Salem (MBTA station)

SALEM

Salem station with 2014-constructed high-level platform and garage
Location 252 Bridge Street
Salem, Massachusetts
Coordinates 42°31′30″N 70°53′45″W / 42.5250°N 70.8959°W / 42.5250; -70.8959Coordinates: 42°31′30″N 70°53′45″W / 42.5250°N 70.8959°W / 42.5250; -70.8959
Owned by MBTA
Line(s)
  Newburyport/Rockport Line
Platforms 1 side platform
Tracks 1
Connections MBTA Bus: 450, 450W, 451, 455, 456, 459, 465
Construction
Parking 700 spaces ($5.00 daily)
Accessible spaces available
Bicycle facilities 100+ spaces ("Pedal and Park" bicycle cage)
Disabled access Yes
Other information
Fare zone 3
History
Opened August 27, 1838[1]
Rebuilt December 1, 1847
1959
August 10, 1987[2]
October 24, 2014[3]
Traffic
Passengers (2016) 2,389 daily inbound boardings[4]
Services
Preceding station   MBTA   Following station
Newburyport/Rockport Line

Salem is a regional rail station on the MBTA Commuter Rail Newburyport/Rockport Line, located off Bridge Street near the intersection of Massachusetts Route 107 and Route 114 in downtown Salem, Massachusetts. Salem station consists of one platform which serves a single track. A staircase provides access to the platform from Route 107. Immediately south of the station, the train tracks enter the Salem Tunnel, which carries trains underneath Washington Street in Salem. A $44.5 million garage with 715 spaces, along with a full-length high-level platform for speedier boarding, opened on October 24, 2014.[3]

According to an April 2016 ridership count, Salem is the busiest commuter rail station in the MBTA system outside of the central Boston stations, with an average of 2,389 daily inbound boardings.[4]

History

After the railroads from Boston to Lowell, Worcester, and Providence were chartered in 1830 and 1831, railroads to other surrounding cities including Newburyport and Portsmouth were proposed.

The Eastern Railroad was chartered on April 14, 1836.[5][1] Work began at East Boston in late 1836; construction was slowed by the Panic of 1837 and did not reach Salem until 1838.[6][7]

A late drawing of the first station in Salem

Service from Salem to East Boston began on August 27, 1838, with fares half that of competing stagecoaches.[5][6] A wooden train shed was built at Salem; since it was not certain whether the line would be extended, the shed was closed at the north end.[6] Passenger accommodations were initially limited to a ticket office and waiting room in a nearby warehouse. A wooden station similar to those at Lynn and East Boston was soon constructed near Norman Street, with bells imported from Spanish churches.[6][8] The two-story station had three pairs of columns mimicking a Greek temple, a common style for the earliest stations in the northeast United States.[9][10] Within days of opening, the line was already seeing commuter traffic from Salem, and it has been a heavily used commuter stop since.[1][5]

With the railroad receiving more traffic than expected, a branch line from Salem to Marblehead opened on December 10, 1839, replacing a stagecoach connection from Marblehead station on the mainline.[5][6] Salem was the terminus of the Eastern Railroad until December 18, 1839, when the extension to Ipswich opened as the first phase of the line's completion to Portsmouth, New Hampshire. The extension to Ipswich included a 718 feet (219 m) tunnel under Washington Street in Salem - one of the nation's first railroad tunnels.[6]

The 1847-built station around 1897

On June 16, 1846, the stockholders authorized the sale of $450,000 of new stock to fund various branch lines plus new depots at Salem and Lynn.[6] Gridley James Fox Bryant designed a massive stone structure, one of his first major commissions.[9] Eastern president D.A. Neal requested the style after being inspired by a similar station - possibly English, possibly the 1844-built Leipzig Thüringer Bahnhof - during a European trip.[9][6][11] The Washington Street side of the new station had two towers, resembling those of a medieval castle, flanking a granite archway which spanned three tracks. The wooden trainshed was constructed to the south, partially on piers over the South River (which was not filled until the 1880s). A massive sea wall was built to protect the station from flooding.[6][9] The station opened on December 1, 1847.[6] In 1851, Nathaniel Hawthorne described the station in The House of the Seven Gables:[12]

...they now found themselves passing beneath the arched entrance of a large structure of gray stone. Within, there was a spacious breadth, and an airy height from floor to roof, now partially filled with smoke and steam, which eddied voluminously upward, and formed a mimic cloud-region over their heads.
The 1850-built Salem & Lowell Railroad station in 1868
The southern end of the station in the 1880s
1987-built station viewed in 2010

