East Somerville station

East Somerville is a planned light rail station on the MBTA Green Line D branch in Somerville, Massachusetts.[2][3] The station will consist of one island platform, which will serve the D branch's two tracks.

For the former Boston and Maine Railroad station, see Sullivan Square station § History.
East Somerville
East Somerville station will be located behind the brick building
LocationWashington Street at Joy Street
Somerville, Massachusetts
Coordinates42°22′49.56″N 71°5′15.66″W
Owned byMBTA
Line(s)Medford Branch
Platforms1 island platform
Tracks2
Construction
Bicycle facilities"Pedal and Park" bicycle cage
Disabled accessYes
History
Opened2021 (planned)[1]
Services
Preceding station MBTA Following station
Lechmere
toward Riverside
 Green Line
Starting 2021
 Gilman Square
toward Medford/​Tufts

History

Railroad station
Prospect Hill station in 1897

The Boston and Lowell Railroad (B&L) opened between its mainsake cities in 1835. Passenger service initially ran express between the two cities, but local stops were soon added.[4] One of the first was Milk Row, just south of Washington Street (then known as Milk Row after the nearby farms).[5][6]:81 Opened in 1835, it was Somerville's first railroad station.[7]

The Boston and Maine Railroad (B&M) acquired the B&L in 1887 and soon made improvements to a number of B&M stations in Somerville. Milk Row was replaced with Prospect Hill off Alston Street, slightly to the north, by 1889.[8][6]:468

In 1926, the Boston and Maine Railroad (B&M) began work on North Station plus an expansion of its freight yards. The B&M soon proposed to abandon East Cambridge and Prospect Hill stations in order to realign the ex-B&L into the new North Station.[9] Although the closure of East Cambridge was protested, Prospect Hill had largely been replaced by streetcars to Lechmere station and its closure was unopposed.[10][11] The Public Utilities Commission approved the closures in March 1927.[12] The stations closed at some point between then and May 22, when trains were rerouted over the new alignment.[13] The building remained in disuse until at least 1933, but was later demolished.[14]

Green Line station

Early plans called the station Brickbottom. 2014 plans announced it as Washington Street station, with an expected opening in December 2017.[15] The MBTA announced in December 2016 that the opening would be delayed until 2021 in the wake of cutbacks, and that the name of the station would be changed to East Somerville, reflecting the name of the neighborhood[1]

References
  1. Dungca, Nicole (December 7, 2016). "New Green Line stations are delayed until 2021". Boston Globe. Retrieved 7 December 2016.
  2. "MBTA Light Rail Transit System OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE PLAN" (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. 6 January 2011. Retrieved 10 August 2015.
  3. "Travel Forecasts: Systemwide Stats and SUMMIT Results" (PDF). Green Line Extension Project: FY 2012 New Starts Submittal. Massachusetts Department of Transportation. January 2012. Retrieved 10 August 2015.
  4. Harlow, Alvin Fay (1946). Steelways of New England. Creative Age Press. pp. 92–93.
  5. Gordon, Edward W. (September 2008). "Union Square Revisited: From Sand Pit to Melting Pot" (PDF). Somerville Historic Preservation Commission. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 13, 2013.
  6. Samuels, Edward Augustus; Kimball, Henry Hastings (1897). Somerville, past and present : an illustrated historical souvenir commemorative of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the establishment of the city government of Somerville, Massachusetts – via Internet Archive.
  7. PRESERVATION STAFF REPORT for Determination of Preferably Preserved (PDF) (Report). Somerville Historic Preservation Commission. September 25, 2018. p. 1.
  8. "City of Somerville, Mass.". Atlas of Middlesex County, Massachusetts. Geo. H. Walker & Co. 1889. pp. 14–15 – via Ward Maps.
  9. "Protest Giving Up Three Stations". Boston Daily Globe. November 10, 1926. p. 14 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. "Oppose B. & M. Abandonment". Boston Daily Globe. January 11, 1927. p. 10 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. "Oppose Closing East Cambridge Station". January 12, 1927. p. 8 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. "Five B. & M. Stations Will Be Abandoned". Boston Daily Globe. March 16, 1927 – via Newspapers.com. (second page)
  13. "New Boston & Maine Line to be Used Sunday". Boston Globe. May 17, 1927. p. 8 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. "How would you like to live in a railroad station". Boston Globe. July 15, 1933. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
  15. "Washington Street and Union Square Stations: November 6, 2014" (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. 6 November 2014. Retrieved 5 July 2015.
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