Davis | |||||||||||
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General information | |||||||||||
Location | College Avenue and Elm Street Somerville, Massachusetts | ||||||||||
Coordinates | 42°23′49″N71°07′21″W / 42.3969°N 71.1225°W | ||||||||||
Line(s) | Red Line Northwest Extension | ||||||||||
Platforms | 1 island platform | ||||||||||
Tracks | 2 | ||||||||||
Connections | MBTA bus: 87, 88, 89, 90, 94, 96 | ||||||||||
Construction | |||||||||||
Structure type | Underground | ||||||||||
Bicycle facilities | 165 spaces in "Pedal and Park" bicycle cage | ||||||||||
Accessible | Yes | ||||||||||
History | |||||||||||
Opened | 1870 (former station) December 8, 1984 (MBTA) | ||||||||||
Closed | April 24, 1927 (former station) | ||||||||||
Previous names | West Somerville | ||||||||||
Passengers | |||||||||||
FY2019 | 11,442 (weekday average boardings) [1] | ||||||||||
Services | |||||||||||
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Davis station is an underground Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Red Line rapid transit station located at Davis Square in Somerville, Massachusetts. The accessible station has a single island platform for the Red Line, as well as a dedicated busway on the surface. It opened in 1984 as part of the Red Line Northwest Extension project.
The station has a single underground island platform, oriented approximately east-west under Davis Square. It has two brutalist concrete headhouses – at College Avenue on the east side of the square, and at Holland Street on the west side. A fare mezzanine running the length of the station connects the two headhouses and the platform. A skylight in the plaza provides natural light to the mezzanine. The station is accessible, with elevators connecting the mezzanine to the platform and the College Avenue headhouse. [2]
An off-street busway served by six MBTA bus routes – 87 , 88 , 89 , 90 , 94 , and 96 – is located next to the east headhouse. Inbound buses on routes that do not terminate at Davis do not use the busway; they instead stop on surface streets near the station entrances. [3] A "Pedal and Park" bicycle cage is located east of the east headhouse.
The first transit service to what would become Davis Square [lower-alpha 1] was a horsecar line to Union Square, Somerville via Elm Street and Somerville Avenue, which was opened by the Somerville Horse Railroad (later part of the Cambridge Railroad) in 1858 and extended to Lechmere Square in 1864. [5] [6] [7] : 205 Its carhouse was located on Dover Street just west of Elm Street. [8] A second route to Lechmere Square was opened in 1888 by successor West End Street Railway and electrified on July 14, 1894; the Elm Street route was electrified on November 23, 1895. [7] : 205 Clarendon Hill Carhouse opened on August 8, 1896, replacing the Dover Street facility. [9] [7] : 205 The two routes were converted to trolleybus on November 8, 1941, and to bus on March 31, 1963; the Elm Street line is now route 87 and the Highland Avenue line route 88. [7]
When opened in 1846, the Lexington Branch split from the Fitchburg Railroad at West Cambridge. In 1870, the Boston and Lowell Railroad (B&L) bought the Lexington Branch to prevent it from becoming a competitor. [10] : 278 The B&L built a cutoff from Lake Street to Somerville Junction, which opened on December 1, 1870. [11] [12] Among the stations on the line was Elm Street, located in the triangle between Elm Street (now College Avenue) and Holland Street. [8] In January 1876, William Robinson installed one of the first test applications of his track circuit signaling system on the line between Elm Street and North Avenue. On June 14, 1876, Pedro II of Brazil travelled to Elm Street station to view the system. [13] [14]
The Massachusetts Central Railroad began service on October 1, 1881; it used most of the 1870-built cutoff to reach Boston. [15] [10] : 216 Operations were suspended from 1882 to 1884; it was leased by the B&L in 1886. [10] : 216 The station was renamed to West Somerville in the mid-1880s. [16] [17] [18] The B&L was acquired by the Boston and Maine Railroad (B&M) in 1887. [10] : 280 The streetcar and railroad service stimulated substantial development in the 1870s and 1880s as Davis Square quickly grew into an active commercial center. A boom in residential construction followed in the 1890s. [19]
The city proposed to eliminate the grade crossings on the line, including the pair of College Avenue and Holland Street at Davis Square, in the early 1900s. [20] Most grade crossings on the Fitchburg Railroad mainline were eliminated over the next decade, but those on the Lexington Branch cutoff were not. [21] On January 31, 1915, the West Somerville station building was moved west of Holland Street at the request of the mayor to improve conditions in the square. [22] [23] By this time, the station was often called Davis Square, though its official name remained West Somerville. [24] [25] [26] The B&M discontinued ticket and baggage service at the station in 1924. [27]
In 1926–27, as part of construction of a new centralized freight yard in Somerville, the B&M built two new sections of track which allowed the Lexington Branch and the Central Massachusetts Railroad to use the Fitchburg mainline east of Alewife Brook Parkway. [28] On April 24, 1927, passenger service was rerouted over the rebuilt line; North Cambridge, West Somerville, and Somervile Highlands stations were closed. [29] Although residents were opposed to the closures, the B&M wished to avoid the grade crossings on the line, which had seen 70 crashes in the past six years. [30] The old line through Davis Square became the freight-only Fitchburg Cutoff; it was rebuilt with heavier rails to handle heavy freights headed to and from the new Somerville freight yard. [31] The abandoned station was damaged by fire on June 12, 1929, and again during a riot on July 4, 1938. [32] [33] It is no longer extant. [34] In 1935, the city requested that the line be grade-separated as part of a Works Progress Administration-funded grade crossing elimination program. [35] However, the grade crossings were not eliminated; crashes and stalled freight trains continued to be a problem in the square. [36] [37] [38]
