Salem Depot Update

Two updates on Salem Depot:  Several of us from the Salem Commission on Disabilities met here at Salem Depot with representatives from the Salem and MBTA Police to discuss handicapped parking problems at the station.  The Salem News wrote about this in some detail.

There wasn’t much that the police could do at the moment, since there is no continual monitoring of the area, by video or otherwise, but the T placed a message board, seen in in the image, for the interim.  October and Halloween represent the biggest month that this station sees in car and foot traffic, so this sign is not or should not be an unexpected expense for the T.

I never read the Salem News comment section, but there was one comment to that article I want to address:  The commenter believes that, instead of enforcing HP parking, that people with disabilities should use the T’s paratransit service, The Ride.

Um, they could.  But as I’ve written before, that service is very expensive to provide.   Using The Ride for direct service from, say, North Salem to Boston is just nuts if one can make the commuter rail.  And using The Ride as a shuttle to the station itself is practically a non-starter with Salem’s downtown traffic as bad as it is.

It turns out to be much cheaper, in the long run, for the MBTA to make their regular service accessible to people with disabilities.  The current management at the T seems to realize this, only after decades of neglect—and lawsuits.

My second update is more disturbing.  There was a robbery at the station one night last month.  A student was robbed of his laptop and iPod to the tune of $1,400, while waiting for a ride around 9 PM.

On reading this in the News, I can imagine the good people of Federal Street locking their doors in unison.  It’s not safe at 9 PM, after all.

I have been at the Depot late at night getting off a train.  It’s not at all unusual to call for a ride or a taxi.  9 PM is not a “wrong” time to be on the T.

My Mom told me stories of the old Salem Depot, not the famous headhouse that was demolished 50 years ago, but the two that sat under the south end of Riley Plaza.

A platform that was virtually invisible from the street. 

There were crimes and assaults on that platform up until it was closed in 1987 when the current station opened.

It is not acceptable to have someone minding their business at the station, waiting for their ride home, and being robbed. 

It’s intolerable that we should be taking these events  for granted, but many do.  I know, we’re in a recession, government is ineffective, and can’t we just wait for better days?  We’ll build a better Salem Depot to the shrine of Sammy McIntyre someday soon!

I’m coming to think that nobody in Salem wants a new train station, not the politicians, not the Salem News 101st Keyboard Brigade, not the neighborhood groups, or the “government-is-bad” people, nobody.

More on my next post.

Salem’s Steps of Doom to Disappear?

According to the Salem News, these steps of doom may go away in a few years:  The state is funding the reconstruction of Salem Depot.

I won’t consider this one in the bag until the construction crews show up.  There’s still the meeting tomorrow night, and if it’s anything like the courthouse meeting, we could be at this a while longer.

In the meantime, I’m going to redouble my efforts, with the Commission, to improve pedestrian access on Bridge St. and place talking audible signals at every signaled crossing downtown. 

Salem Depot Gets Signatures

Salem Depot, long written and complained about in this blog, continues to get attention.  The Salem Partnership had petitioners out to get signatures in support of a new garage at Salem Depot.

Once again, the Salem News comes out to support the project:

If you read this while waiting for the train in Salem Monday morning, you likely encountered the mayor or others bearing petitions seeking support for a new waiting area and garage.

If you read this while waiting for the train, you were also likely freezing. With the wind whipping off the North River, Rep. John Keenan describes the train platform at the Salem depot as "probably the coldest place in North America."

That's a slight exaggeration, of course. But there's no question commuters deserve a more comfortable place in which to wait the arrival of the MBTA's commuter trains than the concrete slab and Plexiglas shelters which serve that purpose now.

Mayor Kim Driscoll, says it's either now or a long time from now for construction of a new parking facility and waiting area at the train station.

We’ve had the current Salem Depot for 21 years.  Early on, there was a very obvious parking shortage.  A few years after, the stairs started coming apart.  I’ve said before, I hate them.

I fully expect, if not for the courthouse project—which has already put demand on parking downtown—that we could wait another 20 years, if ever, for a new station.

I wonder if the NIMBYs will still be here at that time?

The lot’s almost full and it was just 7:30.

Remembering the original Bridge St. Overpass and Salem Station

[Old plaque commemorating the original overpass project.  It’s gone now, removed when the Bridge @ Washington St. intersection was renovated in 2006.]

Whenever a new construction project is proposed or underway, such as the bypass road and the courthouse project, many Salemmites recoil.  We think, why change things like “The Overpass”?  We look at things downtown and assume they were there forever.

Jim McAllister, local historian, reminds us otherwise in a recent Salem News column,  Jim McAllister- Road and bridge work a constant in Salem.  The overpass project of 1948-1952, and the new rail tunnel and demolition of the old Salem Station in 1958 were both more momentous—and traumatic—than any road project in the past few years, including the bypass road.

McAllister:

The overpass was the second part of a three-stage project to eliminate dangerous and congestion-causing railroad grade crossings in downtown Salem. The first stage saw the Washington Street railroad tunnel extended all the way to Bridge Street. That project got underway in November 1949 and took 29 months to complete.

