West Natick station
Template:Short description Template:Use mdy dates Template:Use American English Script error: No such module "Infobox".Template:Template otherScript error: No such module "Parameter validation".Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".Script error: No such module "check for deprecated parameters".
West Natick station is a commuter rail station on the MBTA Commuter Rail Framingham/Worcester Line, located off West Central Street (MA-135) in Natick, Massachusetts. It was opened in 1982 as a park and ride station.
History
The Boston and Albany Railroad opened through Natick in September 1834.[2] In the late 1800s, Walkerville station was briefly open at Speen Street, midway between Natick Center and the modern station site.[3][4]
On August 23, 1982, the MBTA opened West Natick station to ease demand at Natick and Framingham stations.[1] The $500,000 station included a 200-space park and ride lot.[2][5] The station should have been built accessible (state accessibility laws date from the 1970s, long before the 1990 Americans with Disabilities Act), but it was not due to a budget shortfall. Accessible mini-high sections were installed around 1993.[6]
In early 2016, the mini-high accessible platforms were closed because the folding platform edges were deteriorated, risking a dangerous collapse like one that happened at North Billerica station in 2015.[7] The MBTA earmarked $4 million to replace them and brought a portable lift to the station to maintain accessibility.[8] The mini-high platforms were demolished in March 2017; new composite platforms opened that November.[7]
The adjacent Boden Lane bridge was closed on October 31, 2019, after it was damaged by brush-clearing equipment.[9] On November 5, MassDOT announced that the bridge would be permanently closed and replaced.[10] The bridge was removed in December 2019; a temporary pedestrian span opened on January 27, 2020.[11][12] Solar panels over the parking lots were added in 2021.[13]
In June 2021, the MBTA issued a $28 million design contract for a project to add a third track from Weston to Framingham, including reconstruction of the three Wellesley stations and West Natick station. The project was expected to cost around $400 million, of which rebuilding West Natick station would be $37 million, with completion in 2030.[14]
References
<templatestyles src="Reflist/styles.css" />
- ↑ a b Template:NETransit
- ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".(second page) Template:Open access
- ↑ a b Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
- ↑ Script error: No such module "citation/CS1".
Script error: No such module "Check for unknown parameters".