Green Line Extension to Medford & Union Sq

Took this last Saturday.
Wonder if the T conversation went something like...

Boss - Get that temporary sandwich board sign up for the GLX B branch shuttle.
employee - But shouldn't it be the E branch.
Boss - Doesn't matter. Put it near the East Somerville station at O'Brien Highway
Employee - But theres no O'Brien Highway in Somerville, It's McGrath Highway there.
Boss - Doesn't matter. Put it at the stop at the end of Allston st.
Employee - You mean Alston st, with one 'L'
Boss - Doesn't matter, none of this matters.

View attachment 46673

Great insert for a potential MBTA themed children's activity book. "Can you spot all the things wrong in this picture?"
 
North Station NB was indeed speed restriction-free and maybe it was the operator but there wasn't any 5mph zone from North Station to Science Park despite the dashboard saying there is a 0.11 mi one. The lowest the speed dropped was to 10mph past the yard and up the incline.
The 5mph slow zone NB from North Station to Science Park is still a sign posted slow zone as of earlier this week. Operators primarily disregard it. I also noted some 5mph and "resume speed" signs southbound from Science Park to North Station inside the tunnel.
 
The gate for vehicular access to the Red Bridge pump station at Poplar St looks like it is being relocated. Squinting at the digging today it looked like they may be adding community path access to Poplar St.
they seeem to be working between the path and the Joy st. studios too, looks like theyre extending that service road.
 
GLX track repairs to be completed by the end of the month, per MBTA GM.


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The weekend work at Magoun didn’t finish the job. The ramp surface was ground down, but it still needs reconstruction. I assume that means another day without service.
 

So from this discussion, the Magoun Sq work looks like shit and the workers know it's going to but they have to do it. I feel like there must be better ways rather than keeping tabulating examples there ADA leading to these kind of situations.

It is also notable some other threads were complaining how last Saturday's shutdown went squarely during Porchfest. Based on this website's thread, it sounds like they must have chosen the following Saturday to finish based because normally it makes the most sense. Except it happen to not this past weekend.
 
Seriously?! How is it even possible to screw up something that basic?
As someone who designs these sorts of things for a living, it's extremely easy actually. The difference between an 5.0% slope (max walkway allowed under ADA) and a 5.1% slope (illegal) is imperceptible to the human eye, but legally it's a problem. Slopes are generally designed with a 0.5% construction tolerance for this reason, to allow for the reality of contractors forming concrete. But even then, the difference between an 4.5% slope and a 5.0% slope over a 10 foot run is just over half an inch, that's still the kind of error that a warped piece of wood formwork or a bit of settling could cause. Get a smart level and go for a walk around Boston and you'll find almost every single sidewalk in the city is out of compliance with ADA crossslopes (2.1%), it's just no one is checking unless another project is going on.
 
As someone who designs these sorts of things for a living, it's extremely easy actually. The difference between an 5.0% slope (max walkway allowed under ADA) and a 5.1% slope (illegal) is imperceptible to the human eye, but legally it's a problem. Slopes are generally designed with a 0.5% construction tolerance for this reason, to allow for the reality of contractors forming concrete. But even then, the difference between an 4.5% slope and a 5.0% slope over a 10 foot run is just over half an inch, that's still the kind of error that a warped piece of wood formwork or a bit of settling could cause. Get a smart level and go for a walk around Boston and you'll find almost every single sidewalk in the city is out of compliance with ADA crossslopes (2.1%), it's just no one is checking unless another project is going on.

You can check the formwork the day before, but if someone kicks it by accident, now it could be out of conformance.

Smartlevels for life!
 

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