Hey, there! Log in / Register
A head's up for Forest Hills T riders
By adamg on Mon, 11/04/2019 - 1:25pm
The MBTA reports that the new north headhouse - or entrance - for the Forest Hills T stop will open Tuesday, which means people walking to the station from the north will no longer have to cross the Arborway to get on the train.
Neighborhoods:
Topics:
Free tagging:
Ad:
Support Universal Hub
Help keep Universal Hub going. If you like what we're up to and want to help out, please consider a (completely non-deductible) contribution.
Comments
Commuter Rail...
Right? I wondered what that kiosk was for.
No, Orange Line
.
Speaking as somebody who usually takes the commuter rail...
It'd be really great if they could also put a staircase (much simpler: no gates required) from the bridge down to the commuter rail platform... but I'm not holding my breath.
Why the delay?
It looked done for a while now - why didn't it open? Some kind of inspection?
I believe the Arborway project is now pretty much complete - was it on budget or not? It certainly wasn't on time, was it?
I think they are finishing
I think they are finishing about two years late. An embarrassing performance.
I mean, it sounds bad
Any construction/contracting mavens on here who care do the work for me to compare average completion rates for this kind of infrastructure project in Boston and regionally?
I know the fan back order fucked the completion date way up and of course they never planned (how?) for the bus canopies at all as part of the original project.
Second follow-up for bus riders - are those big new canopies good? They look good from the street but then I haven't used them.
I *think* they’re good so far
Perhaps I’m completely forgetting recent progress, but I don’t think these canopies have been in place for a winter season yet. I think we should hold off on judgement until March.
Outside of that, it’s certainly appreciated as a 34/40 rider that we don’t have to collectively stare down death while waiting for the buses at the temp. pickup location from last winter. Cripes, that was a ridiculous spot to have for those particular routes’ buses.
They work great!
Not much good for wind but they keep the rain off just fine. I take the 39 bus twice a day. I just wish when the 39 buses arrive at Forest Hills they would let you off under the canopy instead of half-in half-out or all out.
I'm not a fan of how much
I'm not a fan of how much farther the bus stops are from the indoor waiting room.
Why have we as a society lost the ability to design convenient transit stations? They got it right in the 80s with Davis and Alewife. Keep the in-station transfer walks short, and have an indoor waiting area right next to the bus stops.
And to pour salt on the matter
For some reason the drivers went from stopping basically in front of the doors to the station under the old configuration to some odd desire to drop riders off at the furthest point from the doors.
I was waiting for the 39 one Saturday morning. The busway was completely devoid of buses. Still, when the 34 inbound showed up, it stopped just off the street. The passengers still had to walk basically from Ukraine Way to get to the Orange Line. Insane!
New
Minor, but "New" Washington St doesn't exist anymore since Arborway is now grounded where it used to be.
Thanks
Wasn't sure about that.
Updated post
The T says the opening is tomorrow, not Wednesday.
Actually TUESDAY opening
MBTA announces a Tuesday opening here:
https://www.mbta.com/alerts/subway
Re: contributing factors to delays
1. There was a year-long delay while Mass Historical Commission adjudicated the fate of Shea Circle. It was part of the "Morton Street Historic District" and on the National Registry of Historic Places (which they supervise locally).
2. Hella blizzards just as project set to begin
3. The tunnel jet fan procurement (originally an MBTA responsibility) cost months and months before the general contractor stepped in and got it done.
4. Upper busway design took far longer than anticipated, and it was not ready to go when rest of project began (also MBTA).
5. Old station wiring/lights needed to be tied-in to new head house and emergency generators. Contractor was done with head house and all components months ago. But old station... guess who didn't have it ready?
I'm not under the impression that much, if any, of the delays were caused by the contractor.
Thanks!
Good info. 5) makes a lot of sense.
First public meeting
First public meeting on what to do about the obsolete Overpass was... wait for it.... in March, 2011.
It's been a loooong, er, road.
Oh sure
Of course this kind of thing takes a long time. I was specifically wondering about the time frame from once the project had been awarded to completion v. the initial estimate given by the project managers.
Timing
Contract was awarded to BHD in October, 2014 after three years of community discussion, design, and the year for Mass Historic to ponder whether it was OK to turn the Shea Rotary into "Shea Square". "Notice to Proceed" was issued in February, 2015 as I recall, with a time frame estimate of about two and a half years until completion. But as mentioned above the crazy early Spring blizzards of 2015 delayed the start and demolition began in April, 2015. The contract did not originally include the jet fans (+ a year) or the Upper Busway (+ about another year). Those were originally to be MBTA's responsibility. As I understand it, the project has been substantially complete since late last summer. There is still some corrective sidewalk work ongoing (poorly poured the first time), some warrantied plant replacement next Spring - but the head house couldn't be opened until inspections were passed - and some of those were tied to retrofitting/updating wiring in the main station.
I still can't see how
The decision on Shea Circle had anything to do with the MBTA side of the project. I mean, they tore down the GD busway roof without a complete design or even funding for the replacement roof.
The reality is that MassDOT didn't care about that part of the project. That's why, four and a half years after construction started (and remember, that is not counting the horrible winter,) they still haven't finished.
I'll say this much- finally finishing the north headhouse is probably the last major milestone.
Fwiw
I've never said the "extra Shea year" was MBTA's fault. At the time, it *seemed* like inconceivable foot-dragging on the part of Mass Historic Commission to spend a year on this to this observer - one state agency (MHC) delaying another (MassHighway). But... it could have been a coordinated slow-roll for all I know.
If anything, that "Shea year" bought MBTA another year to prepare for *their* (initially) parts of the project - old station retrofit, jet fans, upper busway. MBTA and Highway are both MassDOT, of course, but they didn't seem to be functioning in tandem at the time.
Fwiw
I've never said the "extra Shea year" was MBTA's fault. At the time, it *seemed* like inconceivable foot-dragging on the part of Mass Historic Commission to spend a year on this to this observer - one state agency (MHC) delaying another (MassHighway). MHC does have a preservation mandate and a responsibility to weigh alternatives, but... it could have been a coordinated slow-roll for all I know.
If anything, that "Shea year" bought MBTA another year to prepare for *their* (initially) parts of the project - old station retrofit, jet fans, upper busway. MBTA and Highway are both paart of MassDOT, of course, but they didn't seem to be functioning in tandem at the time.
OL Only
The new head house, I believe, is connected to the Orange Line if one were to be observant where the passageway starts and ends. This will only serve people seeking access to the Orange Line, and also serve as an exit to the far side of the Arborway roadway.
Anyone seeking access to the bus lanes will still have to cross at the surface. Ditto commuter rail.
The complaints haven't started but will shortly.
If you have a pass that
If you have a pass that covers the subway, you're welcome to go down and back up.
Monthly pass holders
Couldn't monthly pass holders coming to the station from JP/direction of SW Corridor, duck into the head house, down the stairs, along the platform and then up the escalator to the main station and buses if they wanted to avoid rain, snow, or a pedestrian light cycle on the Arborway? Aren't two card swipes no big deal to monthly holders?
Sounds nuts as I type it, but seems possible and perhaps preferable under some circumstances for those folks...
15 minute (or so) wait...
.. between uses of the same monthly pass for use on the same transit line.