Porter station

Porter is a Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) transit station in Cambridge, Massachusetts. It serves the Red Line rapid transit line, the MBTA Commuter Rail Fitchburg Line, and several MBTA bus lines. Located at Porter Square at the intersection of Massachusetts and Somerville Avenues, the station provides rapid transit access to northern Cambridge and the western portions of Somerville.[4] Porter is 14 minutes from Park Street on the Red Line, and about 10 minutes from North Station on commuter rail trains.[4] Several local MBTA bus routes also stop at the station.

Porter
A Red Line train at Porter on the lower (outbound) platform
LocationMassachusetts Avenue at Somerville Avenue, Cambridge, Massachusetts
Coordinates42°23′18.0″N 71°07′08.5″W
Owned byMassachusetts Bay Transportation Authority
Line(s)Fitchburg Route
Red Line Northwest Extension
Platforms1 island platform (Fitchburg Line)
2 split platforms (Red Line)
Tracks2 (Fitchburg Line)
2 (Red Line)
Connections MBTA bus: 77, 77A, 83, 87, 96
Construction
Bicycle facilities34 spaces
Disabled accessYes
Other information
Fare zone1A (commuter rail)
History
Opened1845 (Fitchburg Railroad)
December 8, 1984 (Red Line)[1]
Rebuilt1897, 1937
Previous namesPorter's Station, North Cambridge, Cambridge
Passengers
20181,468 daily boardings[2] (Fitchburg Line)
FY20198,094 daily boardings[3] (Red Line)
Services
Preceding station MBTA Following station
Belmont Center
toward Wachusett
 Fitchburg Line North Station
Terminus
Davis
toward Alewife
 Red Line Harvard
toward Ashmont or Braintree
Former services
Preceding station MBTA Following station
Waltham North
toward South Sudbury
 Central Mass Branch
Closed 1971
 North Station
Terminus
Lake Street
toward Bedford
 Lexington Branch
Closed 1977

A series of commuter rail depots have been located at Porter Square under various names since the 1840s. The modern station with both subway and commuter rail levels was designed by Cambridge Seven Associates and opened on December 8, 1984. At 105 feet (32 m) below ground, the subway section is the deepest station on the MBTA system.[5] The station originally had six artworks installed as part of the Arts on the Line program; five remain, including Gift of the Wind and Glove Cycle.

History

Early history

There has been a railroad station at Porter Square since the Fitchburg Railroad began operations in the early 1840s. The first station, built in 1843–1845, was called Porter's Station.[6] Later stations at the site were known as North Cambridge, then later simply as Cambridge.[7] In 1869, the original station was moved to the North Avenue (now Massachusetts Avenue) bridge over the tracks.[6]

B&M era
Second station, built in 1897, on a postcard sent in 1911

A new station was built in 1897, slightly to the southeast, behind the Lovell Block. In 1927, the Fitchburg Cutoff became freight-only between the Alewife area and Somerville Junction. Passenger trains from the Lexington Branch and the Central Massachusetts Railroad were diverted to the Fitchburg mainline and began to stop at Cambridge station.[8] In 1937, the Boston and Maine Railroad built a two-story brick depot by the bridge, with the ticket office at street level and the waiting room and platforms below.[9]

MBTA era

By the time the newly formed Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) began subsidizing northside commuter rail operations in the late 1960s, both the Lexington Branch and the Central Mass Branch had been reduced to single rush hour round trips on poorly maintained track. The South Sudbury run on the Central Mass was terminated on November 26, 1971.[1] The Bedford round trip on the Lexington Branch ended after a major snowstorm on January 10, 1977, leaving the Fitchburg Line (with multiple daily round trips) as the only rail service at Cambridge station.[1]

Adding the Red Line
Rusted-out stairs from Somerville Avenue, used to access the commuter platform during the building of the modern station

In the late 1970s, Cambridge station was renamed to Porter when it became certain that the Red Line Northwest Extension would include a stop there. ("Cambridge", while sufficient for a commuter rail station, would have been confusing for a rapid transit station, because the Red Line has multiple stations—five in total—in the City of Cambridge.) The Red Line platforms were built in a deep-bore tunnel, while the commuter platform was rebuilt with an accessible mini-high platform. During construction, commuter trains were accessed via a staircase from Somerville Avenue.[10] On September 30, 1980, a construction worker was killed when a retaining wall collapsed.[11]

A new glass and concrete headhouse was built around 1982, and the complete new transfer station opened on December 8, 1984 along with Davis.[1][9] The new station, designed by Cambridge Seven Associates, won awards from the American Institute of Architects and the American Consulting Engineering Council of New England.[5] Porter and Davis were the first MBTA stations made accessible during initial construction, rather than by renovation.[12][13]

Because of its Red Line connection, Porter Square can serve as a temporary inbound terminus for the Fitchburg Line service when commuter rail service is disrupted between Porter and Boston's North Station. It served this role during the 2004 Democratic National Convention, when North Station was closed for a week for security purposes, and during Green Line Extension construction in 2015 and 2019–20.[1][14] The staircase from Somerville Avenue was removed in 2020 during retaining wall reconstruction; a new staircase may be added later.[15]

Station layout
An outbound commuter rail train arrives at Porter in 2012
Looking down the MBTA's longest escalator, at Porter station. This escalator runs from the fare mezzanine to the inbound subway platform level. The overhead graphics theme commemorates early railroad history.

