Assembly station
ASSEMBLY | |||||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
 Station building under construction in May 2014 | |||||||||||
| General information | |||||||||||
| Location | G Street, Somerville, Massachusetts | ||||||||||
| Coordinates | 42°23′32.48″N 71°4′38.40″W / 42.3923556°N 71.0773333°W | ||||||||||
| Owned by | Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority | ||||||||||
| Line(s) | |||||||||||
| Platforms | 1 island platform | ||||||||||
| Tracks | 3 (two station tracks and one unused express track) | ||||||||||
| Construction | |||||||||||
| Parking | 200 spaces (shared with nearby parking lot) | ||||||||||
| Bicycle facilities | Racks provided | ||||||||||
| Accessible | Yes | ||||||||||
| History | |||||||||||
| Opened | September 2, 2014[1] | ||||||||||
| Passengers | |||||||||||
| 2030 | 5,000 (projected)[2] | ||||||||||
| Services | |||||||||||
| |||||||||||
Assembly (formerly Assembly Square) is a recently completed station on the MBTA's Orange Line, located in the eastern portion of Somerville, Massachusetts[3] It is an infill station, located on a section of the Orange Line that has been active since 1975. The station, which opened on September 2, 2014, is the first new station on the MBTA subway system since 1987.[1][4]
Assembly Square station is meant to provide convenient access to the stores at Assembly Square - a major retail and residential development located on the site for a former Ford assembly plant - and the adjacent Assembly Square Marketplace. The Assembly Square project is estimated to generate 45,000 new vehicle trips each day, and the new station is intended to reduce that number by diverting trips to mass transit. Ridership is projected to reach 5,000 riders per day in 2030.[2]
Station layout
| L2 Platforms |
Southbound | ← Orange Line stops here (Sullivan Square) |
| Island platform | ||
| Northbound | → Orange Line stops here (Wellington) → | |
| Northbound | → No regular service | |
| L1 Concourse |
Lobby | Fare barriers |
| G | Street level | Exit |
Assembly station is in the rear of the Assembly Square development, on the existing Orange Line tracks near the Mystic River.
The station consists of a single island platform 410 feet (120 m) long, to handle up to 6 railcars on each side.[2] Unlike Community College, Sullivan, and Wellington, Assembly does not have a second island platform to serve the (currently unused) third track, which was intended to be an express track. The station has two headhouses, one on each end of the platform. Two footbridges, one from each headhouse, cross over the inbound track and connect to parking on G Street.[5] The station includes bicycle storage facilities and a bus lane, which will likely serve some or all of bus routes 90, 92, and 95, which pass nearby.
Several public art elements are incorporated into the station. These include artistic benches and a metal panel mosaic on the station façade (both designed by Artists for Humanity) and MBTA-designed panels about the site's history.[3]
Adding a commuter rail station at Assembly Square was listed as a possibility in 2012 as an interim air quality mitigation measure in response to delays building the Green Line Extension[6] However, such a station could not be completed by 2015, and the project was not supported by MassDOT.[6] The station would have required building separate platforms for the Haverhill Line and the Newburyport/Rockport Line, which split near the station site.
History and financing
Construction is estimated to cost up to $57 million, of which $22 million (plus an optional $3.5 million extra) will be from the state's Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development. The remaining cost is divided between federal funding including the FTA Section 5309 New Starts program ($16 million) and the developer of Assembly Square ($15 million), Federal Realty Investment Trust (FRIT).[7]
The area around the station formerly hosted a Ford automobile assembly plant, which used the adjacent Haverhill Line for rail access. Although the plant is long gone, the Assembly Square name is a reference to the site's history.
On February 8, 2011, the MBTA board unanimously approved a memorandum of understanding between the MBTA and FRIT, which defines the funding sources for the project.[8] The memorandum was a "critical milestone," according to a FRIT executive.[9] Somerville approved the project on May 2, 2011, and two days later the MBTA opened bidding for construction,[10] which was planned to start at the end of 2011.[9]
On October 5, 2011, the MBTA announced the award of a $29,229,184 construction contract to S&R Construction Co., Inc., with construction to begin later that fall.[11] The work requires 18 weekend closures of the Orange Line from Sullivan to Oak Grove.[7] The first weekend closures began in June 2012 and will continue past the station opening into late 2014.[12] The closures were extended to five nights per week for the second half of 2012, and continued sporadically into 2013 and 2014.[13]
For construction, the MBTA shifted outbound trains to the normally unused express track and inbound trains to the outbound track, to give construction crews full access to the site.[14] In January 2013, the MBTA began constructing concrete pillars to support the platform and headhouses; elevator shaft construction began in the spring.[14] Construction of the headhouse frames began in June 2013, and the platform segments were laid in July. The headhouses were completed in June 2014, with work remaining on other parts of the station.[15]
Inbound trains switched back to the normal inbound track on July 1, 2014; outbound trains began using the normal outbound track on July 21.[16] The station opened to passengers on September 2, 2014, although some final construction work will last until November.[1]
References
- ^ a b c Hofherr, Justine (27 August 2014). "Somerville's New Assembly Square MBTA Station to Open Next Week". Boston Globe. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
- ^ a b c "Assembly Square Station Final Design" (PDF). Federal Transit Administration. Retrieved 31 July 2011.
- ^ a b "Assembly Square Public Meeting" (PDF). MassDOT. 15 November 2011. Retrieved 13 June 2012.
- ^ "Assembly Square MBTA Station Opening Sept. 2". Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.
- ^ MassDOT (12 January 2010). "Assembly Square Presentation" (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. Retrieved 30 July 2011.
- ^ a b Central Transportation Planning Staff (23 January 2012). "Green Line Extension SIP Mitigation Inventory" (PDF). Massachusetts Department of Transportation. Retrieved 5 December 2012.
- ^ a b Moskowitz, Eric (6 October 2011). "MBTA board OK's millions for stations". Boston Globe. Retrieved 7 October 2011.
- ^ Taylor, Denise (9 February 2011). "MBTA Approves Assembly Sq. T-Stop Agreement". Somerville Patch. Retrieved 31 July 2011.
- ^ a b Douglas, Craig M. (8 February 2011). "Assembly Square advances on key MBTA vote". Boston Business Journal. Retrieved 31 July 2011.
- ^ Douglas, Craig M. (4 May 2011). "MBTA opens bidding for Assembly Square station". Boston Business Journal. Retrieved 31 July 2011.
- ^ Coughlin, Kerri (25 October 2011). "Construction on Assembly Square T stop to begin later this fall". Tufts Daily. Retrieved 13 June 2012.
- ^ Orchard, Chris (24 May 2012). "Bus Diversions on Orange Line to Begin in June". Somerville Patch. Retrieved 13 June 2012.
- ^ Orchard, Chris (27 June 2012). "Buses Replace Evening Northbound Orange Line Trains Beginning July 8". South End Patch. Retrieved 28 June 2012.
- ^ a b "Crucial Progress Continues on Assembly Station Project". Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. 30 January 2013. Retrieved 30 January 2013.
- ^ Boroyan, Nate (18 June 2014). "MBTA Assembly Station to Open Later This Summer". BostInno. Retrieved 27 August 2014.
- ^ "Assembly Station". Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. July 2014. Archived from the original on 8 July 2014. Retrieved 8 July 2014.
External links
