Transportation

‘No One Can See Us Here’ — Cabbies Hate Stand’s Move Away from Forest Hills Station

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The cab stand opposite Asticou Road was originally a straight walk away from the entrance to the Forest Hills terminal. That ended Wednesday when the taxis moved to a new reservation further south on Washington Street at the Ukraine Way intersection. A new traffic lane on Washington Street was created over the summer. The original tree-lined stone-faced terrace was removed and an asphalt sidewalk built against the train wall. All lights and utilities were moved over towards the wall and a new lane paved. But for what purpose? No one could answer that at the Massachusetts Department of Transformation open house held at Curtis Hall last Thursday.

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Transportation

The Ever-Changing Forest Hills Station

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To paraphrase Mark Twain's comment on New England weather if you don't like Forest Hills Station just wait at a while...in this case 25 years. The top photograph was taken on Oct. 19, 1987, five months after the new Forest Hills Orange Line terminal opened. The switching tracks and old station were razed in the next year. The elevated track bed was replaced by the surface parking lot and the lower Hyde Park Avenue busway replaced the old elevated station.

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Transportation

Surprise! Upper Busway Canopy Work Began Saturday

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To the surprise of many, the upper busway opposite the Arnold Arboretum began being taken apart on Saturday. Riders had to look for their bus in the temporary lot further down Washington Street. T personnel were on hand to direct riders transferring off the Orange Line. MassDot notified the community Friday that demolition would begin over the weekend of Oct. 3-5, but contractors are taking down panels two weeks earlier.

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Transportation

Forest Hills Busway Canopy to be Razed Beginning Oct. 3

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MassDOT  announced that beginning 1 am Sat Oct 3 through 5 am Monday Oct 5 working around the clock , Barletta Heavy Construction will remove the canopy over the upper busway (opposite the Arboretum). All buses will be diverted to the Hyde Park Avenue busway during that week end. The upper canopy was designed as an integral part of Forest Hills Station by  Cambridge Seven Associates. It  opened in 1987.  

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Transportation

What a Difference Four Months Makes — Before, During and After Razing Of the Casey

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Four months - 120 days - and the Casey Overpass is gone. As these photographs show, it is a vastly different Casey Arborway than on May 15 when the bridge was closed. The Bus 39 berth has been shifted to the upper busway opposite Asticou Road as workmen remove the final pier next to the headhouse. On Thursday, Mass DOT will host its regular monthly meeting at Curtis Hall Community Center, 20 South St., at 5 :30 p.m.

The three week work schedule, sent out on Monday, will include the removal of all rubble at the eastern (Franklin Park) and western (Arboretum) ends of the old bridge thus completing removal of the Casey Overpass. Work shifts now to the Forest Hills station and the new upper level busway opposite the Blackwell Footpath at the Arboretum

Drilled shaft caissons in the Hyde Park Avenue parking lot will be completed in preparation for the construction of poured concrete pillars that will support the extended busway platform.

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Commuters take an escalator at Forest Hills Station on Tuesday, Sept. 8, 2015.
Neighborhood Life

Good Samaritan Uses Pocketknife to Free Woman Caught in Escalator

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A quick-thinking JP resident who was luckily carrying her pocketknife saved a woman whose skirt had become caught in a Forest Hills Station escalator. Andree Zalesk said it was 7:30 p.m. Monday when she saw a woman who had fallen on the escalator. In a Facebook post, quoted here with Zalesk's permission, the JP resident said the woman seemed like she was "a little drunk, tired and carrying too much stuff." "She and her bags were scattered all over the moving escalator," Zalesk wrote. "Her skirt was caught in the machinery and I had to pull out my pocket knife to cut her out.

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The Jamaica Plain portion of the Orange Line, as seen on a subway car map.
Transportation

It’s Shuttle Buses, Not Subway Service for Orange Line Next Two Weekends

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Just in case subway riders haven't gotten a taste of Casey Arborway construction traffic, the T will be putting Orange Line passengers in shuttle buses this Saturday and Sunday, and again next weekend. The shuttle buses will be running so track and signal work can be done. The closures are in both directions from Ruggles to Forest Hills. Casey construction hours generally run through about 3:30 p.m. on Saturdays, though night work is slated to begin at 8 p.m. on Sunday, June 14, the last scheduled day of bus replacement service. For more on the subway closures, please visit the T's Website.

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Pedestrians cross New Washington at South, where there is no crosswalk, on Wednesday, May 13, 2015.
Transportation

It’s a Mess For Pedestrians at South and New Washington

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UPDATE: That cut-through will be fenced off as the T moves the 39 Bus. We've added more details below. ~~~~~

It's a commonplace of road design: Pedestrians will make their own paths, no matter what authorities envision. That's what's happening in the current phase of the Casey Arborway project at the busy intersection where South meets New Washington. Department of Transportation engineers want pedestrians coming from South Street or the Southwest Corridor Park on their way to Forest Hills Station to juke around the intersection instead of crossing directly at New Washington.

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Jonathan Kapust, right, head highway engineer for the Casey Arborway, explains a design feature to JP's Jake Hart before a Thursday, May 7, 2015 construction meeting.
Transportation

Maps: How to Get Through Forest Hills By Foot, Bike or Car

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On Thursday, transportation officials broke down exactly how residents would get through Forest Hills during the next phase of the Casey Arborway project. Here are maps and explanations for pedestrians, bicyclists and drivers once lane closures begin on Saturday. The inbound lane of the Casey (going toward the Pond) will be shunted to a temporary surface road on Saturday. Then the following Saturday the outbound lane (toward Morton Street) will get the same treatment. The basic patterns created then will largely stay in place for months as workers dismantle the crumbling overpass.

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Transportation

Lightning Sparked Forest Hills Station Blaze; Train Troubles Continue

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A lightning strike likely caused Saturday's fire in an electrical vault along the Commuter Rail tracks at Forest Hills. The fire, visible for miles in each direction, sent acrid smoke into the neighborhood. As of Monday morning, Amtrak crews were still repairing damage to the signals, according to Mac Daniel, media relations manager for Keolis, the company that operates the commuter rail. Residents are reporting more train horns blowing than usual. Firefighters responded to the blaze at 6:44 a.m. Saturday.

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