Bellingham Square station
CHELSEA
BELLINGHAM SQ | ||||||||||||||||
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Commuter rail (left) and Silver Line stations in 2018 | ||||||||||||||||
Location |
Arlington Street & 6th Street Chelsea, Massachusetts | |||||||||||||||
Coordinates | 42°23′45″N 71°02′03″W / 42.3957°N 71.0342°WCoordinates: 42°23′45″N 71°02′03″W / 42.3957°N 71.0342°W | |||||||||||||||
Line(s) |
Eastern Route Silver Line busway | |||||||||||||||
Platforms |
1 side platform (commuter rail) 2 side platforms (Silver Line) | |||||||||||||||
Tracks | 2 (commuter rail) | |||||||||||||||
Connections |
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Other information | ||||||||||||||||
Fare zone | 1A (commuter rail) | |||||||||||||||
History | ||||||||||||||||
Opened |
November 29, 1985 (commuter rail)[1] April 21, 2018 (Silver Line) | |||||||||||||||
Closed | 2019 (commuter rail - planned) | |||||||||||||||
Traffic | ||||||||||||||||
Passengers (2013) | 179 (commuter rail weekday inbound average)[2] | |||||||||||||||
Services | ||||||||||||||||
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Bellingham Square and Chelsea are a pair of adjacent transit stations located near Bellingham Square slightly north of downtown Chelsea, Massachusetts. Chelsea station, opened in 1985, is an MBTA Commuter Rail station served by the Newburyport/Rockport Line. It is one of the more lightly-used stops on the line, with 179 daily boardings by a 2013 count; most residents commuting to downtown Boston use bus routes including the high-frequency route 111 bus instead.[2] Unlike all other stations on the line save limited-service River Works and Prides Crossing, Chelsea is not handicapped accessible. However, the stop is planned to be moved to a new accessible station in 2019 after completion of a new branch of the Silver Line bus rapid transit service.[3] The SL3 service, which began on April 21, 2018, includes a bus rapid transit stop called Bellingham Square.
History
Commuter Rail
After the opening of the Charlestown Bridge in 1901 and the East Boston Tunnel in 1904, Boston and Maine railroad stations in Everett and Chelsea lost ridership to slower but more frequent streetcar service. On April 18, 1958, the Boston and Maine Railroad received permission from the Public Utilities Commission to drastically curtail its suburban commuter service, including abandoning branches, closing stations, and cutting trains. Among the approved cuts was the closure of all Eastern Division service south of Lynn, including the entirety of the Saugus Branch, plus mainline stations at East Somerville, Everett, Chelsea, and Forbes.[4] These areas were largely within the Metropolitan Transit Authority bus service area, acquired from the Eastern Massachusetts Street Railway in 1936. The Saugus Branch and mainline stations were closed on May 16, 1958.[5][6]
During the late 1960s and early 1970s, the newly formed MBTA reopened several inner-suburb commuter rail stations in response to community desire for service that was faster if less frequent than buses. In 1976, Chelsea station was considered for reactivation, but ridership was expected to be relatively small due to the nearby 111 and 112 buses.[7]
However, Chelsea station was later reopened on December 1, 1985, concurrent with the restoration of regular service on the Rockport/Ipswich Line following the 1984 fire that destroyed the Beverly Draw.[1] The station was built onto the existing right of way, with one platform taking up the former track utilized by the Boston & Albany Railroad's Grand Junction Branch, rather than going through the potentially costly and controversial eminent domain process to acquire land for a larger station. The rails of the former track were still visible in the platform until it was removed in 2015. Due to the location and short length of the platforms, trains are forced to block the Sixth Street crossing while loading and unloading passengers.
