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  • Canton Junction Footbridge Rebuild

  • Discussion relating to commuter rail, light rail, and subway operations of the MBTA.
Discussion relating to commuter rail, light rail, and subway operations of the MBTA.

Moderators: sery2831, CRail

 #1397520  by deathtopumpkins
 
We actually have a thread on RI service, which can be found here: http://railroad.net/forums/viewtopic.ph ... 4#p1394744" onclick="window.open(this.href);return false;

The article linked in the latest post in that thread has all the details on the new Pawtucket station.
 #1397542  by F-line to Dudley via Park
 
boulderdashcci wrote:I don't believe there is room for quad tracking unless the station is moved out from under the bridge. That bridge was just rebuilt 5 years ago so I don't think they will be changing it to accommodate new tracks and platforms.
The driveway occupies the +2 track berths to-be, so the ultimate design for the station will involve a reconfig of the lots and kiss-and-ride.
I believe Canton was exempted from the 4 track mandate due to the viaduct. There was no viable way to add the two tracks without another bridge span if I remember the report correctly.
Yes and no. Right now Amtrak's somewhat dated Infrastructure Master Plan from 2010 calls for quad-tracking from Green St. through Forest Hills to Readville, and tri-tracking from Readville to the junction interlocking and a reconfiguration of the junction switches before dropping back to 2 over the Viaduct. Platforms would be shifted a few feet so Stoughton inbound and Providence outbound platforms no longer overhang the junction and foul the other tracks like they do now. But it was still intended to stay as a 2-track station on the Providence side.

That may have to be revisited now that NEC FUTURE traffic modeling has determined that 3 mainline tracks Readville-Canton isn't going to be enough. Actually, South Coast Rail should've made that loud and clear too with all the crippled Back-Bay-Easton express BS they had to pull at rush hour to make it work. With all this updated modeling they will now with certainty need to shoot for 4 contiguous tracks Green St.-Canton now. 128 station can handle it, as both platforms were built to be flanked by new tracks and turned into islands with zero modification to the platforms themselves. The highway bridge is even wide enough to add a fifth track on a turnout with new-construction side platform on the far east side, if things ever get crazy enough there for overkill capacity. For Canton, traffic management ideally requires a tri-tracked Providence side so Amtrak has a center passer and Providence trains are under less stress to skip that stop. There's luxurious room behind the outbound platform to do that by taking a parking row, relocating the MOW shed, and moving the current platform back 12 ft. There's then plenty of room for a full 800 ft. platform and south-end interlocking mashing back to 2 tracks with plenty of cushion to spare before the Viaduct. From the way the ballast turns out by the MOW shed it even looks like there may have been a #3 track--or a stub-end MOW track--at that spot many eons ago.
South Attleboro was not however, which I believe supported the speculation that the station would be closed in favor of moving back into Pawtucket. I don't believe the station was ever intended to be permanent, it was just built so that the area could continue to be served without actually crossing the state line. I believe the location was chosen due to all the existing parking from the mall being constructed at the same time, as well as 95 access (though anywhere along the corridor down there should have sufficient 95 access).
South Attleboro may have had temporary intentions way back in 1990 when it opened on-the-cheap, but it is much much too load-bearing today to ever think about closing. Pawtucket will provide significant load relief, but SA is always going to be a Top Three ridership Providence Line intermediate. The area surrounding the station has gotten so much denser in the last 25 years. Since RIPTA buses now have more leeway to cross the state line it is still the closer stop for some areas of Pawtucket than the actual downtown Pawtucket stop.
Sorry to keep going further off topic from Canton, but another question. I remember there were two proposals for the Pawtucket station, one to renovate and reuse the existing Pawtucket/CF station, and one to build a new one at a different location. I believe the main concerns with the existing one was lack of parking as well as the usual abatement/environmental issues. Which did the end up going with?
The old station is not salvageable for re-use. City hasn't given up on trying to find money to save the building, but the cost was far too high to try to make it into a modern station. The new site is going to be on the Conant St.-Dexter St. blocks, depending on which bulldozed industrial property they can acquire for it. They're shooting for the derelict and extremely seldom-used P&W Receiving Yard closer to Conant, since the acreage is very plentiful for parking and complementary TOD to infill that little density cavity downtown. Either site would only be 1-2 blocks away from where all the RIPTA buses pool, so for bus transfers the location is actually slightly better than the historic station.
 #1398853  by ohalloranchris
 
The ramp on the Platform D (inbound from Stoughton, track 4) side at Canton Junction is complete - concrete poured over new steel. The new steel looks more "shiny" than the old - not sure if that's just because it is new, or because they used a different type of steel to prevent corrosion. They are now tearing up the ramp to Platform A (adjacent to NEC track one westbound/outbound). Not sure if they will be rebuilding stairs, but they do need it.