Green Line Extension Lechmere to Medford

[Arlington]

GLX is to Tufts (2021) and maybe 16(MVP@Boston Ave) by 2025. All else is crazy transit pitch territory.

If you want to upgrade Lowell line options, let's talk Electrification, Nashua Extension, an Acela terminus at Woburn, and a W. Medford tunnel--but all are for some other thread, please.

Similarly, if you want to extend rapid transit, GLX is not it. Please discuss Orange beyond Forest Hills, Blue to Lynn, or Green to Waverly or beyond Riverside.

Not appropriate to reopen routing here.

Medford NIMBYs killed crossing the Mystic for the next 50 years. It is someone else's turn

[Teamdriver]

GLX is to Tufts (2021) and maybe 16(MVP@Boston Ave) by 2025. All else is crazy transit pitch territory.

If you want to upgrade Lowell line options, let's talk Electrification, Nashua Extension, an Acela terminus at Woburn, and a W. Medford tunnel--but all are for some other thread, please.

Similarly, if you want to extend rapid transit, GLX is not it. Please discuss Orange beyond Forest Hills, Blue to Lynn, or Green to Waverly or beyond Riverside.

Not appropriate to reopen routing here.

Medford NIMBYs killed crossing the Mystic for the next 50 years. It is someone else's turn

With respect to the Orange line, is the new dedicated bus lane posturing to the need of the furthering of the line, or maybe an attack on the autocar and its need for parking,which is a topic of new constructionrequirements?

[Arlington]

Construction update (from the 80 Bus)

COLLEGE AVE
Tree clearing along the Lowell Line @ Boston Ave & College Ave is basically done. The new outer CR signal tower now looms over Boston Ave without trees to screen its view.

BALL SQ
Tree clearing around Ball SQ is also far progressed, but not nearly as dramatic (since the trees were thin to begin with or had been cleared 5 years ago for the CR re-alignment)

Broadway bridge will soon close for its 18 month rebuild (it needs its span increased to allow 4 tracks and the trackspread for Balls future center platform).

MAGOUN
(Can't see it from the 80)

GILMAN SQ
The sub-ballast (ancient trackbed) at Gilman Sq looks wide and smooth enough to start laying ballast, thanks to the width of the ancient rail stop. But the cleared hillside on the Highland Ave side looks scary high, trashy, and unstable now that it has been denuded. So obviously the. Trackbed will serve in the short term as a great space from which to stabilize the hill/cut/slope.

LECHMERE
mostly soul sample drilling

[bgl]

I believe they also posted updated completion dates and things are looking to be ahead of schedule by a few months.

[Arlington]

Yes, apparently. The State Implementation Plan 2018 Status Report (PDF)
Is said (by SomervilleStep.org) to represent a 5 to 8 month acceleration in the opening date as follows:

New Green Line opening dates
This is a first: The Green Line Extension schedule just got moved UP a bit. We had expected the Green Line to open in December 2021, but in the latest monthly status report, we have new projected dates:

The Union Square branch will open April 28, 2021.
The main (Medford) branch will open July 21, 2021.
This could still change, so cross your fingers.

Sceptics would just see this as the ordinary difference between "start of service" and "project completion" (Assembly Sq opened a long time before it was "complete"), but, hey, I'll take it.

[lanoitarus]

Similarly, if you want to extend rapid transit, GLX is not it. Please discuss Orange beyond Forest Hills, Blue to Lynn, or Green to Waverly or beyond Riverside.

Apologies if I'm being daft, but what is green to Waverly? Would be very curious to see more even if (i assume) some sort of distant / theoretical proposal?

[CRail]

I’ve heard of green to Porter, but not Waverley. I think that’s getting a bit carried away, as is green beyond Riverside. Neither of those are more feasible than green to West Medford. I DO agree with green and orange to Needham Heights, though.

[BandA]

Green beyond Riverside is pretty easy, assuming you mean along the main line which is mostly intact 4-track ROW. The usual expensive ADA station work would be needed, how to incorporate the historical station buildings, fix/buy back the encroachments, and they would have to re-do the work in Natick.

[bostontrainguy]

Green beyond Riverside is pretty easy, assuming you mean along the main line which is mostly intact 4-track ROW.

Yeah, just as quick and easy as the GLX. Mostly intact 4-track ROW. How hard could it be, right?
Oh wait. This is the MBTA

[ceo]

You miiiiiight be able to squeeze 4 tracks in there. But Riverside to downtown is already the better part of an hour; go much beyond that and you're into the steep part of the diminishing-returns curve.

[BandA]

Riverside to South Station would only be 1/2 hour by Commuter Rail. Seriously. (Assuming you aren't waiting ten minutes at COVE.) Anybody interested in saving 1/2 hour on your commute? You could implement both a Green Line extension to Framingham AND short-turn commuter rail meetup. But then there is the problem of the CR fare being 3x the Green Line and Charlie Card incompatibility.

[rethcir]

Getting pretty off topic. But no way the Worcester ROW gets triple or quadruple tracked thru Newton, zero chance. Again, EMU is the answer there.

[BandA]

Didn't say anything about track through Newton or Newton Circuit service. No room for more tracks there until the "Medium Dig"

[CRail]

Em, I know I contributed to this derailment but let’s stick to the east end of the line. I’d be happy to see this conversation continued in a new thread.

[Arlington]

Take a ride in the Lowell Line from NS to W.Med.Sq.--you will see real construction progress all along the way: mostly prepping the now tree-bare emabankments and the grading and ballasting of the base of the ROW (as a construction accessway)

For example they have covered the two GLX slots on the Harvard Ave bridge at Tufts/St Clement's so that heavy vehicles can go up & over