They wouldn't be talking the main yard. CSX is on the hook for dismantling all that track and leveling the yard structures. It's the engine house yard, which is the state's responsibility to remediate. Harvard is not going to be able to build on the engine yard property because it's totally pinned in by Pike ramps. It would take a lower-profile reconfiguration of the Allston ramps to permit any sort of worthwhile access to that area, so it'll be the very last parcel developed by Harvard. Existing engine house and fueling facility, direct access to the Grand Junction and BET, loop, 7 existing tail tracks, huge amount of storage space, direct official-vehicle access from Storrow EB and Pike WB with extra parking space available under the Pike viaduct for MOW vehicles, no abutters to complain, and much better yard security with the roads pinning it in and easy visibility than the main yard. That's pretty much a no-build option they can take advantage of tomorrow, then hold on to for 20 years until they figure out something better and more centrally-located at the other sites. I agree that they need to fill out all the empty space around existing Readville layover and that Widett/Southampton ought to be maxed out for transit use since the cold storage place doesn't draw a lot of business (and could easily be land-swapped to somewhere better off Haul Rd./Track 61 or Marine Industrial Park). Centralization is going to be the most ops-efficient way to do it long-term. But it'll take a few more years to pile up the money for that. BP engine yard they can pretty much grab-and-go, use for a decade or two until the facility more or less reaches end of useful life, then vacate whenever Harvard has it sorted out. Or not vacate at all, since that parcel pretty much has to remain a redevelopment dead zone unless the Pike ramps are significantly streamlined.
F-line to Dudley via Park wrote:They wouldn't be talking the main yard. CSX is on the hook for dismantling all that track and leveling the yard structures. It's the engine house yard, which is the state's responsibility to remediate. Harvard is not going to be able to build on the engine yard property because it's totally pinned in by Pike ramps. It would take a lower-profile reconfiguration of the Allston ramps to permit any sort of worthwhile access to that area, so it'll be the very last parcel developed by Harvard. Existing engine house and fueling facility, direct access to the Grand Junction and BET, loop, 7 existing tail tracks, huge amount of storage space, direct official-vehicle access from Storrow EB and Pike WB with extra parking space available under the Pike viaduct for MOW vehicles, no abutters to complain, and much better yard security with the roads pinning it in and easy visibility than the main yard. they figure out something better and more centrally-located at the other sites.Interestingly enough, the aerial diagrams in that MassDOT for the Beacon Park Alternative (Alternative 2) clearly shows the proposed yard directly off the main line (this is on page 108) , on the south side of the lot, as opposed to the north side of the lot (directly abutting the Toll Paza), or the parcel within the loop bounded by the Turnpike, Solider's Field Road, and Cambridge street.