Porter station has a glass-covered headhouse located on the east side of Massachusetts Avenue just south of Somerville Avenue. The station has four below-ground levels.. The Fitchburg Line runs approximately east-west in an open cut, with a single island platform between the two tracks. Most of the platform is low, with a raised mini-high platform at the west end under Massachusetts Avenue. Direct stair entrances to the platform are located on both sides of Massachusetts Avenue.

A mezzanine, partially under Somerville Avenue east of White Street, is one level deeper. It contains fare machines, faregates for the Red Line, a convenience store, and – unusually for the MBTA system – public restrooms.[16] Stairs, escalators, and elevators connect the mezzanine to the platforms and the surface.

South of Porter Square, the Red Line runs north-south under Massachusetts Avenue. North of the square, the avenue turns to the northwest, while the Red Line runs north in a deep-bored tunnel to Davis Square. The Red Line platforms are mostly north of the headhouse, partially under the Porter Square Shopping Center. The subway tracks and platforms are enclosed in a single cylindrical concrete shell. The two platforms are at different levels, with the inbound (southbound) platform above and laterally offset from the outbound platform. The platforms are near the center of the shell, with the outbound track on the east side ad the inbound track on the west side.

At 105 feet below ground level, the outbound platform is the deepest in the MBTA system.[5] Porter's unusual depth is due to the MBTA's decision to build the station in bedrock rather than soft clay, saving time and money in the construction process.[17] Passengers reach Red Line platforms via a series of escalators, stairs totalling 199 steps, or a set of elevators.[18] The longest single span of the escalators is 143 feet (44 m), the longest in the MBTA system.[4][17] In 2005, a man was killed when his sweatshirt tangled in the bottom of the escalator.[19]


G Street level Exit/entrance, buses
P
Commuter platform level		 Northbound ←      Fitchburg Line toward Wachusett (Belmont Center)
Island platform
Southbound ←      Fitchburg Line toward North Station (Terminus) →
M Mezzanine Red Line fare control
B1 Southbound ←      Red Line toward Ashmont or Braintree (Harvard) →
Side platform
B2 Side platform
Northbound ←      Red Line toward Alewife (Davis)

Accessibility
Commuter rail platform elevator (left) and Massachusetts Avenue elevator

Porter is fully accessible; elevators lead from street level to the mezzanine with its accessible bathrooms, to the commuter rail platform, and to both Red Line platform levels. Although most of the commuter platform is low, there is a "mini-high platform" – a one-car-length high section – that allows level boarding.

The station was originally built with three elevators: from Elm Street to the fare lobby, from the lobby to both Red Line platforms, and from the lobby to the commuter rail platform.[20] The MBTA installed additional elevators at Porter and four other busy MBTA subway stations as part of the settlement of Joanne Daniels-Finegold, et al. v. MBTA.[21][16] The three existing elevators were overhauled, and two redundant elevators were added, in a $12 million project.[20]

The elevator to the Red Line platforms was out of service for construction from March 21, 2011 to June 22, 2012; an accessible shuttle bus ran between Porter and Davis.[16][20] The elevator to the commuter rail platform was also taken out of service from December 9, 2011 to July 2012; a shuttle bus ran between Harvard, Porter, and Waltham.[22] An elevator from Massachusetts Avenue to the lobby opened later that year, followed by an overhaul of the existing street elevator; the redundant Red Line platform elevator was completed in 2013.[20]

Arts on the Line
Gift of the Wind

As a part of the Red Line Northwest Extension, Porter was included as one of the stations involved in the Arts on the Line program, devised to bring art into the MBTA's subway stations in the late 1970s and early 1980s. It was the first program of its kind in the United States and became the model for similar drives for art across the country.[23]:5

Six works, five of which remain, were placed at Porter:

