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Construction at Union Station slated to begin Monday

WESTERN MASS NEWS (April 18, 2019) – Rail riders can expect delays both on the platform and out on the road ways this upcoming week.

MassDOT is slated to begin working on installing a precast, concrete platform at Platform C at Union Station in Springfield.

Road closures will go into place beginning at 3:00 p.m. on Monday, April 22 and ending at 3:00 p.m. on Saturday, April 27.

Due to, what is being described as, crane placement, Lyman Street will be closed to through traffic between Kaynor and Dwight Streets.

Kaynor Street will be open to southbound traffic only during that time frame.

Lyman Street will be open from Main Street to Kaynor Street, and drivers will have full access to parking lots and spots.

Pedestrians walking to Union Station will be re-directed on sidewalks and crosswalks to the entrance on Lyman Street.

These detours will also take place during the following overnight hours:

  • Monday, April 22 at 3:00 p.m. until Tuesday, April 23 at 7:00 a.m.
  • 11:00 p.m. to 7:00 a.m. from Tuesday, April 23 through Thursday, April 25.
  • 11:00 p.m. to 3:00 p.m. from  Friday, April 26 through Saturday, April 27.

During the overnight closure period, Lyman Street will be closed from Dwight to Chestnut Streets, however.

It will be open to local traffic & Dwight Street will remain also during the overnight period.

Residents in the area can expect to hear loud construction noises during this time period.

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Springfield-Holyoke-Northampton-Greenfield passenger trains a go for summer

MASSLIVE (February 4, 2019) – Expanded passenger rail service north of Springfield to Holyoke, Northampton and Greenfield is still on track for this summer.

The estimated start date is June, said Timothy W. Brennan, executive director of the Pioneer Valley Planning Commission, following a meeting this week with the Massachusetts Department of Transportation.

Construction work on the Knowledge Corridor along the Connecticut River — including replacing ties and repairing bridges — might push that start date back to July, but no later, Brennan said he was assured in meetings this week.

That timing matches up with a separate $8.2 million Massachusetts-funded project to renovate and make handicapped accessible Platform C at Union Station. That work is expected to be completed this spring.

MORE: http://bit.ly/USrailservice19

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Springfield’s Union Station Receives New Conference Center

WWLP 22News (February 5, 2019) – The Springfield’s Union Station transportation hub has added a conference center to its increasing number of amenities.

The conference center on the second floor of Union Station will be available to businesses in the immediate area. The C-3 policing unit will also use the space for conferences with North End Citizens groups.

Springfield’s Chief development officer Kevin Kennedy told 22News, the Union Station complex is living up to expectations.

“The 2,000 people a day are coming through here on Connecticut rail from the south and Connecticut area and we’ve got 250,000 people coming through on buses on a monthly basis, so it’s a very, very busy place,” said Kennedy.

MORE: http://bit.ly/22Newspost

For more information on renting the conference center, contact Ginny Averertt Kuhn, Station Property Manager 413.471.3397 x102.

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Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy thanked by Springfield officials for bringing CTrail to Union Station

MASSLIVE (December 27, 2018) — The $103 million renovation of Springfield’s Union Station, which reopened 18 months ago, might not be as big a deal for the city without the additional CTrail trains that have been coming in.

And its for those trains — CTRail’s Hartford Line Service between Springfield, Hartford and New Haven with connections to New York City via Metro-North — that the city thanked outgoing Connecticut Gov. Dannel Malloy on Thursday.

“It was his courage,” said U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal, D-Springfield, who rode the Hartford Line north Thursday with Malloy, a Democrat who leaves office next week after eight years as governor, and U.S. Rep. John B. Larson, D-Hartford.

They were met by Mayor Domenic J. Sarno and his staff.

“There were some in my state who advocated for that,” he said. “But it didn’t make very much sense. By extending rail this far, we knew we could make more connections, connections with Boston and Worcester for instance, in the future.”

There are now 24 daily weekday trips between Hartford and Springfield, including a new one added in November. Weekend service also was enhanced.

MORE: http://bit.ly/us-rail2

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Union Station Wins National Redevelopment Award

Redevelopment project was singled out for both national and regional awards for outstanding achievement and innovation relating to environmental and community issues.

BUSINESSWEST (January 22, 2018) – Springfield Union Station has won the prestigious Phoenix Award grand prize for the best brownfields-redevelopment project in the nation. Announced during the December National Brownfields Training Conference in Pittsburgh, the Union Station project also won the Region 1 Phoenix Award. Both awards recognize exemplary brownfield redevelopment and revitalization.

These awards highlight the critical environmental cleanup phase at Springfield Union Station, as well as the demolition and removal of a massive baggage warehouse and the remediation of the former site of the Hotel Charles. It also celebrates the redevelopment of a long-vacant historic train station into a state-of-the-art intermodal transit center.

Built in 1926, the original Union Station was boarded up for 44 years before taken over by the Springfield Redevelopment Authority in 1989. After many fits and starts, the $94.1 million redevelopment project was funded by numerous federal, state, and local sources. This included grants from the EPA Brownfield Assessment and Cleanup program, MassDevelopment, the Federal Transit Administration, state transportation bond funds, a state parking grant and more. Tighe & Bond provided extensive hazardous-building-material evaluations, abatement monitoring, building demolition design, and the assessment and remediation of widespread areas of subsurface contamination.

Besides the Phoenix Award, the project has already won other statewide awards for historic preservation, including the Preservation Massachusetts Paul & Nikki Tsongas Best Then & Now Award for 2017.

MORE: http://bit.ly/BWusnews

The Phoenix Awards inspire and recognize exemplary brownfield redevelopment and revitalization. Winning projects offer a fresh take on significant environmental issues, show innovation and demonstrate masterful community impact. The awards are part of a nonprofit organization, The Phoenix Awards Institute, Inc. The nonprofit’s purpose is to recognize outstanding achievement and innovation relating to environmental and community issues. Winning projects offer a fresh take on solving significant problems, show innovation and demonstrate masterful community impact. In addition to honoring excellence, the goal of the awards program is to offer specific project examples, innovative techniques, and inspiration as models for others to use in their communities.

 

Media Contact
GCAi for Union Station
Darcy Fortune, 413.736.2245
dfortune@GCAionline.com

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