, quadrant gates at Bishop & 126 for maximum-level protection, and all the signal timing and advanced warning bells and whistles. Unfortunately because of stingy MassHighway budgets that project keeps missing the cut on the 4-year Transportation Improvement Plan list of projects with formal go-ahead, so it remains a stalled unfunded mandate. That explains some of the T's reluctance to do the minor fencing work and crossing gate/signal prioritization touches. If the 135 grade separation finally does graduate onto the TIP at long last those sunk-coast RR improvements previously enacted would've found themselves disrupted by a multi-year road construction zone that probably spills its staging activities temporarily onto the ROW property...requiring portions of that fencing to be taken down and replaced, and any new crossing gates needing to be temp-shifted around on new bases while they work at the nerve center of the intersection.dbperry wrote:I absolutely agree with you on this on both points. where it ends is where that pedestrian x'ing is on the Station Trk lead, it encourages people to just cross to get onto Waverly St. side of the track, and to solve it, extend the fence all the way to Concord StreetMBTA F40PH-2C 1050 wrote:15 mph is in place for the crossing circuits...CP22-Bishop St. (H.E. only). you are absolutely correct, not worth fixing. Quite frankly, I don't care how bad traffic gets screwed up in Framingham, with people constantly darting around the gates, crossing the tracks, ignoring the lights and what not, trespassing....it's my payback to them. No one has respect for the trains going through town, I don't have it for them sitting there and waiting.I would really like to see the fence between tracks 1 & 2 extended all the way to Concord Street. Not incredibly dangerous, but where the fence ends now encourages trespassing and makes passengers think it is OK - feeds into the notion that trespassing isn't a big deal.
As long as that badly-needed road project is still spinning its wheels as an unfunded project number on the MassHighway website, the T doesn't have a lot to gain by taking the initiative. They might as well just keep the speed restriction for now to keep their butts covered , and increduously point at MassHighway and say "See! This is your baby" every time a new fender bender or instance of driver stupidity mucks up the crossings.