Union Square (MBTA station)

UNION SQUARE
Planned station site in December 2011
Location	Union Square Somerville, Massachusetts
Coordinates	42°22′37.72″N 71°5′39.45″W / 42.3771444°N 71.0942917°W / 42.3771444; -71.0942917Coordinates: 42°22′37.72″N 71°5′39.45″W / 42.3771444°N 71.0942917°W / 42.3771444; -71.0942917
Owned by	MBTA
Line(s)	Green Line– "E" Branch
Platforms	1 island platform
Tracks	2
Construction
Disabled access	Yes
History
Opened	2017 (planned)[1]
Electrified	Overhead lines (planned)
Services
Preceding station   MBTA   Following station Lechmere toward Heath Street Green Line "E" Branch Terminus

Union Square is a planned rapid transit station on the MBTA Green Line "E" Branch in the Union Square district of southeastern Somerville, Massachusetts. Union Square will consist of one island platform, which will serve the "E" Branch's two tracks.

In September 2013, the state secured funding to move forward on the Green Line Extension to build three new stations by 2017, signing a 51-month $393 million contract. Construction is expected to begin in early 2014 for Union Square, as well as Washington Street and the relocated Lechmere.^[2]

History

Green Line Extension

In August 2012, the City of Somerville, MassDOT, and the MBTA reached a memorandum of agreement about the station. Through the Somerville Redevelopment Authority, the City will acquire $8 million worth of land for the station and grant the MBTA a permanent easement, while retaining the rights for transit-oriented development overhead. In return, the MBTA and MassDOT will pay for cleanup costs at the site, begin construction by the spring of 2014, and open the station no later than "late 2016-early 2017".^[1]

In October 2012, the Somerville Board of Aldermen approved the Union Square Redevelopment Plan and authorized an $8 million bond, including $6 million to purchase the land and $2 million for cleanup and station planning.^[3] In May 2013, the Board of Aldermen announced that the North Prospect block - a mostly industrial area bordered by the railroad tracks, Prospect Street, Somerville Avenue, and the rear of residential properties on Allen Street - had been acquired by the city via eminent domain for $4.5 million. The properties were to be vacated by August. The city also received a $1 million EPA grant to clean up one of the properties.^[4]

Commuter Rail

Extant steps leading to the long-gone commuter rail station

Union Square was formerly a commuter rail stop on the Fitchburg Railroad (now the Fitchburg Line). Service to the station ended in 1938.^[5] A set of steps which led to the station are still extant next to Webster Avenue.

Restoring commuter rail service to Union Square has been considered; the 2004 state Program for Mass Transportation estimated such a station would attract 390 daily riders.^[5] A Union Square commuter station 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 would not be popular with riders from the rest of the Fitchburg Line, which is already slow due to closely spaced stations. The station could also not have been completed by the 2015 deadline, and was not supported by MassDOT.^[6]

References

External links