118 replies to this topic

[KevinKorell]

So work on the Lechmere viaduct and related relocation of the station by the same name is scheduled to take 11 months, from May 2020 until April 2021.   Lechmere will reopen at that time in its new location and temporarily resume being the terminus of the Green Line (which temporarily is North Station).  The rest of the extension on its two branches is currently set to go into revenue service by the end of 2021.

[CNJRoss]

RT&S 7/10/20

 

MBTA Green Line Extension project to coordinate series of major crane lifts this weekend at Lechmere Viaduct in East Cambridge

Written by Press Release

 

MBTA Green Line Extension project to coordinate series of major crane lifts this weekend at Lechmere Viaduct in East Cambridge.

MBTA

 

 

The MBTA announced [yesterday] it will begin a series of major crane lifts this weekend at the new Lechmere Viaduct now under construction between the Gilmore Bridge and Lechmere Station along Monsignor O’Brien Highway. The work is in support of the Green Line Extension (GLX) project. Setup operations will begin around 9 PM on Friday, July 10, and traffic detours will be in place by the early morning hours of Saturday, July 11. Construction activities such as crane work are scheduled from 7 AM to 10 PM on Saturday and from 7 AM to 7 PM on Sunday.  

 

Traffic detours for motor vehicles, pedestrians, and bicyclists traveling through the area along Monsignor O’Brien Highway will be in place throughout the weekend. The purpose of the construction work is to place a series of prefabricated concrete pier caps atop the support columns for the new Lechmere viaduct. This construction method was chosen over casting the structures in place to save time on the project which is on schedule for completion in December of 2021. The GLX project will extend Green Line service from the new Lechmere Station along 2 new branches to Union Square in Somerville and to College Avenue/Tufts University in Medford.

 

Continue here.

 

Note 'poor' stock photo selection!

 

Ross

[KevinKorell]

I noticed the poor selection right away too.  RT&S should know better.    That's not a Green Line light rail vehicle and that's not a viaduct.

[KevinKorell]

MBTA website, 7/24/20:

 

Major Crane Lifts and Nighttime Utility Work Planned This Weekend at Lechmere Viaduct in Support of GLX

Posted on July 24, 2020

Massive precast concrete pier caps continue to be lifted into place atop new Lechmere Viaduct support columns.

 

Detours for Monsignor O’Brien Highway scheduled Friday through Sunday evenings.

 

The MBTA announced today it will continue to advance major crane lifts again this weekend at the new Lechmere Viaduct now under construction between the Gilmore Bridge and Lechmere Station along Monsignor O’Brien Highway. The operation, entering into its third consecutive weekend work window, is progressing as planned.

 

The activity is in support of the Green Line Extension (GLX) project. Setup operations for crane work will begin around 9 PM tonight, July 24, and traffic detours will be in place by the early morning hours of Saturday, July 25. In addition to the placement of concrete pier caps, the steel spans for the viaduct are being hoisted into place. The actual crane lifts are scheduled from 7 AM to 10 PM on Saturday and from 7 AM to 7 PM on Sunday.

 

In addition to the crane lifts, nighttime utility work is scheduled to take place on North First Street in East Cambridge over the weekend from 6 PM to 6 AM on Friday and Saturday nights.  

 

Traffic detours for motor vehicles, pedestrians, and bicyclists traveling through the area along Monsignor O’Brien Highway will be in place throughout the weekend. The purpose of the construction work is to place a series of prefabricated concrete pier caps atop the support columns for the new Lechmere viaduct. This construction method was chosen over casting the structures in place to save time on the project, which is on schedule for completion in December of 2021. The GLX project will extend Green Line service from the new Lechmere Station along two new branches to Union Square in Somerville and to College Avenue/Tufts University in Medford.

 

Delivery of the pre-cast materials and preparations for the series crane lifts will take place between 10 PM and 7 AM on Friday and Saturday nights. Anticipated noise levels during the overnight periods are expected to be light to moderate. The materials will be set in place from 7 AM to 10 PM on Saturday and 7 AM to 7 PM on Sunday.  

[KevinKorell]

Boston, MA Globe, 9/28/20:

 

    In the most complicated stretch of the Green Line extension, cyclists will rise above it all  

 

 

 

Right now, this industrial strip in the Inner Belt district is a thicket of concrete pillars, steel beams, ramps, and half-finished viaducts. But in a little more than a year, these elevated tracks will finally carry MBTA trolley riders, the conclusion of the decades-long effort to extend the Green Line north into Medford.

 

Details

[KevinKorell]

Streetsblog Mass, 4/8/21:

 

 

 

   MBTA Puts New Green Line Stations On the Map  

 

 

 

A new MBTA map installed in the newly-expanded Ruggles commuter rail station reveals how the Green Line Extension will operate when it opens later this year.

 

 

Article here.

 

The important information from the timeline in the story is that the tentative start date for the shorter (D) branch to Union Square is this October, while the longer (E) branch to Medford should be open by the end of this year.

[KevinKorell]

Boston, MA Globe,  4/9/21:

 

 

   The MBTA is planning to open part of the Green Line Extension this October    

 

 

MBTA officials have long said that they hoped the Green Line Extension into Somerville and Medford would be fully operational by December of 2021.

 

For some riders, service is slated to begin a couple months earlier.

 

More

[CNJRoss]

RT&S, 4/27/21

 

Somerville, Mass., hoping to recover money it put up to save Green Line Extension project

 

Somerville officials hope to get money back now that the Green Line Extension project is healthy.

MBTA

 

 

Back in 2016 it was called “an extreme and unprecedented arrangement for a state infrastructure project.” Today, however, the city of Somerville, Mass., might be getting its money back.

 

Five years ago Somerville and Cambridge committed $50 million and $25 million, respectively, to keep the Green Line Extension project on its feet. Cost overruns almost killed the project, but for Somerville and Cambridge it was too big to fail.  . . .

 

Continue here.

[KevinKorell]

Tufts University Daily, 5/7/21:

 

 

    Green Line Extension Medford branch testing to begin this summer, Medford/Tufts station to open in December    

 

 

The Medford branch of the Green Line Extension, which will include the Medford/Tufts stop on College Avenue, remains on track to be operational by December. The Union Square branch, terminating in Union Square, will begin service this October, according to a March 29 presentation by MBTA General Manager Steven Poftak. 

 

Read this.

[KevinKorell]

Tufts University Daily, 5/11/21:

 

 

   Tales from the T: New train just dropped  

 

 

I think by now it’s time to address the elephant in the station — and I don’t mean Jumbo’s flattened corpse. Let’s talk about the Green Line Extension, or GLX: What is its history, what will it bring, why did we spend $2 million to name one station, I mean seriously, who on Earth thought that was a good idea?

 

Read that.