Weekend service suspension of Fitchburg line postponed to begin on June 1, not May 4
The weekend service suspension of the Fitchburg commuter rail line scheduled for May 4 has been postponed to begin on Saturday June 1, according to the Massachusetts Bay Commuter Railroad Company.
Due to MBTA improvement projects on the line, service will not be available between the Fitchburg and South Acton stations on Saturdays and Sundays from June 1 to July 28. On Independence Day weekend (July 4 to July 7), weekend train service will be provided.
On Saturday August 3, weekend service will be suspended for the South Acton, West Concord, Concord, Lincoln, and Kendal Green stations until November 17. Weekend train service will be available on Labor Day weekend (August 31 to September 2).
Substitute buses will not be provided throughout the duration of the project.
Trains will terminate and originate at South Acton during the first phase of the project. During Phase 2, trains will terminate and originate at Brandeis/Roberts.
Phase 1: June 1 - July 28 (Fitchburg to/from South Acton)
Trains will terminate and originate at South Acton. During these weekend outages, the following stations will be closed:
- Fitchburg
- North Leominster
- Shirley
- Ayer
- Littleton/Route 495
Fitchburg line trains (inbound and outbound) between South Acton and North Station will operate on the normal weekend schedule.
Phase 2: August 3 - November 17 Fitchburg to/from Brandeis/Roberts
Trains will terminate and originate at Brandeis/Roberts. The following stations will be closed:
- South Acton
- West Concord
- Concord
- Lincoln
- Kendal Green (Weston)
Fitchburg line trains (inbound and outbound) between Brandeis/Roberts and North Station will operate on the normal weekend schedule.
Weekday service will not be impacted.
For more information, visit MBTA.com.
Buses to replace trains on part of Orange Line on five nights per week for one month
Subway service between the Orange Line’s four most northern stations will be replaced by buses after 9 p.m. on five days each week for about one month, according to the MBTA.
Shuttles will run between Oak Grove Station and Sullivan Square Station from 9 p.m. until the end of service on every Sunday through Thursday from May 19 to June 21, officials said. However, there will be no evening diversion on the night of Sunday, May 26, due to the Memorial Day holiday that Monday.
The buses, which are accessible for people with disabilities, will stop at those two stations as well as at the two stations in between: Malden Center Station and Wellington Station, according to the T’s website.
During the times the four subway stations and their connecting tunnels are shut down, MBTA crews plan to perform work on the Assembly Square Station Project, officials said.
For more information, contact the MBTA Customer Communications Department at 617-222-3200, TTY: 617-222-5146.
E-mail Matt Rocheleau at mjrochele@gmail.com.
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Photos: New building breaks ground at Assembly Row
Jarret Bencks photos
The fourth and final building of the first phase of Assembly Row ceremonially broke ground Thursday. The new building will feature 100,000 square feet of office space and 30,000 square feet of retail space. Above, Mayor Joseph Curtatone speaks to a crowd gathered under a tent at the site of the new building on Thursday morning.
An artist rendering of the building. The first phase of the project, which includes about 450 apartments, an AMC movie theater, and 330,000 square feet of retail space, is expected to be completed in 2014. A new MBTA Orange Line stop is also expected to be opened next year. A 6-acre park along the Mystic River is planned to open this summer.
A crowd gathered under a tent for the groundbreaking on Thursday morning. When completed, the project as a whole is expected to include 800,000 square feet of retail space, about 1.75 million square feet of offices, and more than 2,000 apartments.
Mayor Joseph Curtatone, US Senator William "Mo" Cowan, Donald Briggs of Federal Realty, and other dignitaries shovel some dirt. Below is one of the other three buildings in the first phase of the project.
Somerville to hold blood drive May 6
A blood drive for the American Red Cross will be held in Somerville May 6.
The drive will be located at Somerville High School's field house from 9 a.m. to 2 p.m. It is sponsored by the city and health career students at the high school.
Donors must be at least 17 years old, or 16 with signed parental permission.
Jarret Bencks can be reached at bencks.globe@gmail.com. Follow him on twitter @JarretBencks.
Boston College High releases list of third quarter honor roll students
The following was submitted by Boston College High School:
For High Honors a Soph., Jr., Sr. must have at least a 3.80 quality point average and all grades '"C+" or higher. Freshmen need a 3.6 quality point average and all grades '"C+" or higher.
