Assembly Square (MBTA station)
Encyclopedia
Assembly Square is a planned stop on the MBTA's Orange Line
Orange Line (MBTA)
The Orange Line is one of the four subway lines of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. It extends from Forest Hills in Jamaica Plain, Boston in the south to Oak Grove in Malden, Massachusetts in the north. It meets the Red Line at Downtown Crossing, the Blue Line at State, and the Green...

. The station is scheduled to open in 2014. It is being built alongside the planned Assembly Square
Assembly Square
Assembly Square is a mixed-use, smart growth development planned for along the Mystic River in Somerville, Massachusetts. The site is two miles from downtown Boston and accessible via I-93 and Route 28/Middlesex Fells Parkway....

 project (which is also located right next to the Assembly Square Marketplace
Assembly Square Marketplace
Assembly Square Marketplace is currently a power center and mixed-use development located in Somerville, Massachusetts. From the 1980s until the mid-2000s, it was an enclosed shopping mall called Assembly Square Mall. Scheduled plans for the facility call for a six phased expansion, thus changing...

).

The station will consist of a single island platform 410 feet (6 cars) long. Unlike the surrounding stations, Assembly Square will not have a second island platform to serve the (currently unused) third track, which was originally intended to be an express track. The station will have two headhouses, one on each end of the platform. Two footbridges, one from each headhouse, will cross over the inbound track and connect to parking on G Street. The station will include bicycle storage facilities and a bus lane.

The station construction is estimated to cost up to $57 million US, of which $22 million (plus an optional $3.5 million extra) will be from the state's Executive Office of Housing and Economic Development. The remaining cost is divided between federal funding including the FTA Section 5309 New Starts program ($16 million) and the developer, Federal Reality, of Assembly Square ($15.00 million).

The Assembly Square project is estimated to generate 45,000 new vehicle trips each day, and the new station is intended to reduce that number by diverting trips to mass transit. Ridership projections are for 5,000 riders per day in 2030.

On February 8, 2011, the MBTA board unanimously approved a memorandum of understanding
Memorandum of understanding
A memorandum of understanding is a document describing a bilateral or multilateral agreement between parties. It expresses a convergence of will between the parties, indicating an intended common line of action. It is often used in cases where parties either do not imply a legal commitment or in...

between the MBTA and Federal Reality, which defines the funding sources for the project. The memorandum was a "critical milestone," according to a Federal Reality executive. Somerville approved the project on May 2, 2011, and two days later the MBTA opened bidding for construction, which is planned to start at the end of 2011.

On October 5, 2011, the MBTA announced the selection of a construction contract worth $29 million. The station is now expected to be completed in 2014; the work will require 18 weekend closures of the line.

External links

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