Ashmont T Station

Musings on a Morning Bike Commute

I spend a lot of time fulminating here about the MBTA. I actually bike to Cambridge these days partly because it's faster ( another story for another time). This morning I had the pleasure of weaving around the fleet of school buses that ply Dot Ave during school day mornings.

In an unusual fit of responsible cycling, I stopped beside a bus on the driver side and waited for the bus to finish loading. I have kids and I like to think that others might do the same if my kids were on the bus. During my wait, one young scholar starts mouthing words to me through the school bus window. I assumed he was declining Latin nouns or at least memorizing "ROYGBIV". As I was in a good mood, I motioned "what?"

The kid's answer followed me for a block on Dot Ave and around the corner when I turned off, as he yelled "faggot "at the top of his lungs.

I had two reactions:

1. I have to go home and tell my kids to never let me find out they have behaved like this or they will have to learn to decline Latin nouns.
2. I know kids are at the mercy of their impulses, but yelling slurs from a school bus window makes me wonder what, if anything, the kid is learning at school.

No one calls me names on the T.

Red Line Shutdown - this weekend

The MBTA will shut down the Red Line between Ashmont and JFK/UMass this weekend from end of service Friday to the start of service Monday morning.  Bus shuttles will be available from Ashmont to JFK/UMass.

A hassle for everyone concerned.  This also runs counter to the MBTA's assertion back in July that no more shutdowns would be expected to occur. So, I have two questions about the shutdown.

1.) How long has the MBTA known that this shutdown would be necessary?

2.) How many workers will be on site during the shutdown?  One can be sure that very sensitive and invisible signal work will be occurring this weekend.

Ashmont Body Count = 12

The busway was paved yesterday! A great day to lay asphalt, though not for the guys doing the work. The asphalt looks ok, though the edges at the street area little rough. I hope they fix that. Since the paving is complete, today's body count only applies to the site guys working at the North Plaza. I included the worker in white chinos and the golf shirt out of incredulity more than anything else. I'll try to take pictures of our new aircraft carier size busway tomorrow. 

Next up: finish package

MBTA Update on Busway Work

I got the following message from the MBTA on progress at the busway. It almost reads like poetry.

Just a quick up date on Busway Schedule

Water line out to dot ave complete.

Curbing out to dot ave on the busway both north and south complete.

Final Paving will be complete today.

Work to complete

Handicap ramps at the north and south entrances

Stripe all crossings

Set center island light poles

As of now we are on or ahead of schedule

September 1st is still good

But I have promises to keep,

And miles to go before I sleep,

And miles to go before I sleep.

(apologies to Robert Frost)

Ashmont Body Count

I had about 28 guys on site on Wednesday morning, only two guys visible on the busway.  Overall, a HUGE turnout It might have been coincidental but there were several elected officials coming to the site yesterday. 

Amenities 2

The MBTA is planning on installing the concrete base for the moon statue and there will be water and electrical hook-ups out there, somewhere.

Photos of Station Construction

At last, the entire inbound platform is open. It's a nice space.

Some Finishes

Station Repairs

The MBTA deserves credit for working to get all the turnstiles up and running in time for Tuesday morning's commute.  Regular riders were probably aware that at least one of the suckers was out of order every day last week.  let's keep our fingers crossed that the machines survive the "running of the high school students" next week.

I do not like to use this venue to bash the T for a number of reasons, especially since there are plenty of better read venues for T-based invective.  I would like to get more feedback from readers about getting the morning train to pull into the station, rather than idle just south of the station.  A number of readers have recalled that this problem was discussed during the design review and we were assured that the train would pull into the station to allow passengers to get out of the cold.....
I hope that the extra fare would at least merit that level of service....I'm just saying that it is cold out there. If you feel the same way or recall the same promise, write a comment here or let the MBTA know.  ( I would direct you to a link but honestly the MBTA comment policy seems to be in flux these days)

Website Updates

You may notice the right column of the website has some new features.  The ability of the web to do almost all our organization is fairly amazing. 

About a year ago I wanted some kind of web-based calender that did not cost $8000 and was easily updated by the public...voila, Google hands it our over their website.  The Google Calender option is a very easy tool to add your important neighborhood events. 

The other feature is a social networking map..centered in this case on Peabody Square, the emerging hotbed of the ...well...next BIG thing.  Again you are invited to add your own sites to the map.
I hope it helps.