Status of Savin Hill station in terms of reopening

Here is an update on the Savin Hill re-opening. I travel past it and love seeing it being setup so fast now. If they are as close to the end as they say they are, lights should be installed within the next month so we can see more of the platform. The escalators and the elevator are totally shrouded so you can't see their progress at all

http://www.boston.com/news/local/massac ... l_station/

That's encouraging news for riders using that station.

Correct me if I am wrong but is it possibly a better rebuild time for Savin Hill than the Blue Line had when it's outer stations were shut down??? Should be just under a year while the Blue Line took just over a year to rebuild.

Savin Hill got a paint job today...the roof overhangs along the platform are a nice bright RED and the brick work along the stairways, escalators and the rest are moving along at breakneck speed. Looking pretty smooth!

Great to hear things are proceeding smoothly - taking the shuttle bus to JFK is a real pain, especially with all the construction on Dot Ave.

I know nothing about how these things work, but I am a bit suprised that there hasn't been work on the weekends (at least when I've been passing by) given that (a) the project is behind schedule and (b) one of the reasons given for the delay is that the crews have to stop working whenever a train comes through. Seems like working when train traffic is less frequent - i.e. nights and weekends - would be more efficient. Is there some sort of construction union rule preventing this or making it prohibitively expensive?

Well I think they should do construction at nights, overnights to be exact, when the trains don't run, or force another dreaded shutdown in the weekend or a holiday weekday to accelerate the construction.

Venable wrote:Great to hear things are proceeding smoothly - taking the shuttle bus to JFK is a real pain, especially with all the construction on Dot Ave.

I know nothing about how these things work, but I am a bit suprised that there hasn't been work on the weekends (at least when I've been passing by) given that (a) the project is behind schedule and (b) one of the reasons given for the delay is that the crews have to stop working whenever a train comes through. Seems like working when train traffic is less frequent - i.e. nights and weekends - would be more efficient. Is there some sort of construction union rule preventing this or making it prohibitively expensive?

Its been a long time since I've been over there, so I don't really recall what the neighborhood is like there. Is it mostly residential around the station? If so, there may be considerable pressure on the T to keep construction to "business hours," i.e., Mon-Fri during the day. For comparison, while this isn't a transit project, the reconstruction of Mass. Ave. in Cambridge that just started between Central (actually Lafayette) Square and the river is limited to weekdays, 7:30-4:30. No weekends, no holidays, no nights, because the city will not allow work liek that to go on near residential areas nights and weekends.

octr202 wrote:Is it mostly residential around the station? If so, there may be considerable pressure on the T to keep construction to "business hours," i.e., Mon-Fri during the day.

You may be right - the area is mostly residential. However, I would think those concerns would be reduced a bit for two reasons - first, the station is basically adjacent to I-93, so (a) there will always be some noise there and (b) there's a soundproofing wall of sorts between the station and the neighborhood; second, the people living next to the station are exactly the people who would benefit most from getting the doggone thing open again, so they might be more willing to accept some extra noise.

Venable wrote:You may be right - the area is mostly residential. However, I would think those concerns would be reduced a bit for two reasons - first, the station is basically adjacent to I-93, so (a) there will always be some noise there and (b) there's a soundproofing wall of sorts between the station and the neighborhood; second, the people living next to the station are exactly the people who would benefit most from getting the doggone thing open again, so they might be more willing to accept some extra noise.

Those are logical explanations but residents are never logical. The vast majority of people would whole-heartedly agree with your assessment but it's the very vocal minority that win out all the time, especially on a project at a minor station like Savin Hill. Compare that with the project at Fields Corner, which not only stayed open while getting renovations but has suffered very little due to the renovation...

I wonder if the little parking lot will be restored once all the construction equipment is gone?

Well to make a correction:
The sound barrier wall is not located at Savin Hill, but further down. The residential street adjacent to Savin Hill has house right across the station, all open only with a fence between the street and the station.
Now, would it be better to have contruction on nights and weekends? Of course, and it would probably be done by now. But you know NIMBY's...

And of course the project would be done if they started once they cleared the rubble rather then waiting several months...

CS wrote:Well to make a correction:
The sound barrier wall is not located at Savin Hill, but further down. The residential street adjacent to Savin Hill has house right across the station, all open only with a fence between the street and the station.

Thanks for the correction - I went by this morning and you are absolutely right.

Coool! I hope to see the new station soo so that I can see where the new features are, if I ever need them...

would they have a snack bar also?

Ouch.
http://www.dotnews.com/savinhillstation.html

The T's efforts to reopen Savin Hill Station on May 9 - 12 months to the day after the start of a planned eight-month shutdown - fell short last week, after a state review board ruled the station couldn't open until it met federal disability standards.

"We don't have the access for the handicapped," said T spokeswoman Lydia Rivera.

While the $18 million project would have been far enough along in mid-May to warrant a partial reopening, escalators and an elevator still lag far short of completion, spurring the state's Architectural Access Board to deny the T's plans to open next month.

The board, a regulatory body in the state's Executive Office of Public Safety, decided the incomplete station would stand in violation of the federal Americans with Disabilities Act.

An appeals hearing has been scheduled for June 6, where the T will propose a handicapped access vehicle at the station during service hours, according to Rivera. Failure there could push the reopening of Savin Hill Station back to late summer, she said.

I am, to be sure, 100% in favor of access for the handicapped / disabled. But I don't understand how preventing _others_ from using the station helps the disabled...

I don't think the station has plans for a snack bar. The collector's section of the station is pretty tiny from what I have seen, and I live right in the area. But I could be wrong, I just don't see signs of anything - maybe a vendor's cart, like Arlington on the Green Line.

Also, didn't a survey once determine that this was the least used of all subway stations? No bus feeds it and it doesn't have much of a parking lot. I doubt a snack bar would do well here.