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Last bits of old Somerville building pushed over to make way for new Green Line station
By adamg on Sat, 04/06/2019 - 12:42pm
Jay K shows us the remains of what had been the last standing parts of the Homans Building, knocked over this morning to make way for construciton of the Gilman Square station on the new addition to the Green Line and an adjacent power substation.
And just like that, the Homans building in #Somerville is reduced to piles. Green line ext progressing.
The MBTA posted video of the last three floors going down:
Finishing demolition of the Homans building this morning (adjacent to the future Gilman Square #MBTA GLX station and Pearl Street traction power substation). pic.twitter.com/e091FBuQSV
— MBTA (@MBTA) April 6, 2019
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Comments
Who knew?
Magoo knew. That’s who. Sez magoo. Magoo.
Hey Adam?
Maybe time to add these to the spam filter?
OK, Magoo
Enough, thank you.
People need to lighten up
Magoo is harmless, like the Codfish, or Elmer, who is all three of them.
Sure, harmless in the big sense, but
When half the comments are this or some other shtick, it makes me way less interested in bothering to check *any* of the comments, let alone try to participate constructively.
If that's what Adam wants for the site and the comment feature, okay, whatever. Personally I'd prefer better.
"the new end of the Green Line"
College Avenue in Medford is actually the new terminus of the Green Line Extension.
Yep
I was thinking of a synonym for "extension," but came up with the wrong word, which I've changed.
Great view from the Lowell Line
I saw that going down from the train yesterday as the train slowed going by the site.
Yeah but it came at a price. GLX costs to date are nearing 1 Bil
How they're going to pull this off for 2.3 Bil (or not pull this off > think Seaport GLX) is something to watch
The contracts are all out
Which makes me think $2.3 million will be the cost.
Nope. Wrong Waquiot
Keolis also has a contract with the state. Do you think they're living up to its requirements?
Someone is conflating
Service contracts with construction contracts.
Keolis might not be living up to their contract, but conversely they should no be paid a penny more than what their contract says, unless MassDOT makes some kind of change on their side.
Besides, I don't know if you realize this, but both Beacon Hill and Washington are both keeping an eye on the construction contracts. There were issues with the earlier contracts that caused those contracts to be cancelled.
6 Month Delay
Not a good sign this early on
Meanwhile, the Globe's "Rosy Vaccaro" claims everything is fine
When did the Globe go from investigating the T (remember the Fairmount train find by Nicole Dungca?) to putting out FMCB PR articles? Over a half year construction delay on the project. GLX towns are threatening lawsuits over station access. Vaccaro doesn't write a word about it.
Bldg demo should have been removed from the project scope
The Homans site is no longer part of the Gilman GLX station design. The team should have removed the demo project to save $$$. The new Gilman GLX entrance faces the hill between the rail lines and Somerville High. Just stairs, no elevators (removed). Which begs the question. Will riders spend $3 (estimated 2021 fare) to ride the GLX only to hike up a hill or spend $2 (est.) to ride a bus and have a nice flat stroll into Somerville High.
We used to be able to build
We used to be able to build transit stations without destroying the buildings that would be the most convenient to the the new station.
If Brookline Village can have a D line station woven into the urban landscape, why can't Somerville?
Brookline Village T station predates the urban fabric
As it was built in the late 19th century as a station on the Boston and Albany Railroad.
But yes, at one point, before there was an urban landscape, they built train stations without tearing buildings down.
The former Winter Hill
The former Winter Hill station at Gilman Square also predated the urban fabric.
In 1959, they figured out how to convert a railroad into the Green Line D without destroying the neighborhoods for massive glass boxes. That's also how to avoid spending billions of dollars for a few miles of trolley line along an existing right of way.
Is Winter Hill Station still there?
That would be part of your answer.
Things like being ADA compliant would be the other part.
Also, you do know that both the Green Line and an active rail line will be running there, unlike the Highland Line, right?
But if you want a B &A comparison, look at what happened when the ran the Mass Pike al8ng the other branch that goes through Newton.