The first 5 miles (8.0 km) of the Essex Railroad from Salem west to Danvers opened on January 19, 1847, with a wye connecting to the Eastern Railroad at the north end of the tunnel, and the remainder to North Andover in 1848.[6] The South Reading Branch Railroad and the Salem and Lowell Railroad (a subsidiary of the Lawrence and Lowell Railroad) opened in 1850 and used the Essex's tracks to Salem. The South Reading Branch was built to compete with the Eastern for Boston-Salem traffic; it connected to the rival Boston and Maine Railroad at South Reading (Wakefield Junction). The Salem & Lowell and the South Reading Branch shared a station at the north end of the tunnel rather than using the Eastern's station, even after the Eastern acquired the South Reading Branch in 1851.[6]

With direct connections to most of the major cities of northeastern Massachusetts by 1850, Salem became a major railroad junction. By the 1870s, a roundhouse, coaling tower, and water tank were located inside the wye to serve the three lines from the west.[13][14] The roundhouse was later rebuilt with more stalls and access from the south to serve commuter trains.[15]

On April 7, 1882, a fire resulting from an explosion of a can of fusees destroyed the wooden trainshed, although the granite facade and towers were intact. A wooden replacement was built around the burnt section.[6][9] On December 2, 1884, the Eastern was acquired by the B&M.[6][7] For several decades until the 1930s, Salem was the turnback point for a limited number of short turn trains.[1]

It had become a local landmark by the time it was demolished in 1954.[8][16] demolished in the mid-20th century; however, a signal tower near the north end of the tunnel remains. The granite block foundation of the roundhouse was covered over to make the parking lot rather than fully removed.

In 1958, the B&M extended the Salem tunnel to the south, and soon after built a station in the southern approach span.[16] However, the station lacked modern elements like parking capacity and elevators to make the below-ground-level platforms handicapped accessible. In 1987, the MBTA abandoned the station and built the present station at the north end of the tunnel. The 1959 station building remains at 89 Margin Street; it has been converted into a private school.[8] The platforms remain extant in the tunnel approach, as do rusted pieces of staircases from Mill Street and a pedestrian overpass behind the station building.

The section of the wye leading to the Essex Branch Railroad has been paved over, but the north side of the wye still carries occasional freight trains operated by Pan Am Railways. These trains run to Peabody along the former Essex Railroad, then to South Peabody along the short remains of the South Reading Branch.[17]

Garage

Turntable foundation with the 1987-built shelter in the background in December 2012
Construction work in October 2013
The remaining part of the 1987-built platform in service in October 2013 during garage construction
Foundation work in May 2014
The footbridge to the finished garage in 2016

Until July 2013, parking was available in a 340-space surface lot adjacent to the platform, which filled before the end of morning rush hour. In 2003, the MBTA began studying construction of a parking garage to alleviate this. In 2004, Salem was ranked as one of three highest-priority parking expansions on the system.[18]

As part of environmental mitigation for increased urban auto traffic enabled by the Big Dig, the state was required to add 1,000 parking spaces to MBTA stations by the end of 2011. Garages at Salem and Beverly Depot were originally to fill this requirement, but when it became clear that neither would be finished in 2011, additional parking at Wonderland, Woodland, Savin Hill, the Quincy ferry terminal, and a surface lot at Beverly Depot were used to satisfy it.[19] However, planning continued for a garage and new platform at Salem. Funding was provided by the Federal Transit Administration ($3.6M), the Massachusetts Department of Capital Asset Management ($3M to reserve 150 spaces for the Essex County Courthouse), the City of Salem, the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, and the MBTA.[20] Planners initially considered a garage of up to 750 spaces; after various changes, the five-story garage was built with 714 spaces.[21][22]

Major planning was completed in 2012, with community input leading to the addition of brick facades to match local architecture, as well as an indoor waiting room.[23] On August 24, 2012, the Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs granted the MBTA an exemption to the mandatory Environmental Impact Assessment, as the project was to be built entirely over an existing parking lot and was thus unlikely to have negative environmental effects.[24] Besides the garage, the project included the construction of a standard 9-car-length (800-foot-long) high-level platform for faster, handicapped-accessible level boarding, as well as rehabilitation of the historic Salem interlocking tower nearby.[24] The project was originally to cost $37 million, but increased to $44.5 million due to changes mandated by new earthquake codes, the brick facades, and a roof for the pedestrian walkway.[25]

In early 2012, engineers found the remains of the roundhouse using ground penetrating radar while examining the site in preparation for the new parking garage.[14] In November 2012, the MBTA closed part of the existing parking lot to excavate the remains, as required by the state Historical Commission.[22] The Historical Commission unearthed the roundhouse foundation in early December 2012.[26] A $32.5 million construction contract was awarded on December 8, 2012.[27] Construction on the garage and station began in June 2013 and to finish in October 2014.[28] The parking lot closed on July 20, 2013 for construction; a free lot opened later at the nearby former Universal Steel.[29] A groundbreaking ceremony was held on September 13, 2013.[30]

