Gilman Square station

Gilman Square is a planned light rail station on the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) Green Line in Somerville, Massachusetts, planned to be constructed on the Medford branch of the Green Line Extension.[2][3] Gilman Square will consist of one island platform, which will serve the two proposed tracks. It is projected to open in 2021.

Gilman Square
Gilman Square station under construction in July 2019
LocationMedford Street at Pearl Street
Somerville, Massachusetts
Coordinates42°23′16.00″N 71°5′47.21″W
Owned byMBTA
Line(s)Medford Branch
Platforms1 island platform
Tracks2
Construction
Disabled accessYes
History
Opened2021 (planned)[1]
Services
Preceding station MBTA Following station
East Somerville
toward Riverside
 Green Line
Starting 2021
 Magoun Square
toward Medford/​Tufts

History
1880s photograph of the first Winter Hill station, located at Gilman Square
1908 postcard of the second Winter Hill station, built in 1888

The Boston and Lowell Railroad opened between its namesake cities in 1835; local stops were added after several years. Winter Hill station was located at Gilman Square in Somerville, one of several stations in the city. The station building was a long wooden structure north of the tracks.[4] In 1870, the Lexington Branch was routed over the B&L east of Somerville Junction, increasing service to Winter Hill and several other stations.[5][6]

In 1888, a new stone station was built on the south side of the tracks; the wooden station was split into two sections which were reused as houses still standing near Magoun Square.[4][7][8] The new station was made of red marble ashlar with rough marble trim; the waiting room featured a marble fireplace.[8]

The inner suburban stations lost much of their ridership to streetcars, especially after the Lechmere Viaduct sped travel times to downtown beginning in 1911. The ticket office at Winter Hill was closed in 1926.[9][10] On April 25, 1927, the Lexington Branch was reconnected to the Fitchburg Line; the 1870-built line west of Somerville Junction became the Fitchburg Cutoff used only by freight trains. Three stations on the cutoff plus Prospect Hill and East Cambridge stations east of Winter Hill were closed entirely; service to Winter Hill ended then or soon after.[4][11][12] The railroad unsuccessfully attempted to sell the station for reuse.[13] The abandoned station building was demolished in July and August 1934, as it had become a target for vandalism.[9][10] The stone base of the former station was used to house electric equipment until Green Line Extension construction began in 2018.[4]

During the late 1960s and early 1970s, the newly formed MBTA reopened several inner-suburb commuter rail stations in response to community desire for service that was faster if less frequent than buses. In 1976, Winter Hill station was considered for reactivation, but ridership was expected to be negligible due to the nearby 80, 88, 90, and 94 buses.[14]

In November 2012, the MBTA indicated that the Gilman Square station was expected to be completed by June 2019, as part of the Phase 3 of the Green Line Extension project.[15] As of 2014, the MBTA expected the Gilman Square station to be completed in 2020, but in December 2016, it announced the station's opening had been delayed until 2021.[1]

References
  1. Dungca, Nicole (December 7, 2016). "New Green Line stations are delayed until 2021". Boston Globe. Retrieved 7 December 2016.
  2. "MBTA Light Rail Transit System OPERATIONS AND MAINTENANCE PLAN" (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. 6 January 2011. Retrieved 10 August 2015.
  3. "Travel Forecasts: Systemwide Stats and SUMMIT Results" (PDF). Green Line Extension Project: FY 2012 New Starts Submittal. Massachusetts Department of Transportation. January 2012. Retrieved 10 August 2015.
  4. Somerville Bicycle Committee and Somerville Historic Preservation Commission (31 May 2008). "Rails of the Past Guiding the Green Line of the Future" (PDF). City of Somerville. Archived from the original (PDF) on December 15, 2013.
  5. Humphrey, Thomas J.; Clark, Norton D. (1985). Boston's Commuter Rail: The First 150 Years. Boston Street Railway Association. p. 55. ISBN 9780685412947.
  6. Karr, Ronald Dale (1995). The Rail Lines of Southern New England. Branch Line Press. p. 227. ISBN 0942147022.
  7. Samuels, Edward Augustus; Kimball, Henry Hatsings (1897). Somerville, past and present : an illustrated historical souvenir commemorative of the twenty-fifth anniversary of the establishment of the city government of Somerville, Massachusetts. Samuels and Kimball. pp. 464–468 – via Internet Archive.
  8. "Somerville and New England History Collection: In the Spotlight". Somerville Public Library. February 2009. Archived from the original on March 21, 2009. Retrieved 12 May 2016.
  9. "Somerville". Boston Globe. July 28, 1934. p. 4 – via Newspapers.com.
  10. "Winter Hill station being razed - once pride of the B. & M." Boston Globe. August 4, 1934. p. 10 – via Newspapers.com.
  11. "Five B. & M. Stations Will Be Abandoned". Boston Daily Globe. March 16, 1927 – via Newspapers.com. (second page)
  12. "Lexington Branch back on Fitchburg". Boston Daily Globe. April 25, 1927. p. 13 – via Newspapers.com.
  13. "How would you like to live in a railroad station". Boston Globe. July 15, 1933. p. 3 – via Newspapers.com.
  14. Massachusetts Executive Office of Transportation and Construction (22 April 1976). Capital needs developed at the corridor level: core and west (Report). Massachusetts Executive Office of Transportation and Construction. pp. 101–102.
  15. "Green Line Extension Project: Fall 2012 Fact Sheet" (PDF). Massachusetts Department of Transportation. November 5, 2012.
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