Community Corner

New Design for Winchester Center Station Approved

The MBTA will move forward with coming up with a final design for the station, which they should have by 2012.

The Winchester Center Train Station will be , as the and the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority (MBTA) agreed on a final design for the station.

Town Engineer, Beth Rudolph, along with members of a working group, have worked with Frank Astone of Jacobs Engineering and the MBTA for the last number of months trying to settle on the 15 percent design phase.

“The station is literally falling apart,” said Selectman Roger Berman. “It’s at the end of its effective life, and we need to replace what’s there.”

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Under current MBTA regulations, new ramps need to accommodate longer, nine-car trains. This requires the platforms to be extended by a total of 200-feet.

Because it would be too costly to extend the platform over Quill Rotary, the extension needed to take place on the southern end, heading to Boston. This extension leaked further into the Rangeley neighborhood.

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Residents in the area had expressed concern over an increase in lighting, noise and a devaluation of their property value.

But Astone informed the board that, as long as they receive final approval from the MBTA, they will be able to shorten the platform by 64-feet. This, according to Astone, would allow one car door to open on the nine-car train.

“We’re not going to take any trees down in the neighborhood,” Astone said. “And we’re going to try and supplement that area with evergreens between Rangeley and the station so they’ll have cover year-round.”

According to Berman, another concern with the new platforms is, since they’ll be four-feet higher with better lights, he does not want the light to leak out into the neighborhood.

“I think we want to see better lighting at the station,” said Dave Anderson of the working group. “But we can make the station feel safe without having the light leak out into the neighborhood.”

The MBTA said that they can work with the town in putting together an RFP and to make sure they have mechanisms in place to try and limit the amount of light that escapes the station.

This project currently has funding for the design, but there is no money yet for construction.

The board voted unanimously to support the 15 percent design phase, with the following stipulations:

  • A commitment from the MBTA to look at flipping the orientation of the ramps at the Aberjona and Waterfield parking lots, so that the high point is at the Waterfield Lot.
  • To work on limiting noise and light in the area.
  • For the town and MBTA to work on any aesthetic issues.
  • Restore the Aberjona and Waterfield Lots.
  • Feasibility study to expand the pedestrian tunnel between the Waterfield and Aberjona Lots.
  • Commitment from the MBTA to allow Winchester to work with them to develop the RFP.

The board also voted 3-1, Berman abstained and Selectman Jim Johnson voted in the negative, for a feasibility study on a Thompson Street tunnel. However, there are no plans to construct this project at this time.


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