In the 1970s, local officials and citizen groups successfully petitioned the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority to create a Red Line subway stop in Somerville at Davis Square. Freight service over the Fitchburg Cutoff through Davis Square, which had been reduced in the mid-1970s, ended entirely in April 1980. [31] Davis station opened on December 8, 1984, spurring major development and revitalization of the area. [39] [4]
Davis and Porter were the first MBTA subway stations made accessible during initial construction, rather than by renovation. [40] [41] In June 1993, Margaret McCarthy, a blind woman, fell off the platform and was killed by electrocution by the third rail. McCarthy was an advocate for adding tactile warning strips to the edges of station platforms; her death prompted the MBTA to finally install warning strips at all subway stations. [42]
A $6.6 million design contract was awarded in April 2020 for accessibility improvements at Davis and Broadway. [43] [2] Initial plans called for two new surface elevators and two new platform elevators, and to add new walkways on the mezzanine level to connect the elevators. [43] Design reached 30% in 2021; by that time, the project scope had been changed to add replacement of two existing elevators, and to only add one new platform elevator. [44] Design work reached 75% completion in 2022 and was nearly complete by November 2023. [45] [2] [46]
As a part of the Red Line Northwest Extension, Davis was included as one of the stations involved in the Arts on the Line program. Arts on the Line was devised to bring art into the MBTA's subway stations in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It was the first program of its kind in the United States and became the model for similar drives for art across the country. [47]
Four of the original twenty artworks are located at Davis station. [48] These works are:
Nine panels of community art were added on the platform level in May 2008. [51]
Park Street station is an MBTA subway station in Boston, Massachusetts. It is located at the intersection of Park Street and Tremont Street at the eastern edge of Boston Common in Downtown Boston. One of the two oldest stations on the "T", and part of the oldest subway line in the United States, Park Street is the transfer point between the Green and Red lines, as one of the quartet of "hub stations" on the MBTA subway system. Park Street is the fifth-busiest station in the MBTA network, with an average of 16,571 entries each weekday in FY2019.
Alewife station is a Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) intermodal transit station in the North Cambridge neighborhood of Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is the northwest terminal of the rapid transit Red Line and a hub for several MBTA bus routes. The station is at the confluence of the Minuteman Bikeway, Alewife Linear Park, Fitchburg Cutoff Path, and Alewife Greenway off Alewife Brook Parkway adjacent to Massachusetts Route 2, with a five-story parking garage for park and ride use. The station has three bike cages. Alewife station is named after nearby Alewife Brook Parkway and Alewife Brook, themselves named after the alewife fish.
Harvard station is a rapid transit and bus transfer station in Cambridge, Massachusetts. Located at Harvard Square, it serves the MBTA's Red Line subway system as well as MBTA buses. Harvard averaged 18,528 entries each weekday in FY2019, making it the third-busiest MBTA station after Downtown Crossing and South Station. Five of the fifteen key MBTA bus routes stop at the station.
Porter station is a Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) transit station in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It serves the Red Line rapid transit line, the MBTA Commuter Rail Fitchburg Line, and several MBTA bus lines. Located at Porter Square at the intersection of Massachusetts and Somerville Avenues, the station provides rapid transit access to northern Cambridge and the western portions of Somerville. Porter is 14 minutes from Park Street on the Red Line, and about 10 minutes from North Station on commuter rail trains. Several local MBTA bus routes also stop at the station.
Aquarium station is an underground rapid transit station on the MBTA Blue Line in Boston, Massachusetts, United States. It is located under State Street at Atlantic Avenue on the eastern edge of Boston's Financial District near Boston Harbor. The station is named for the nearby New England Aquarium. It is adjacent to Long Wharf, which is used by two MBTA Boat lines. The station has two side platforms serving the two tracks of the Blue Line; an arched ceiling runs the length of the platform level. With the platforms 50 feet (15 m) below street level, it is the second-deepest station on the MBTA system.
Lechmere station is a Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Green Line light rail station in Lechmere Square in East Cambridge, Massachusetts. It is located on the east side of Monsignor O'Brien Highway near First Street, adjacent to the NorthPoint development. The accessible elevated station has a single island platform, with headhouses at both ends. It opened on March 21, 2022, as part of the Green Line Extension (GLX). Lechmere station is served by Green Line D branch and E branch service.