For Honors a Soph., Jr., Sr. must have at least a 3.20 quality point average and all grades '"C-" or higher. Freshmen need a 3.165 quality point average and all grades '"C-" or higher.
Burlington: Honors: Edward C. Wetzel ‘16
Everett: High Honors: Samuel Vasquez ’14 and Matthew F. Donohue ‘16
Honors: Igor Campos Carvalho’14
Lynnfield: High Honors: Eric Simonelli ‘15
Malden: High Honors: Delsin David '14 and Danny Nguyen '16
Honors: Ismail Chineye Asongwed '14, Kolby Lavrik Vegara '15 and Kenny Wilson Delino '16
Medford: High Honors: David Gentile ’14 and John M. O'Brien 2015
Honors: Keshler S.G. Charles '15 and John F. Glynn '15
Melrose: High Honors: James F. O'Donnell '14, Daniel Casey '16, Anthony A. Ioffredo '16, Edward J. Kelley '16, Jacob A. May '16, Matthew W. O'Donnell '16, Noah A. Peterson '16
Honors: Samir Aslane '15, Robert A. Brodeur '16 and Andrew T. McCormack '16
Merrimac: High Honors: Liam Maxwell Rich’14
Nahant: High Honors: Matthew C. Ryan ‘14
North Andover: Honors: Emaad Syed Ali '15 and John Roy O’Connor '15
Revere: High Honors: Kenny Builes '14, Michael J. Kelley '14, Matthew S. O’Keefe '14 and Gabriel Drumond Depinho '16
Honors: Walter A. Carrera '14, Sergio Manuel Leon '16 and Alejandro D. Montoya '16
Salem: High Honors: William M. Kraemer ‘15
Saugus: Honors: Christopher J. Kelble '14
Somerville: High Honors: Christien P. Mendoza Exconde '15, Jesse O. Najarro '15 and Alex E. Santos '15
Honors: John W. Dres 2014, John P. Lynch 2015 and Brandon R. Payzant '16
Stoneham: High Honors: David A. Vaccaro’14
Honors: Sean P. Moynihan’14
Swampscott: High Honors: Michael Wade Norcott '14
Honors: Peter R. Amato '16
West Newbury: High Honors: William Callahan Duggan '16
Winchester: High Honors: Thomas X. Pinella '14, Nathan S. Batty '15 and John D. O'Donnell '16
Honors: Alexander J. Farone '15
Winthrop: High Honors: Thomas J. Nee '14, Christian G. Navarro '15, Nicholas R. Triant '15 and Cameron A. DeAngelo '16
Honors: Grant Herbert '14
Woburn: High Honors: Robert J. Ferullo ‘15
Boston College High School is a Jesuit, Catholic, college-preparatory school for young men founded in 1863. The school enrolls approximately 1600 students from more than 100 communities in eastern Massachusetts.
Friends of the Somerville Public Library
A dog day afternoon in Somerville: "Spring Fling" takes over Union Square May 19
Video | MBTA takes steps to boost safety, security throughout system
(Matt Rocheleau for Boston.com)
The temporary extra patrols of well-armed police officers and soldiers in MBTA stations are gone. But the quest to bolster the long-term safety of the public transit system is far from over.
The T still has $80 million in unspent federal homeland security grants, which have been doled to public transportation systems across the country since 2002.
The $60 million in federal grants spent by the T over the past decade has helped make the agency a national leader in the industry of public transit safety.
“The efforts toward security and policing that the MBTA has had in place for a number of years have really been looked at as a benchmark for the industry,” said Greg Hull, director of operations, safety and security for the American Public Transportation Association.
And, when the bombs went off at the Boston Marathon two weeks ago, officials at the MBTA said that, while shocked and devastated like the rest of the city, they were prepared, largely due to the new equipment and training acquired in recent years.
“It was controlled chaos,” said Randy Clarke, senior director of security and emergency management for the MBTA and the Massachusetts Department of Transportation.
He described the atmosphere of the T’s central hub for dispatch and communications, or Operations Control Center, as officials scrambled to secure stations and stop some service after the explosions at Copley Square, and then again several day later when the system was shut down during a lengthy manhunt.
“I hate to say we’re used to crises and trained for them, but we are,” Clarke said.