The second piece of the project set out to rid the city of one of its worst traffic bottlenecks — the grade crossing at the intersection of Bridge and North streets. Traffic routinely backed up a half mile on North Street during heavy travel times or when a train was crossing the intersection on the Bridge Street tracks. On more than one occasion, congestion was so bad at the intersection that fire trucks heading for North Salem from downtown were rerouted through Beverly.

“The more things change,” etc.

It was traumatic for downtown, too:

The building of the North Street overpass necessitated the razing of the historic bridge that was the site of Leslie's Retreat in 1775 and the taking of 43 buildings located on North, Federal, Franklin, and Bridge Streets, and on Odell Square. Approximately 125 people were displaced.

[…]

Of all the buildings that were demolished for the overpass, none would be missed more than the North Street Arena. The rambling wooden structure sat in the middle of a block on the western side of North Street between Federal and Bridge streets, and had been an important venue for sports and civic events for 65 years.

 

No buildings were taken for the bypass road project.    A dozen homes were taken for the bypass road.  Three houses were taken for the courthouse project.  People are complaining bitterly, Bridge St. residents with good reason, but this seems to pale next to what the overpass project involved, and to what happened next.

A few years later, Salem would go forth with what many say was its most traumatic demolition, the destruction of the old Salem Depot:

SALEM — Fifty years ago today, 10,000 onlookers gathered near Washington and Bridge streets to watch the first train roll through the new Salem train tunnel.

It marked the end of a years-long construction project, referred to as the Big Dig of its time. The project involved the demolition of the Salem Depot, through which trains would roll down Washington Street and through the massive granite archway framed by two medieval-looking towers.

A half-century later, the memories of the project and the old Salem Depot are still fresh in many longtime residents' minds.

"Part of Salem died when they did that," said Tony Salvo, 80, a former mayor who remembers the old train station fondly. "It was a big mistake tearing that building down. The old train station was like a castle. It was a landmark."

As with the overpass, the project was needed to accommodate increasing road traffic;  the train tunnel was extended completely under downtown, from Bridge St. to Margin St.  People on Washington St. (and City Hall!) are well familiar with the rumble of underground trains.

The tunnel project had three phases that were carried out over the better part of a decade. It cost more than $8 million, and more than 40 landowners were forced to move their homes and businesses to make way for new overpasses, the tunnel, parking lots and the new train station, according to Salem Evening News articles from the time.

[…]

The prolonged construction throughout the 1950s dealt a heavy blow to downtown businesses, and the upheaval also frustrated residents.

"This was in the works for years and years and years. It was kind of like the Big Dig," McAllister said, "and people got so fed up with going to Salem that they just didn't."

The merchants never fully bounced back, but the completion of the tunnel coincided with the construction of the North Shore Shopping Center (the present-day Northshore Mall), McAllister said, which changed the way people shopped.

This can’t be understated:  The tunnel project doomed Salem’s downtown.  When I mourned the loss of Almy’s 25 years later, little did I realize that this had been set in motion even before I’d been born.

We are dealing with the decisions made 50 years ago, when the car was ascendant, the roads seemed to keep going forever, and trains were old fashioned and outmoded.

I hate loss.  I would have mourned the Salem Depot, the old North St. Arena, the Flatiron Building and all the other buildings no less deeply than others had I been around at the time.

But part of me is glad the Salem Depot is gone, as much as the rest of me misses it.  Had the Depot still been there (the tunnel project would have had to happen anyway), we would have seen no end of opportunistic developers, exploiting the Depot for condos, to make a quick cheap buck on History!

A few years ago, Mike Sosnowski had suggested building a parking garage on one of the old Riley Plaza lots.  No problem there.  But he suggested making it in the style of the old Depot.

I ripped him one.  On live TV too.

I have the deepest resentment for manufactured history, such as we see too much of in Salem.  I have even more resentment to making a fake train depot out of a parking garage, which would have been a bitter insult to people remembering the original structure.

Still want to complain about the courthouse?  Or the bypass road?  Remember, whatever I may think of the project, no houses were taken for it.  And those that could have taken the three houses off the state, would not or could not.

Trolleys, Transit and "History"

The Salem News has a rare editorial on public transit, "Our view: Or maybe they could ride a broom", in a recent issue.

The News saw, via a postcard, the trolley in Little Rock, Arkansas, home of President Clinton's library.  It's known as the River Rail.  The News is ecstatic:

So why not a trolley that travels up and down Canal Street from the school's Central Campus to Mill Hill at the southern entrance to downtown Salem? Or how about a loop system that would include tracks on Loring Avenue and Lafayette Street? One colleague even suggested that instead of a trolley, the route be served by a monorail.

The fact is that with gas prices continuing to escalate, no idea for getting people around the Witch City — without their having to get in their cars — should be considered far-fetched.