After several months of foundation work, construction of the garage itself began in May 2014.[25] The garage and the first section of the high-level platform opened on October 24, 2014.[3] A ribbon-cutting ceremony was held on November 17, 2014.[31] Remaining work on the project - including the north half of the platform, the bus loop, passenger drop-off areas, traffic lights, and bike paths - lasted into the first half of 2015.[32] In January 2015, a "Pedal and Park" secure bike cage with racks for at least 100 bikes opened. This was the first such installation at an MBTA station without rapid transit service.[33]

By September 2015, the Salem garage was averaging 413 cars on weekdays.[34] The Bridge Street lot reopened on October 16, 2015.[35]

The high-level platform was replaced in segments in May and June 2016, as some parts been built with a higher cross slope than the ADA allows. The rework was done at the contractor's expense, as the MBTA's plans specified the correct lower slope.[36] The waiting room has a tendency to flood during severe rains, a problem which the MBTA and the contractor began fixing in 2016 by adding a glass panel and new caulking.[37]

Future

Pedestrian access

Although parking demand at Salem is high, approximately half of riders walk or bike to the station from nearby neighborhoods. Existing access via the footbridge at Washington Street is inconvenient for many of these passengers, particularly those coming from areas northwest of the station via North Street and southwest via Bridge Street. Reaching the station from these areas or an off-street lot along Bridge Street often involves crossing at an unsignalised crosswalk with poor visibility around a curve.[38] Unofficial trails paralleling the two streets from the parking lot entrance are used by many pedestrians, but these routes are not handicapped accessible and involve trespassing on private land and/or the lightly used freight tracks.[38] In April 2013, the City released a study that recommended constructing sidewalks and gated track crossings along these desire lines to enhance pedestrian access.[38] However, an official pedestrian route following the unofficial path north of the platform to the nearby Jefferson at Salem Station development was ruled out in March 2013 due to safety concerns.[28] The route would have crossed the mainline tracks, where there may be as little as three minutes between trains at rush hour.

Branch line

The MBTA has contemplated adding a branch line from Salem through Peabody, terminating near the Northshore Mall or the Danversport area of Danvers.[39] While the right of way to Peabody would be shared with existing freight service, the routes beyond that involve restoring tracks on the Salem and Lawrence Railroad or the Essex Railroad, both of which have been unused for decades.[7] The MBTA's 2004 planning document classified the branch line as a "Medium Term" proposal, defined as an 11- to 20-year time frame for implementation.[39] In comparison, the new parking garage and rehabilitation of the current station are classed "Short Term" and were completed in 2014.[21]

The branch line is currently shelved due to the agency's financial problems, but it still exists as a future possibility. The former branch portal from the 1958 tunnel is still intact and would be reused if the line reopened. An easement for a single track was left when the new garage was built.[40]

Bus connections

A #465 bus laying over at Salem in April 2015

Salem is the terminus for seven MBTA Bus routes serving North Shore communities. A dedicated bus lane and a bus layover area to serve the routes were constructed along with the garage in 2014.

