Lechmere (MBTA station)

LECHMERE
Lechmere terminus, entry to fare-control inbound boarding area is at right
Location	Cambridge Street at O'Brien Highway East Cambridge, Massachusetts
Coordinates	42°22′15.3″N 71°04′39″W / 42.370917°N 71.07750°W / 42.370917; -71.07750Coordinates: 42°22′15.3″N 71°04′39″W / 42.370917°N 71.07750°W / 42.370917; -71.07750
Owned by	MBTA
Line(s)	Green Line "E" Branch
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	1 (balloon loop)
Construction
Parking	347 spaces ($6.00 fee)
Disabled access	Yes
History
Opened	July 10, 1922
Rebuilt	2010, 2017 (Planned)
Traffic
Passengers (2013)	6,421 (weekday average boardings)[1]
Services
Preceding station   MBTA   Following station Science Park toward Heath Street Green Line "E" Branch Terminus   Starting 2017   Science Park toward Heath Street Green Line "E" Branch Union Square Terminus Science Park toward Riverside Green Line "D" Branch Washington Street Terminus   Starting 2020   Science Park toward Riverside Green Line "D" Branch Washington Street toward College Avenue

Lechmere is a light rail station and the northern terminus of the MBTA Green Line, located at Lechmere Square in East Cambridge, Massachusetts near the intersection of Cambridge Street and Monsignor O'Brien Highway (Route 28). Green Line trains run around a balloon loop, inside which is a small yard used for midday and overnight storage. The station has two platforms, which are not connected within fare control; the outbound terminus is on the northeast side of the loop and the inbound platform is on the southwest side. Lechmere station is fully handicapped accessible.

As part of the Green Line Extension project, the current (1922-built) Lechmere station will be replaced with an elevated station on the opposite side of the O'Brien Highway, adjacent to the Northpoint development and with a direct connection to the Somerville Community Path.

Station layout

History

An inbound train prepares to leave the newly opened transfer station in 1922

The concrete Lechmere Viaduct leading up to the station opened on June 1, 1912. At the Lechmere end, there was no station, but track connections to existing streetcar lines on Cambridge Street and Bridge Street (now O'Brien Highway), which had continued downtown via the Charles River Dam Bridge. Due to schedule problems caused by delays on the surface propagating into the subway, a new prepayment station opened on July 10, 1922 and the existing loop was built to turn subway cars, while surface cars also looped on a separate track. As most if not all existing subway service from the south and west looped at Park Street, a new service was inaugurated between Lechmere and the Pleasant Street Incline. Beginning January 2, 1923, this was changed to loop at Kenmore (a surface station at the time) and some trips were extended along the Beacon Street Line to loop at Washington Square. On February 7, 1931, Commonwealth Avenue and Beacon Street service was extended from Park Street to Lechmere, and this separate service was removed.

Trolleys in Lechmere Yard between the two platforms

On February 11, 1983, a Lechmere-Government Center shuttle was brought back during rush hours and middays, due to the "E" Branch, which had been the only service to Lechmere at those times, being closed by a snowstorm. This shuttle continued even after the "E" Branch reopened, last running over 14 years later, on June 21, 1997. From December 28, 1985 to July 25, 1986, additional shuttle service ran between Lechmere and Kenmore.

Lechmere was planned for closure on June 18, 2004 due to the closure of the North Station elevated station and trackage to be relocated to the new underground North Station Green Line stop, but fire alarm systems at North Station required more testing. Lechmere closed one week later, on the evening of June 25, and the Green Line Bus Shuttle to Government Center began operating. The "D" Branch was cut back to Government Center at that time, but "E" trains continued operating to Lechmere, with additional shuttle service added to Government Center. The new alignment opened November 12, 2005, returning streetcar service to Lechmere.

Lechmere rail service was suspended from April 30 to November 2011 due to construction at Science Park station, with shuttle bus service between Lechmere and North Station.^[2] The station was reopened and regular service between Lechmere and North Station resumed on 5 November 2011.^[3]

Plans

The MBTA has proposed that it will break ground for the construction of a new Lechmere station, located on the opposite side of McGrath/O'Brien Highway in a new community called NorthPoint, as part of the Green Line Extension. Planned to open by 2017,^[4] the relocated station will connect with the associated Somerville Community Path.^[5]

The moved Lechmere station is a proposed stop on the MBTA's planned Urban Ring Project.^[6] The Urban Ring will be a Bus Rapid Transit (BRT) Line designed to connect the current radial MBTA Lines to reduce strain on the downtown stations.

Service timeline

This timeline shows which services extended through to Lechmere at which times (before 1922, surface routes simply entered the viaduct at Lechmere).

Bus connections

Lechmere busway, adjacent to the outbound platform exit

The outbound terminus platform is connected to a busway on the Monsignor O'Brien Highway, which serves several MBTA Bus routes:

• 69 Harvard/Holyoke Gate - Lechmere Station via Cambridge Street
• 80 Arlington Center - Lechmere Station via Medford Hillside
• 87 Arlington Center or Clarendon Hill - Lechmere Station via Somerville Avenue
• 88 Clarendon Hill - Lechmere Station via Highland Avenue

The 77 (renumbered 69 ca. 1967) streetcar to Harvard became the first trackless trolley in the Boston area on April 11, 1936. The 87 and 88 streetcar routes were replaced with trackless trolleys on November 8, 1941 and with buses March 30, 1963; the 77 became a bus route on March 31. The 80 ran to Sullivan Square as a streetcar and was replaced with a bus to Lechmere on July 9, 1932. It later too became a trackless trolley route before reverting to bus on March 29, 1963.

A busway is present on the inbound side as well; however, it is not currently used by buses.

The EZRide Cambridge - North Station private shuttle service stops at Lechmere at all times. Although not part of the MBTA system, it is open to the general public and is shown on MBTA maps.

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Lechmere (MBTA station).

• MBTA - Lechmere
• Station from Google Maps Street View

Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Subway lines (List of stations) Heavy rail      Blue      Orange      Red Light rail      Green "B" Branch "C" Branch "D" Branch "E" Branch      Ashmont–Mattapan      Commuter Rail lines (List of stations) North Station lines Fitchburg Haverhill (Wildcat Branch) Lowell Newburyport/Rockport South Station lines Fairmount Framingham/Worcester Franklin Greenbush Needham Old Colony (Kingston/Plymouth Middleborough/Lakeville      CapeFLYER) Providence/Stoughton Bus routes (List of routes)      Silver Crosstown routes Key routes Trackless trolleys Routes East Boston, Chelsea, Revere Melrose, Reading, Stoneham, Wakefield South Boston Other services      Boat The Ride Component parts of system lines      Boylston Street Subway      Haymarket North Extension      Lechmere Viaduct      Tremont Street Subway      Washington Street Subway Under construction           Government Center closure      Green Line Extension      South Coast Rail      Wachusett extension Proposed      Lynn extension           Red Line—Blue Line Connector Urban Ring Project      North–South Rail Link      Plaistow extension      Nashua extension      Westerly extension      Indigo Line (Fairmount Grand Junction Track 61) History Predecessor companies Boston Elevated Railway Eastern Massachusetts Street Railway Middlesex and Boston Street Railway Newton and Boston Street Railway Former lines      Atlantic Avenue Elevated      Causeway Street Elevated      Charlestown Elevated      Green Line "A" Branch      Lexington Branch Streetcar lines      Washington Street Elevated      Woburn Loop      History of the Green Line Other Accessibility Arts on the Line "Charlie on the M.T.A." CharlieCard Police Nomenclature Yards and maintenance facilities