Union Square (MBTA Green Line "E" Branch station)

UNION
File:Fitchburg Line train passing Union Square station site, July 2015.JPG A commuter rail train passes the Union Square station site in July 2015
Location	Union Square Somerville, Massachusetts
Coordinates
Owned by	MBTA
Line(s)
Platforms	1 island platform (Green Line)
Tracks	2 (Green Line) 2 (Fitchburg Line)
Construction
Platform levels	2
Bicycle facilities	"Pedal and Park" bicycle cage
Disabled access	Yes
History
Opened	December 2017 (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 have 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 began in 2014 for Union Square, as well as Washington Street and the relocated Lechmere. The station is expected to open in December 2017.

History

Green Line Extension

File:Union Square station site.JPG

Planned station site in December 2011 before clearing

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".

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. 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. Site cleanup began in September 2014.

As of November 2014, the station is expected to open in December 2017.

Commuter rail

File:Union Square steps.JPG

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, likely in concert with the end of passenger service on the Watertown Branch. A set of steps which led to the station is 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. A Union Square commuter station 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 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.

External links

• November 2014 design presentation