Transit Briefs: MBTA, MARTA, Amtrak

Written by Carolina Worrell, Senior Editor
MBTA on Sept. 13 reported that 82% of work on the 30-day m/w blitz along the Orange Line is complete. (Photo Courtesy of MBTA)

MBTA on Sept. 13 reported that 82% of work on the 30-day m/w blitz along the Orange Line is complete. (Photo Courtesy of MBTA)

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s MBTA Orange Line maintenance-of-way (M/W) blitz is 82% complete. Also, the Metropolitan Atlanta Transit Authority (MARTA) launches art campaign to address pandemic, racial reckoning; and Amtrak celebrates ribbon-cutting of Longview Station ADA upgrades.

MBTA

MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak announced on Sept. 13 that 82% of the work taking place on the Orange Line is complete and track work taking placing between Dana Bridge and North Station will allow for the removal of three more slow zones, bringing the total number of slow zones removed to five.

Additionally, the MBTA says, 64 new Orange Line cars are now available when service resumes on Sept. 19, supporting riders during peak commuting periods, up from 30 cars when the Orange Line shutdown first started.

Work taking place in this area includes track and tie replacement, rail installation, track alignment and tamping. According to the MBTA, crews have “worked tirelessly” to finish tie replacement work between the Dana Bridge and Community College Station with current tie replacement work taking place at the North Station portal, which began on Sept. 9. Tie replacement work involves crews operating hi-rail heavy equipment to remove old ties and install new ties. This critical tie replacement, the agency says, will remove three of the six slow zones that the MBTA aims to address during the shutdown. Crews have already completed work to remove slow zones at Jackson Square and between Downtown Crossing and State. “Finishing this important work and removing these slow zones allows for faster, more reliable service for Orange Line riders,” the MBTA said.

Orange Line riders should note, the MBTA says, that when Orange Line trains begin running again, slow zones will continue to be in place temporarily for about one week where the work was performed. “In the rail industry, after new track and ballast installation, and due to the amount of track area disturbed during work, it is a given that slow zones need to temporarily remain in place,” the agency said. “This is because it takes time for the new track and ballast to ‘settle’ as trains repeatedly run over these areas, MBTA added.

Overall, according to the MBTA, teams have completed approximately 65% of rail replacement and 90% of track replacement. The full depth track replacement includes the ballast, ties and rail.

About 99% of the special track work, which includes replacing crossover areas, is complete.

About 99% of Cologne eggs, the fasteners that allow crews to directly affix rail to the concrete pads, which are also utilized on certain parts of the Orange Line, and rail fastener work is finished near Tufts Medical Center Station. The MBTA says it is in the process of installing the final five new eggs with 395 fully complete.

According to the MBTA, there has also been “excellent progress” on the ongoing signal testing at Oak Grove and Malden Center stations with about 84% of these signal upgrades complete.

MARTA

Artbound, the MARTA public art program, along with local arts collective NEXT Atlanta will launch the NEXT Movement, a multi-platform arts and social action campaign “fueled by the COVID-19 pandemic and racial reckoning spurred by the murder of George Floyd and others,” bringing together five of Atlanta’s most influential artists of color and local leading art activists to share their artistry and personal stories.

Visual Artist Melissa A. Mitchell will be part of NEXT Movement’s first season.

The first season of the NEXT Movement features poet and author Jon Goode, musician CC Sunchild, cellist Okorie ‘OkCello’ Johnson, poet and author Carlos Andres Gomez and visual artist Melissa A. Mitchell. Each artist, MARTA says, has been commissioned to develop a piece of art or performance that gives voice to this current moment and explores the question of “Where do we go NEXT?”–as a city and as a community.

Musician CC Sunchild will be part of NEXT Movement’s first season.