  • Gift of the Wind by Susumu Shingu, a 46-foot tall kinetic sculpture with three large red "wings" that rotate the structure in response to the wind
  • Ondas by Carlos Dorrien, a 24-foot tall piece of undulating granite affixed to the station wall both inside the station and outside
  • Glove Cycle by Mags Harries, a large number of bronze gloves of varying types and sizes scattered inside the station, including alongside one of the escalators
  • Untitled by William Reimann, six granite bollards with various ethnic designs carved into them
  • Porter Square Megaliths by David Phillips, four boulders with large "slices" removed and replaced with bronze casts of the missing pieces
  • The Lights at the End of the Tunnel by William Wainwright, a large reflective mobile in the station's mezzanine. It was removed in 1986 after a lead weight fell off.[23]:9[24]

Bus connections
A northbound route 77 bus on Massachusetts Avenue stops at Porter station

Porter serves several MBTA bus local routes:

The 77 and 96 run on Massachusetts Avenue, while the 83 turns from Somerville Avenue to Massachusetts Avenue at Porter Square. Additionally, route 87 stops on Elm Street at the Porter Square Shopping Center, one block northeast of Porter station.[25]

The 77A short turn of the 77 operates as a trolleybus on a limited number of runs, as trolleybuses on other routes are brought to and from the North Cambridge Carhouse.[1]

References
  1. Belcher, Jonathan. "Changes to Transit Service in the MBTA district" (PDF). NETransit.
  2. Central Transportation Planning Staff (2019). "2018 Commuter Rail Counts". Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.
  3. "A Guide to Ridership Data". MassDOT/MBTA Office of Performance Management and Innovation. June 22, 2020. p. 8.
  4. "Red Line" (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. Archived from the original (PDF) on 16 May 2013.
  5. "MBTA Porter Square Station". Cambridge Seven Associates. Archived from the original on March 4, 2016.
  6. Survey of Architectural History in Cambridge: Northwest Cambridge. Cambridge Historical Commission. 1977. pp. 138–140. ISBN 0-262-53032-5.
  7. The station is listed as "North Cambridge" on 1871 and 1898 maps and "Cambridge" on 1888, 1916, and 1975 maps from Wikimedia Commons.
  8. Karr, Ronald Dale (1995). The Rail Lines of Southern New England. Branch Line Press. p. 228. ISBN 0-942147-02-2.
  9. Roy, John H. Jr. (2007). A Field Guide to Southern New England Railroad Depots and Freight Houses. Branch Line Press. pp. 184–186. ISBN 978-0-942147-08-7.
  10. Prescott, Michael R. (11 October 2009). Boston Transit Equipment 1979–2009. Boston Street Railway Association. p. 49. ISBN 978-0-938315-06-3.
  11. Hirshson, Paul (December 29, 1982). "Wakefield man critical after fall at T project". Boston Globe. p. 34 – via Newspapers.com.
  12. Operations Directorate Planning Division (November 1990). "Ridership and Service Statistics" (3 ed.). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. p. 1-4 – via Internet Archive.
  13. Tran Systems and Planners Collaborative (August 24, 2007). "Evaluation of MBTA Paratransit and Accessible Fixed Route Transit Services: Final Report" (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority.
  14. "Commuter Rail Service Alerts: Fitchburg Line". Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. November 25, 2015. Archived from the original on November 30, 2015.
  15. "Porter Square Retaining Wall Repairs". Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. October 5, 2020. Archived from the original on October 7, 2020.
  16. Parker, Brock (March 6, 2011). "Work to shut down elevators at Porter Sq. T stop for a year". Boston Globe. Archived from the original on April 25, 2011.
  17. Daniel, Mac (June 11, 2006). "Odd road sign is part of Boston trivia". Boston Globe.
  18. Fox, Lauren (July 10, 2019). "For these people, every day is leg day at Porter Square Station". Boston Globe.
  19. Daniel, Mac (March 2, 2005). "Man is strangled after clothing snags in MBTA escalator". Boston Globe. Archived from the original on March 2, 2005. Retrieved March 29, 2012.
  20. Rocheleau, Matt (June 22, 2012). "Elevator access returns to Porter Square T station after 15-month absence". Boston Globe. Archived from the original on April 2, 2015.
  21. "Settlement Agreement" (PDF). Joanne Daniels-Finegold et al. v. MBTA. April 10, 2006. p. 18.
  22. "MBTA DEPARTMENT OF SYSTEM-WIDE ACCESSIBILITY FIXED ROUTE REPORT" (PDF). Boston Region Metropolitan Planning Organization. December 2011. Archived from the original (PDF) on April 2, 2015.
  23. Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (3 May 1985). Red Line Northwest Extension. Retrieved 10 August 2015.
  24. "The Lights at the End of the Tunnel". CultureNOW. Retrieved 10 August 2015.
  25. "Porter Station Neighborhood Map" (PDF). Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority. March 2015. Retrieved 17 August 2015.
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