56th St Station Reopening 2/27 ?

I was on the EL this morning and i seen a poster saying

56th Street Station Will Open On Monday,Feb.27

Does anyone know if the station is finished ?

PhillyBoy890 wrote:I was on the EL this morning and i seen a poster saying

56th Street Station Will Open On Monday,Feb.27

Does anyone know if the station is finished ?

That is what the people said when I was on the EL on friday.

I hope it is because i know the project is behind schedule.

I just checked septa's wep site and I comfermed that it will be open on 2/27

I wonder how the station look

I went through the station on Sunday on my way to 69th Street Terminal and it still looked not quite ready for prime time, but if they put it into high gear I do not see why it should not be finished in time. Most of the remaining work is cosmetic from what I could see from the El.

Sean@Temple

SEPTA NOTICE

El Service Resumes at 56th Street Station
G Bus Returns to Regular Routing

Monday, February 27, 2006


Regular El service is set to resume at the 56th Street Station stop and Route G bus service will return to its regular routing along 56th Street on Monday, February 27, 2006.

The first of 6 stations to be rebuilt as part of the Market Street Elevated Reconstruction Project, 56th Street stop is located in a modern brick building that compliments the architectural character of the surrounding neighborhood. New lighting brightens the station and makes it more visible, particularly at night. The main entrance stairway and escalator to the mezzanine fareline level are located on the eastbound service side. A walkway, below the track area, connects riders to the east and westbound platforms. In addition, work is completed on the eastbound service elevator, connecting the street to the mezzanine, and the mezzanine to the platform. The fareline and cashier booths, located at the eastbound mezzanine level, serve both directions of travel. Signage directs customers through the station and to the El platforms.

Construction is still going on in and around the station, so SEPTA reminds everyone to be alert for people in hard hats and to stay out of posted work areas. When the finishing touches are in place customers will find:

• Reflective stainless steel paneling on staircases to help eliminate blind corners

• Stainless steel handrails on all staircases

• Tactile platform edging

• New “Train Arrival” sign system alerting riders waiting in the mezzanine seating area

• Weather protected waiting areas on the east and westbound platforms

• New paving at street level

• A permanent art installation created specifically for 56th Street Station will be installed in 2007 and all MSE project stations will have commissioned artworks.

MSE weekend shutdowns, with shuttle bus service, are set to resume in Spring 2006. We will keep you advised about planned service alterations and construction updates.

The station isn't quite done yet, but will be reopening anyway. No elevator/escalator service for awhile (only SEPTA seems to have neverending escalator issues). The best part is the station will be reopening in time for the spring shutdown game.

This article from the Philadelphia Inquirer -

A lovely station still misses the train contains a small slideshow of pictures. Follow the link along the righthand margin.

Below, I have included the contents of a letter to the editor that I wrote in response:

Inga Saffron's criticism of the renovated 56th Street Station on the Market-Frankford Subway Elevated found in her column of February 24th - Changing Skyline - A lovely station still misses the train, is duly noted. However, Ms. Saffron completely missed the opportunity to make the greatest criticism of all with respect to the project: namely that the Market Street Elevated should have been replaced with a subway. Preferably, this should have been a three- track subway to allow rush-hour peak direction (inbound AM / outbound PM) express service between Upper Darby and 40th Street, similar to many subway lines that operate in New York City. 56th and 60th Street stations could have been consolidated into one located at 58th Street, and Millbourne closed, to provide faster service for remaining local trains.

As the intersection of Frankford Avenue and Bridge Street demonstrates, the removal of an elevated transit structure can have a remarkable impact on the street below.

Boston has almost completely removed all the “EL’s”. New York City has removed elevated lines and replaced them with subways. In Chicago, some lines were relocated to adjacent railroad embankments before being removed, although others have been rehabilitated. No new elevated line has built in modern times except in Miami, where soil conditions preclude subway contruction.

It is my understanding that the Federal Transit Administration aggressively lobbied SEPTA to replace the Frankford Elevated with a subway, offering to approve 80% of the project cost. State and local political leadership in Pennsylvania balked at providing the other 20%.

So Ms. Saffron is left to review the continuing negative impact (perhaps somewhat mitigated) of an elevated station over Market Street rather than a subway station interior and headhouse. That she must do so, especially given the history of mistakes by SEPTA along the way, is a damning indictment of the failures of the political leadership in Philadelphia and Pennsylvania.

I love the idea of the el in west philadelphia going underground as a subway, but as it is a moot point now, I have a few questions in hind-sight...

1. could "cut and cover" have been used on market street? or would deep tunneling have been needed?

2. how much more of a capital expenditure are we talking? (20% of subway versus current project)

3. what % did the feds pay for of the current project (versus the 80% for a proposed subway)?

It's not hard to imagine 20% of rebuilding the West Philly El as a subway as being more expensive than the current rehab process. While Market Street in West Philly is not pretty, it is still a main street where the cost of the logistical nightmare would be high. And really, honestly, given how horribly excuted the El restoration has been, it is impossible to imagine that SEPTA could build a subway tunnel. Just imagine the time and cost over runs in that situation... they are scary if you ask me.

That being said...I don't think burying the El would really help West Philly much. The creeping influence of UC and Penn employees seem to be the major reason the area between 40th and 50th has change over the last few years.

I went to 56th St Station after school to take a look and observe for myself. I just fell in love with the way the station looked, its very nice. I even think that it looks better then some of the stops on the Frankford side.

A subway would more than double the cost of construction, especially with the need to support the El while the subway was being built, and the cost of underground stations being three times that of elevation stations.

If the City of Philadelphia were to come up with the extra money, SEPTA would be more than willing to build a subway. But nobody wants to spend money on SEPTA, so we just get the cheapest thing possible.