Starting Sept. 19 and running through the end of the year, the artwork will be performed or exhibited in a range of spaces across the city and amplified by NEXT partners, including the Integral Group, the High Museum of Art and the National Black Arts (NBAF). The campaign will include:

  • A photo exhibit and poster series featuring powerful portraits and messages from each artist culled from their commissioned work and exhibited throughout the MARTA system, across the city and on social media. (Photography by Steve West)
  • A series of filmed performances, like National Public Radio’s Tiny Desk concerts, of each artist performing on a decommissioned MARTA train. (Production company partner Las Palmas Studios)
  • An interactive artist salon at the High Museum scheduled for November, where all five artists will come together for an evening of music, words, art and community dialogue.

In addition to the five featured artists, MARTA says the NEXT Movement will feature leading Atlanta creatives, “speaking to this moment and to the role of art as inspiration,” including nationally renowned visual artist Charly Palmer, rising star curator and visual artist Tracy Murrell, curator of African Art for the High Museum of Art Lauren Tate Baeza, CEO of The Integral Group and leading art patron Egbert Perry and National Black Arts Executive Director Stephanie Owens.

Curator of African Art for the High Museum of Art Lauren Tate Baeza will be featured in NEXT Movement’s first season.

“MARTA is proud and excited to be part of such an incredible art driven movement,” said MARTA Art in Transit Director Katherine Dirga. “Through this partnership with NEXT, MARTA is able to amplify its role as a community connector and an arts leader, engaging Atlantans around the critical issues that affect us most.”

“The great Nina Simone once said it is the duty of the artist to reflect the times we live in,” said NEXT Executive Director P. Faith Carmichael. “This campaign is a powerful opportunity to elevate the voices of our communities most aspiring artists, while channeling the power of their art to heal us, inspire us and move us forward.”

Amtrak

Local leaders in Longview and Amtrak officials joined together on Sept. 14 to celebrate the completion of a $5 million Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) improvement project at Longview Station in Longview, Tex., with a ribbon-cutting ceremony.

Longview Station, which is served daily by Amtrak Texas Eagle, to and from San Antonio/Los Angeles and Chicago, via Austin, Fort Worth, Dallas, Little Rock and St. Louis, with Amtrak Thruway Bus service daily to and from Galveston via Houston and Nacogdoches, is a Colonial Revival depot built in 1940 by the Texas and Pacific Railway, owned by Missouri Pacific (now Union Pacific (UP)), and provides a passenger waiting and ticketing area.

Longview, Tex., Amtrak Station (Photo Courtesy of Wikimedia Commons)

As part of the project, the asphalt platform was removed and replaced with a new 810-foot concrete platform with guardrails, mobile lift enclosure, and energy efficient LED lighting. Upgrades include new station signage, ADA parking, improved station access, and an ADA compliant sidewalk to the facility. Amtrak says its Digital Technology and Innovation group provided a Passenger Information Display Systems at the stations interior and exterior, synchronizing audio and visual messaging at the station. Additionally, sloped accessible walkways connect platform entries with the existing plaza area adjacent to the station, adjacent to the Multimodal Transportation Center.

The Architect/Engineer of Record for the project is New York-based WSP. Construction was performed by Illinois-based George Allen Construction Inc., with Texas subcontractors Reid Construction of Tyler, L&L Asphalt of Tyler, D&D Pipeline Consultants of Longview, Contact Waterproofing of Fort Worth, Arrow Striping of Tyler, Southern Fence Company of Hallsville, J&G Welding of Forney and Day Services of Cleburne.

On Aug. 24, Amtrak celebrated the completion of a $2.7 million ADA station improvement in Macomb, Ill., and broke ground on a $11.5 million ADA station improvement in Burlington, Iowa, and a $13.8 million ADA station improvement in Ottumwa, Iowa.

To date, according to Amtrak, the railroad has completed 172 ADA station-related projects as part of the ADA Stations Program, including 20 additional stations meeting ADA compliance last fiscal year for $82 million. Another 29 stations are targeted for completion this fiscal year at a forecasted investment of $113 million.

The program, Amtrak says, is also advancing 120 station designs and 40 station construction projects as part of its ongoing commitment to providing accessibility for all customers. Since 2011, Amtrak says it has invested more than $554 million in accessibility upgrades throughout the country.

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