Ball Square station

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Ball Square
Ball Square station under construction (3), December 2021.JPG
Ball Square station under construction in December 2021
LocationBroadway at Boston Avenue
Somerville, Massachusetts
Coordinates42°23′59.94″N 71°6′39.97″W / 42.3999833°N 71.1111028°W / 42.3999833; -71.1111028Coordinates: 42°23′59.94″N 71°6′39.97″W / 42.3999833°N 71.1111028°W / 42.3999833; -71.1111028
Line(s)Medford Branch
Platforms1 island platform (Green Line)
Tracks2 (Green Line)
2 (Lowell Line)
Construction
Disabled accessYes
History
OpeningMay 2022 (planned)
Services
Preceding station MBTA.svg MBTA Following station
Medford/​Tufts
Terminus
 Green Line
E branch
 Magoun Square
toward Heath Street
Former services (North Somerville station)
Preceding station Boston and Maine Railroad Following station
Tufts College
toward Concord, NH
 Boston – Concord, NH Somerville Junction
toward Boston

Ball Square station is an under-construction light rail station on the MBTA Green Line E branch in the Ball Square neighborhood of Somerville and Medford, Massachusetts. Ball Square will consist of one island platform, which will serve the E branch's two tracks. The station is expected to open in May 2022 as part of the Green Line Extension.

History[]

Railroad station[]

A postcard of a small green railway station
North Somerville station on a 1913 postcard

The Boston and Lowell Railroad opened through Somerville and Medford in 1835, although local passenger stops were not added until several years later. By 1855, no station was yet opened at Broadway on the Somerville/Medford border. However, it soon became an unloading point for cattle bound for the Brighton Abattoir; the railroad built a cattle station in 1859, and passenger operations likely followed.[1][2] By 1875, the station was named Willow Bridge and located on the west side of the tracks just north of Broadway.[3] It was renamed North Somerville in the mid-1880s.[4][5][6] A southbound freight train derailed at the station on June 25, 1916, blocking the line for over 24 hours and attracting 10,000 onlookers.[7][8]

Horsecars, and later streetcars consolidated under the Boston Elevated Railway, cut sharply into local railroad traffic. All stops inbound from North Somerville were closed prior to the 1950s. On April 18, 1958, the Public Utilities Commission approved a vast set of cuts to Boston and Maine Railroad commuter service, including the closure of North Somerville, Tufts College, and Medford Hillside stations.[9] The three stations were closed on May 18, 1958, amid the first of a series of cuts.[10][11] The station building, modified for other uses, remained standing until around 1990.[12]

A Ball Square commuter rail station – either in addition to a Green Line station or in lieu of it – was listed as a possibility in 2012 as an interim air quality mitigation measure in response to delays in building the Green Line Extension. However, such a station would have been costly to build and could not have been completed by the 2015 deadline, and was thus not supported by MassDOT.[13]

Green Line station[]

Station construction in November 2020

In December 2016, projected completion of the station was delayed to 2021.[14] Construction of the platform foundation was underway by August 2020.[15] The platform and canopy were installed by June 2021, with steelwork for the footbridge underway.[16]

Public art at the station will include Tour Jeté Series by Christine Vaillancourt – colored geometric glass forms located on the elevator tower – as well as historic images and views of Vaillancourt's artwork on panels on the station signs.[17][18]

Original plans called for the D branch to be extended to Medford/Tufts.[19][20] However, in April 2021, the MBTA indicated that the Medford branch would instead be served by the E branch.[21] By March 2021, the station was expected to open in December 2021.[22] In June 2021, the MBTA indicated an additional delay, under which the station is expected to open in May 2022.[23]

References[]

  1. ^ Kollner, Augustus (1855). "Map of the town of Medford, Middlesex County, Mass : surveyed by order of the town". H.F. Walling.
  2. ^ Dennison, Edward B. (March 1936). "Medford Railroad Stations: Notes and Reminiscences". The Medford Historical Register. Vol. 39, no. 1 – via Internet Archive.
  3. ^ Part of Medford. County Atlas of Middlesex, Massachusetts. F.W. Beers & Co. 1875. p. 103.
  4. ^ "Auction Sales". Boston Globe. April 14, 1883. p. 5 – via Newspapers.com.
  5. ^ "The Death of Thomas T. Woodbury". Boston Globe. February 12, 1886. p. 6 – via Newspapers.com.
  6. ^ "Real Estate". Boston Globe. May 29, 1887. p. 9 – via Newspapers.com.
  7. ^ "Twenty-Five Cars Derailed". Boston Globe. June 25, 1916. p. 11 – via Newspapers.com.
  8. ^ "10,000 View Scene of Wreck". Boston Globe. June 26, 1916. p. 16 – via Newspapers.com.
  9. ^ "Drastic Service Cuts Approved on Five B.& M. Divisions". Daily Boston Globe. April 19, 1958. p. 11 – via Newspapers.com. open access
  10. ^ Humphrey, Thomas J.; Clark, Norton D. (1985). Boston's Commuter Rail: The First 150 Years. Boston Street Railway Association. p. 57. ISBN 9780685412947.
  11. ^ "B.&M. Closes Saugus Branch, 3 Other Lines". Daily Boston Globe. May 17, 1958. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.open access
  12. ^ "Rails of the Past Guiding the Green Line of the Future" (PDF). Somerville Bicycle Committee and the Somerville Historic Preservation Commission. May 31, 2008. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 2, 2016.
  13. ^ Central Transportation Planning Staff (January 23, 2012). "Green Line Extension SIP Mitigation Inventory" (PDF). Massachusetts Department of Transportation. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 2, 2014.
  14. ^ Dungca, Nicole (December 7, 2016). "New Green Line stations are delayed until 2021". Boston Globe. Retrieved 7 December 2016.
  15. ^ "GLX Community Working Group Monthly Meeting: August 4, 2020". Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. August 4, 2020. p. 10.
  16. ^ Wagner, Jeff (June 1, 2021). "GLXC Construction Update". Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. p. 26.
  17. ^ Gordon, Jane Keller (June 1, 2020). "New Somerville MBTA station will feature Boston painter's artwork in glass". Fifty Plus Advocate.
  18. ^ "GLX Community Working Group Monthly Meeting #39". Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. February 2, 2021.
  19. ^ "MBTA Light Rail Transit System OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE PLAN" (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. January 6, 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 7, 2017.
  20. ^ "Travel Forecasts: Systemwide Stats and SUMMIT Results" (PDF). Green Line Extension Project: FY 2012 New Starts Submittal. Massachusetts Department of Transportation. January 2012. Archived from the original (PDF) on March 7, 2017.
  21. ^ DeCosta-Klipa, Nik (April 9, 2021). "The MBTA is planning to open part of the Green Line Extension this October". Boston Globe. Retrieved April 9, 2021.
  22. ^ "Report from the General Manager" (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. March 29, 2021. p. 20.
  23. ^ Dalton, John (June 21, 2021). "Green Line Extension Update" (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. p. 19.

External links[]

Media related to Ball Square station at Wikimedia Commons

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