Sullivan Square station is a rapid transit station on the MBTA subway Orange Line, located adjacent to Sullivan Square in the Charlestown neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts. It is a major transfer point for MBTA bus service, with 12 routes using a two-level busway. The station has two island platforms serving the two active Orange Line tracks plus an unused third track. The Haverhill Line and Newburyport/Rockport Line pass through the station on separate tracks but do not stop.
Community College station is a rapid transit station on the MBTA Orange Line in Boston, Massachusetts. It is located in the Charlestown neighborhood off Austin Street near New Rutherford Avenue (MA-99), under the double-decked elevated structure carrying Interstate 93 to the Zakim Bunker Hill Bridge. The station is named for the adjacent Bunker Hill Community College. The station opened in April 1975, replacing the City Square and Thompson Square stations of the Charlestown Elevated. It was made accessible around 2005.
Chinatown station is a rapid transit station on the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Orange Line, located at the edge of the Chinatown neighborhood in the downtown core of Boston, Massachusetts. The station has two offset side platforms, which run under Washington Street from Hayward Place to Lagrange Street. The three entrances are located at the intersection of Washington Street with Essex and Boylston streets. Like all Orange Line stations, both the subway platforms and all bus connections are fully accessible.
Massachusetts Avenue station is a rapid transit station in the South End and Symphony neighborhoods of Boston, Massachusetts. It serves the MBTA Orange Line, and is located at 380 Massachusetts Avenue. The station opened in 1987 as part of the renovation and relocation of the southern Orange Line into the Southwest Corridor. The Orange line runs parallel to the Northeast Corridor, which carries Amtrak trains and several MBTA commuter rail lines.
Broadway station is a subway station in Boston, Massachusetts. It serves the MBTA's Red Line. It is located at the intersection of Dorchester Avenue and Broadway in South Boston. It was opened on December 15, 1917, as part of the Dorchester Extension from Downtown Crossing to Andrew. The station has a single island platform to serve the two tracks.
The Fitchburg Cutoff was a rail line running 2.8 miles (4.5 km) from Brighton Street in Belmont, Massachusetts, to Somerville Junction in Somerville, Massachusetts. It was constructed in two segments in 1870 and 1881 to connect the Lexington Branch and Central Massachusetts Railroad to the Boston and Lowell Railroad. Passenger service lasted until 1927. Freight service ended in 1979–80 to allow construction of the Red Line Northwest Extension; the line was abandoned in three sections in 1979, 1983, and 2007.
Shawmut station is a subway station in Boston, Massachusetts. It serves the Ashmont branch of the MBTA's Red Line. It is located on Dayton Street in the Dorchester neighborhood. The station, the only underground station on the Red Line south of Andrew station, sits in a shallow cut-and-cover subway tunnel that runs from Park Street south to Peabody Square where it surfaces at Ashmont station. Shawmut opened along with Ashmont on September 1, 1928, as part of a southward extension of the Cambridge–Dorchester line.
Waltham station is an MBTA Commuter Rail station in Waltham, Massachusetts, served by the Fitchburg Line. It is located in downtown Waltham adjacent to Central Square. The station is the transit hub of Waltham, with MBTA bus routes 61, 70, 553, 554, 556, and 558 stopping on Carter Street adjacent to the station.
Medford/Tufts station is a light rail station on the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Green Line located off Boston Avenue near College Avenue in Medford, Massachusetts, adjacent to Tufts University. The accessible station has a single island platform serving the two tracks of the Medford Branch. It opened on December 12, 2022, as part of the Green Line Extension (GLX), which added two northern branches to the Green Line, and is the northern terminus of the E branch.
Ball Square station is a light rail station on the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Green Line located at Ball Square in Somerville and Medford, Massachusetts. The accessible station has a single island platform serving the two tracks of the Medford Branch. It opened on December 12, 2022, as part of the Green Line Extension (GLX), which added two northern branches to the Green Line, and is served by the E branch.
Magoun Square station is a light rail station on the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Green Line located at Lowell Street south of Magoun Square in Somerville, Massachusetts. The accessible station has a single island platform serving the two tracks of the Medford Branch. It opened on December 12, 2022, as part of the Green Line Extension (GLX), which added two northern branches to the Green Line, and is served by the E branch.
Gilman Square station is a light rail station on the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Green Line located at Gilman Square in Somerville, Massachusetts. The accessible station has a single island platform serving the two tracks of the Medford Branch. It opened on December 12, 2022, as part of the Green Line Extension (GLX), which added two northern branches to the Green Line, and is served by the E branch.
East Somerville station is a light rail station on the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Green Line located in southeastern Somerville, Massachusetts. The accessible station has a single island platform serving the two tracks of the Medford Branch. It opened on December 12, 2022, as part of the Green Line Extension (GLX), which added two northern branches to the Green Line, and is served by the E branch.
Union Square station is a light rail station on the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Green Line located in the Union Square neighborhood of southeastern Somerville, Massachusetts. The accessible terminal station has a single island platform serving the two tracks of the Union Square Branch, which parallels the Fitchburg Line. It opened on March 21, 2022, as part of the Green Line Extension (GLX), which added two northern branches to the Green Line.
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