On Monday, two weeks after the Marathon bombings, MBTA officials gave a tour of the control center, which includes some of the transit industry’s most sophisticated technology for daily operations and security.
FULL ENTRYSomerville Open Studios is coming this weekend
The 15th annual Somerville Open Studios event — a free, citywide show featuring over 420 Somerville artists— will be taking place May 4 and 5. The public is invited to meet, view and interact with visual art and artists throughout the city during one of the biggest open studio events in the country.
Rachel Mello, the 2013 coordinator for Somerville Open Studios, said that when SOS was founded 15 years ago, the goal was to create a place where artists were able to form community around their trade. With the number of artists per capita in Somerville second only to NYC, Mello feels SOS is a great way to connect artists and highlight Somerville’s affinity for art.
“An artist working in their studio is very isolated,” Mello said. “Even in a shared building, you work in your space and close the door, and you’re in this city that has a huge wealth of artists running through it.”
Throughout the weekend, over 100 studio locations will be available for the public to explore, view art and meet local artists. Mello said SOS focuses mainly on visual art, such as jewelry, sculptures, paintings, photography, fabrics and furniture. She said that in our increasingly fast-paced society, she feels it is important to view art that forces us to slow down and take a moment to connect with the piece.
“Our heads naturally turn to things that are moving and dancing, and looking at visual art requires an internal slowing down and a more active participation,” Mello said. “Sometimes we need to just stop and look at something static.”
Mello added that SOS provides the perfect opportunity for art-lovers to meet the artists. She said that one thing a lot of artists struggle with is finding opportunities to connect directly with the people who love their work. SOS makes this possible by removing the middleman and allowing the public to interact with the artist in his or her workspace.
“If you go into the studio, you can meet the artist and you’re not separated. You meet the person, see the tools they used, you can ask them about [their work], you can understand the process,” Mello said.
Mello suggests Open Studio visitors who are coming for the first time begin their day at the Somerville Museum, which will display an overview of the featured artists’ works. She also added that if anyone lives in Somerville, they should begin their day with their neighbors. Regardless of where anyone starts, she said, there will be plenty of things to see and do.
“You’ll never run out of art. You’re not going to see all of it, because there’s more art than one can possibly see, which I think is a good thing,” she said. “You can pick what is suited for you and go around that way.”
Somerville Open Studios will be taking place on May 4 and 5 from noon to 6 p.m. On the event’s website, the artist directory displays participating artists by name, medium and location. It also lists select artists who will be participating in Friday’s “Sneak Preview Night,” which will take place from 6 to 9 p.m. Other featured events can also be found on the website or in the 2013 SOS Mapbook, located at cafes, bookstores, libraries and in SOS Mapstands throughout Somerville.
Free trolley service will be offered during the weekend. There will also be Pedicabs, which can be flagged down with any 2013 SOS Mapbook. Four large city school lots will be available for free parking, and the resident-only parking restrictions will be lifted during SOS hours.
For more information, to use an interactive map or to preview artists, visit the Somerville Open Studios website.
Assembly Row to break ground on new building
Developers will break ground on the final building in the first phase of the Assembly Row project on Thursday.
The newest building will feature 100,000 square feet of office space and 30,000 square feet of retail space. The project as a whole is expected to include 800,000 square feet of retail space, about 1.75 million square feet of offices, and more than 2,000 apartments.
The first phase of the project, which includes about 450 apartments, an AMC movie theater, and 330,000 square feet of retail space, is expected to be completed in 2014. A new MBTA Orange Line stop is also expected to be opened next year. A 6-acre park along the Mystic River plans to open this summer.
Undertaken by Maryland-based Federal Realty Trust, the development project has received about $130 million in public funds and more than $1.5 billion in private investment.
Federal Realty owns nearly half of the developable land in the 145-acre area east of I-93 along the Mystic River that makes up the Assembly Square district. The area is the former site of a Ford Motor Co. assembly plant, which operated from 1926 to 1958.
Thursday's ground breaking will be attended by Federal Realty-Boston President Don Briggs; Somerville Mayor Joseph Curtatone; US Senator William "Mo" Cowan; and Jeffrey Simon, assistant secretary of real estate for MassDOT. It takes place at 10 a.m. at Grand Union Boulevard at Assembly Square.
Jarret Bencks can be reached at bencks.globe@gmail.com. Follow him on twitter @JarretBencks.
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