John Goff likes it too:

Thank you very much for your brilliant editorial in March 7 Salem News in which you advocate for resumed trolley service or a trolley shuttle to strengthen ties between Salem State College in South Salem and downtown Salem.

I also asked about the possibilities for a shuttle like this at a recent South Salem Neighborhood Association meeting. Regular trolley service would have the advantage of eliminating the need for students to drive or park and help reduce carbon emissions all while also helping to revitalize the downtown and provide more services for SSC students.

A trolley doing a loop run down Canal and Lafayette streets would make so much sense, especially when you consider that most of South Salem developed in the Victorian era as a street-car suburb of downtown Salem

With due respect to Mr. Goff, I have the deepest cynicism towards "history".  I remember seeing a photo in the Gazette of the trolley tracks on Highland Ave.--the direct predecessor of today's MBTA bus route 450--and saying to myself, "The Federal Street crowd would never support that today, unless Nathaniel Hawthorne rode the trolley, and maybe not even then!"

To my knowledge, there is no private company in Massachusetts outside the MBTA that is running true trolley service (not "tourist trolley" buses).  The National Park Service runs a trolley service in Lowell on the weekends.  (I have taken the tour and rode that trolley and had a fine time.)   Lowell is studying the feasibility of expanding their system for commuters.

Otherwise, the obstacles to a trolley service in Salem seem numerous and all but insurmountable.  The neighbors would complain.  The most obvious, and prettiest, street for a trolley--Lafayette St.--is also a part of the infamous state road 114 (the North Shore's true Number of the Beast!)  I'd be waiting for the first headline of trolley service interrupted when some dump truck brings down the overhead wire.

But it won't even get that far.  Who has the money?  The MBTA certainly doesn't, and they are historically very reluctant to run street-running trolleys as seen with the Arborway Line which no longer runs to the Arborway and may never again.  One resident, Dave Pelletier, made waves in the mid '90's by proposing that the Danvers Branch rail line, branching off the main line at Salem Depot and used for freight, be converted to light rail.  It got a lot of attention, but (pun intended) no traction.

A monorail?  Seriously?!!?!

I've suggested myself that the 455 bus, busiest of all routes in Salem, serving downtown, the college, Lynn and beyond, become a trolleybus similar to the routes in North Cambridge or the Silver Line.   There's still the overhead wire problem, but the Silver Line vehicles are dual mode diesel/electric powered and the technology seems to be well-proven.  I've ridden the Silver Line myself and it would be very well suited to Salem.

It may not be historic, but it would be very functional.  Therefore it won't happen.

Not to misunderstand me, but if the trolley tracks still existed on Highland Ave., I'd be all for restoring the service.  I would be delighted to take a trip to Vinnin Square or Market Basket via trolley. 

But I am deeply cynical and mistrustful of people like the Salem News and Mr. Goff who seem to only want "historic" things like trolleys to boost property values.  In the end, it would be much cheaper for Mr. Goff to buy tickets for Salem State students to ride the Salem Trolley.  Their trolleys only look like "real" trolleys, but for Goff, and the Federal Street/Salem Common people, that's all that matters.

It will look historic and boost their property values.  That's all that matters to them and the News.  Not functional transit and retail that would actually be good for downtown and historically authentic.

The same people who love history so are those who killed the Salem Depot project.  We could have had a new train station 5 years ago.  The Federal Street crowd killed it.  During the courthouse meeting a few weeks ago we learned that there is no funding in the current MBTA 5 year capital plan for a new station.   Salem has a rich history of rail transit.  Where was Mr. Goff?

All "history" really is in Salem is property values.  This Salem News proposal is no different. 

Salem Depot and the Steps of Doom

MBTA Salem Depot Steps 2, originally uploaded by dmoisan.

In yesterday's Salem News (Wed., September 19th), Ed Carberg, of Gloucester, wrote about Salem Depot, the train station I have complained about in numerous past posts.

He puts it well:

Salem’s railroad station is positioned differently from those in the cities and towns that precede it. While the stations that come before it are either higher than street level or at the same level, Salem’s is below it, facing a high wall going up to the intersection of Bridge and Washington streets.

I do not consider Salem’s station attractive or overly welcoming. Worse than that is the manner of normal exit from it.
How would you like to be a traveler with a fear of heights, or any type of vulnerability? Well, I am one of these, and the Salem station certainly brings such fears to the surface with its stairway to Bridge Street in a state of semi-repair. "

He is not the only one who finds these steps scary. To a person with low vision,
stairs--particularly loose, broken, dark or just not well marked--are their
mortal enemy!

I had the dubious distinction of falling down these steps a year ago. I only sprained my ankle, but it hurt for some time and every time my ankle throbbed, I cursed those steps! It still hurts!

That's not been the only problem with those stairs. Several years ago, the top platform at street level had to be reconstructed when the concrete panels rotted away, leaving a 20 foot drop to the ground below.

Salem Depot is not quite 20 years old in its present location!

Mr. Carberg uses the wheelchair ramp that's about 50 feet from the stairs (off to the right in the photo.) Perhaps I'll have to do the same.