References

  1. 1 2 3 4 Humphrey, Thomas J.; Clark, Norton D. (1985). Boston's Commuter Rail: The First 150 Years. Boston Street Railway Association. ISBN 9780685412947.
  2. ↑ Belcher, Jonathan (19 March 2016). "Changes to Transit Service in the MBTA district 1964–2016" (PDF). NETransit. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
  3. 1 2 3 Leighton, Paul (19 October 2014). "MBTA garage in Salem won't open until Friday". Salem News. Retrieved 21 October 2014.
  4. 1 2 "MBTA State of the Service: Commuter Rail" (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. p. 14. Retrieved 21 June 2016.
  5. 1 2 3 4 Felt, Joseph Barlow (1845). Annals of Salem. pp. 297–298 – via Internet Archive.
  6. 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 11 12 13 14 Bradlee, Francis Boardman Crowninshield (1917). The Eastern Railroad: A Historical Account of Early Railroading in Eastern New England. Essex Institute – via Internet Archive.
  7. 1 2 3 Karr, Ronald Dale (1995). The Rail Lines of Southern New England. Branch Line Press. pp. 251–254. ISBN 0942147022.
  8. 1 2 3 Roy, John H. Jr. (2007). A Field Guide to Southern New England Railroad Depots and Freight Houses. Branch Line Press. pp. 184–186. ISBN 9780942147087.
  9. 1 2 3 4 5 Meeks, Carroll Louis Vanderslice (1956). The Railroad Station: An Architectural History. Yale University Press. pp. 50,54–55. ISBN 0300007647.
  10. ↑ Bianculli, Anthony J. (2003). Trains and Technology: The American Railroad in the Nineteenth Century. 3: Tracks and Structures. University of Delaware Press. p. 140. ISBN 9780874138023 – via Google Books.
  11. ↑ Reed, Roger G. Building Victorian Boston: The Architecture of Gridley J.F. Bryant. University of Massachusetts Press. p. 48. ISBN 9781558495555 – via Google Books.
  12. ↑ Hawthorne, Nathaniel (1893). The House of the Seven Gables. Houghton, Mifflin, and Company. p. 290 – via Internet Archive.
  13. ↑ "Part of Ward 4, Salem". Atlas of the City of Salem, Massachusetts. G.M. Hopkins & Co. 1874 – via Ward Maps.
  14. 1 2 Dalton, Tom (2012-02-16). "Railroad past lies beneath Salem train station". The Salem News. Retrieved 29 February 2012.
  15. ↑ "City of Salem: Parts of Wards 4-6". Atlas of The City of Salem. Walker Lithograph & Publishing Co. 1911 – via Ward Maps.
  16. 1 2 McGregor, Amanda (2008-07-31). "Salem Depot still missed, 50 years after its doom". The Salem News. Retrieved 2 March 2012.
  17. ↑ Vondrak, Otto M. (2014). "Pan Am Railways System Map". Pan Am Railways. Retrieved 2 May 2016.
  18. ↑ Central Transportation Planning Staff (December 2004). "CHAPTER 9: SUMMARY OF FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS" (PDF). Mobility in the Boston Region: Existing Conditions and Next Steps. Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization. p. 25.
  19. ↑ Fichter, Katherine S. (10 December 2010). "Transit Commitments: December 2010 Status Report" (PDF). MassDOT Office of Transportation Planning.
  20. ↑ "Massachusetts to help pay for MBTA parking facility in Salem". Progressive Railroading. Retrieved 29 February 2012.
  21. 1 2 "Salem Commuter Rail Station Improvements". Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. Archived from the original on 6 April 2016.
  22. 1 2 Mooney, Ryan (17 November 2012). "Tough parking in Beverly, Salem as station projects begin". Boston Globe. Retrieved 18 November 2012.
  23. ↑ Editorial staff (15 November 2012). "MBTA earns kudos for Salem garage process". Salem News. Retrieved 18 November 2012.
  24. 1 2 Sullivan, Richard K., Jr. (24 August 2012). "Final Record of Decision" (PDF). Massachusetts Executive Office of Environmental Affairs. Retrieved 18 November 2012.
  25. 1 2 Dalton, Tom (10 May 2014). "Work starts on 'T' garage". Salem News. Retrieved 1 June 2014.
  26. ↑ Trahan, Tyler (7 December 2012). "Unearthed: the Salem Turntable". I Ride The T. Retrieved 7 December 2012.
  27. ↑ Bray, Bethany (8 December 2012). "Contract awarded in Salem MBTA project". Salem News. Retrieved 9 December 2012.
  28. 1 2 Dalton, Tom (21 March 2013). "T station work to begin in June". Salem News. Retrieved 21 March 2013.
  29. ↑ "Frequently Asked Questions: MBTA Garage & Temporary Parking" (PDF). City of Salem. June 2013. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
  30. ↑ "MBTA Celebrates Groundbreaking for New Salem Commuter Rail Station". Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. 16 September 2013. Retrieved 18 September 2013.
  31. ↑ Jessen, Klark (17 November 2014). "MBTA Celebrates Salem Intermodal Facility Opening". Massachusetts Department of Transportation. Retrieved 18 November 2014.
  32. ↑ Phipps, Greg (20 November 2014). "Up and operating but still months away from completion". Wicked Local Salem. Retrieved 20 November 2014.
  33. ↑ "Pedal and Park Bike Storage Available in Coming Weeks at Salem MBTA Station". NoBo Magazine. 22 January 2015. Retrieved 25 January 2015.
  34. ↑ Leighton, Paul (17 September 2015). "Half empty or half full?: Fewer cars than expected using Salem, Beverly MBTA garages". Salem News. Archived from the original on 1 October 2015.
  35. ↑ Castelluccio, John (7 October 2015). "Bridge Street lot reopens next week". Archived from the original on October 8, 2015. Retrieved 8 October 2015.
  36. ↑ Laidler, John (18 May 2016). "Problems persist at $44.5m Salem station". Boston Globe. Retrieved 19 May 2016.
  37. ↑ McCabe, Kathy (21 October 2015). "New $44.5m MBTA station in Salem already has water issue". Boston Globe. Retrieved 22 October 2015.
  38. 1 2 3 Fay, Spofford, and Thorndike (April 2013). "Pedestrian & Bike Access Study: North and Bridge Streets Approaches to Salem MBTA Station" (PDF). City of Salem. Retrieved 25 June 2013.
  39. 1 2 North Shore Transit Improvements Project (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. 2004. pp. 3–34.
  40. ↑ Moisan, David (6 October 2009). "MBTA Salem Depot Preliminary Design 2009-10-06 010". Flickr. Retrieved 18 November 2012.
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