Silver Line
Chelsea was a proposed stop on the Urban Ring Project.[8] The Urban Ring was to be a circumferential Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Line designed to connect the current radial MBTA rail lines, to reduce overcrowding in the downtown stations. Under draft plans released in 2008, the commuter rail platforms would have been extended to full length and raised for accessibility, with a new bus station built on the south side of the station.[9] Although the full project was shelved in 2010 due to the MBTA's financial difficulties, some corridor routes are receiving more limited work.[10]
In March 2013, the MBTA began studying an extension of the Silver Line to Chelsea via a newly constructed bypass road in East Boston. Three alternatives were discussed for the Chelsea section. One would run up the abandoned section of the Grand Junction Railroad right-of-way from Eastern Avenue to Chelsea station with stops at Eastern Avenue, Highland/Box District, Chelsea station, and Mystic Mall. The second alignment would follow the Grand Junction to just short of the station, then diverge onto surface roads to Bellingham Square. The third alignment would run entirely on surface streets, serving two stops on Central Avenue and four stops along a loop serving Chelsea station and the MGH Chelsea healthcare center.[11]
In September 2013, the MBTA indicated that it would pursue the first alternative despite potential issues with bridge clearances and rebuilding Chelsea station.[12]
On October 30, 2013, MassDOT announced $82.5 million in state funding for a modified version of the first alternative to be constructed. The commuter rail station would be moved to the new Chelsea station (at Mystic Mall), where more room was available for platforms, with only the Silver Line stopping at the existing site near Bellingham Square. Service was expected to begin in late 2015.[13] A construction contract was approved in September 2014, and construction began in March 2015.[14][10][15] In June 2015, the outbound platform was removed to make way for the busway construction. A temporary asphalt platform was placed between the tracks. By June 2017, opening had been pushed back to April 2018.[3] Silver Line service on the SL3 branch began on April 21, 2018.[16] The $28.4 million Phase 2 is expected to open in 2019.[17][3]
Bus connections
Five MBTA Bus routes converge on Bellingham Square near the station:
- 111 Woodlawn or Broadway & Park Avenue – Haymarket Station via Mystic River/Tobin Bridge
- 112 Wellington Station – Wood Island Station via Central Avenue, Mystic Mall & Admiral's Hill
- 114 Bellingham Square – Maverick Station
- 116 Wonderland Station – Maverick Station via Revere Street
- 117 Wonderland Station – Maverick Station via Beach Street
The 112 and 114 serve the station directly on 6th Street while the 111 will serve the station directly from Washington Ave (connection set to be completed in Summer 2018). The 116 and 117 run on other streets to the east.
References
- 1 2 Belcher, Jonathan (19 March 2016). "Changes to Transit Service in the MBTA district 1964–2016" (PDF). NETransit. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
- 1 2 "Ridership and Service Statistics" (PDF) (14th ed.). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. 2014.
- 1 2 3 Vaccaro, Adam (6 June 2017). "Silver Line service to Chelsea to begin next spring". Boston Globe. Retrieved 18 December 2017.
- ↑ "Drastic Service Cuts Approved on Five B.& M. Divisions". Daily Boston Globe. 19 April 1958. p. 11 – via Proquest Historical Newspaper. (Subscription required (help)).
- ↑ Humphrey, Thomas J.; Clark, Norton D. (1985). Boston's Commuter Rail: The First 150 Years. Boston Street Railway Association. p. 77. ISBN 9780685412947.
- ↑ "B.&M. Closes Saugus Branch, 3 Other Lines". Daily Boston Globe. 17 May 1958. p. 3 – via Proquest Historical Newspapers. (Subscription required (help)).
- ↑ Massachusetts Executive Office of Transportation and Construction (22 April 1976). Capital needs developed at the corridor level: core and west (Report). Massachusetts Executive Office of Transportation and Construction. p. 101-102.
- ↑ "Urban Ring Phase 2 FACT SHEET" (PDF). January 2009. Archived from the original (PDF) on 8 July 2011. Retrieved 18 March 2012.
- ↑ "The Urban Ring Phase 2: Revised Draft Environmental Impact Report/Statement" (PDF). Massachusetts Executive Office of Transportation. November 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on May 14, 2017.
- 1 2 "Silver Line Gateway" (PDF). Massachusetts Department of Transportation. June 5, 2017. p. 3.
- ↑ "Silver Line Gateway Alternatives Analysis" (PDF). Massachusetts Department of Transportation. 19 June 2013. Retrieved 14 July 2013.
- ↑ Hamwey, Scott (18 September 2013). "Silver Line Gateway Alternatives Analysis: Public Meeting – September 18, 2013" (PDF). Massachusetts Department of Transportation. Retrieved 15 October 2013.
- ↑ "Governor Patrick Announces MBTA Silver Line Expansion". Commonwealth Conversations: Transportation (Press release). Massachusetts Department of Transportation. October 30, 2013.
- ↑ "MBTA Silver Line to Chelsea Approved" (Press release). Massachusetts Department of Transportation. September 17, 2014.
- ↑ "Silver Line Gateway Project Overview". Massachusetts Department of Transportation. March 2018. Archived from the original on March 15, 2018.
- ↑ "Silver Line 3 Update" (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. March 12, 2018.
- ↑ "Future Construction Contract Bid Solicitations". Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. October 2016. Archived from the original on October 14, 2016.
External links
Wikimedia Commons has media related to Bellingham Square station. |
- MBTA – Bellingham Square, Chelsea
- Google Maps Street View: from Arlington Street, from Washington Avenue