Market Street Elevated (MSE) Reconstruction Project

LATEST NEWS

Millbourne Station is now open to our Delaware County customers.  The brand new station features new platforms, cashier booth, westbound platform cross-over, and two elevators providing complete ADA accessibility.  Market-Frankford Line service will resume to this station on this day, after being closed for nearly one year while this construction took place.  SEPTA sincerely thanks the commuters of Millbourne Station for their patience as this new station was constructed.

63rd Street Station is now closed so SEPTA can begin full construction of a new ADA accessible station.  SEPTA understands the inconvenience this causes our normal 63rd Street Station customers and offers the 60th Street El Station, Millbourne El station, or Route 21 bus as suitable alternates.  The station is planned to be closed for approximately one year as this work is completed.

PROJECT OVERVIEW

MSE is in the final phase of construction to design and completely rebuild nearly 11,000 feet of guideway through West Philadelphia and Delaware County.  The new design is made up of a single-column architecture, opening up Market Street and significantly improving traffic flow.  Crews have successfully reconstructed the stations at 46th Street, 52nd Street, 56th Street, 60th Street and Millbourne, which are all now open for passenger service.  63rd Street is now officially closed for reconstruction as of June 16, 2008.  Visit www.theelseptaatwork.com for more project details.

COMMUNITY INFORMATION CENTERS

Have a question, comment or concern about the Market Street Elevated construction?  The two SEPTA Community Information Center offices have staff ready to address these issues and offer help. 56th Street Station - Mezzanine Level   ADA Accessible Phone: 215-580-6484 Monday 8 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Tuesday 8 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Wednesday 8 a.m. - 7:00 p.m. The Enterprise Center 4548 Market Street   ADA Accessible Phone: 215-243-4141 Thursday 8 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Friday 8 a.m. - 4:30 p.m. Saturday 10 a.m. - 2:00 p.m.

PAST PROGRESS UPDATES

APRIL 2008 Signs of progress continuously show along the Market Street Elevated construction corridor as Spring approaches.  Nearly 85% of the project work is complete, keeping us on track to be substantially completed by the end of this year.   Community meetings throughout the project area keep residents and business owners informed about the progress of the reconstruction. In February, a project wide community meeting took place at the White Rock Baptist Church right near the heart of the construction activity.  SEPTA representatives outlined many of the project goals for 2008 to the residents who attended. El riders board the eastbound at the new 52nd Street Station. Two stations have officially reopened to the neighborhoods they serve.  Although work on the new 52nd Street Station took place without closing the facility, the station is now completely rebuilt and features two escalators, two elevators, new platforms with tactile edge strips and full ADA accessibility.   Neighbors and customers warmly welcomed the re-opening of 46th Street Station. 46th Street Station officially re-opened on April 14, 2008 after being closed ten months for reconstruction.  Situated on the corner of 46th & Market Street, this station is fully ADA accessible and serves community neighbors like The Enterprise Center.  Sporting a similar glazed brick and stainless-steel facade, the station features two escalators, new fare line, cashier booth, two elevators, brighter lighting, wider walkways with rounded corners for safety and platform tactile edging.  SEPTA ambassadors greeted rush hour customers with souvenirs, juice and doughnuts during the opening morning. An eastbound Market-Frankford train berthed with a view of the new platforms at 46th Street. Millbourne Station remains under construction.  The station is scheduled to re-open in June 2008 as a completely ADA accessible facility. Nighttime road closures beginning May 7 will allow construction crews to prepare for the platform and station reconstruction at 63rd Street Station. As the summer approaches, customers can expect continued weekend outages leading up to the 9-day extended shutdown in July and the 16-day extended shutdown in August.  In the coming months, SEPTA will provide further information about the closing of 63rd Street Station this June.     Work has already begun on the station headhouse at the corner of 63rd & Market Street. SEPTA strives to provide continuous updates to its riders in West Philadelphia and Delaware County regarding the Market Street Elevated Project.  Concerns or questions about the project can be addressed in person at the SEPTA Community Information Center.  There are two locations – the 56th Street Station mezzanine and inside The Enterprise Center – and details are available throughout our website. FEBRUARY 2008 The Market Street Elevated Reconstruction Project ramped up for another year recently with a weekend outage that enabled work crews to continue their progress towards completion of rebuilding the stations and guideway structure in West Philadelphia and Delaware County. Crews at Millbourne Station installed the steel framework of the pedestrian overpass connecting the station entrance and eastbound platform to the westbound platform.  Installation of the platform canopy steel structure was finished and the platform roofing is underway.  The station is currently scheduled to open in June 2008 to customers. The new station building at 63rd Street is starting to take shape.  Crews are working on the steel and masonry work while regular El service continues to run through the old station.  Beginning in June 2008, 63rd Street Station is scheduled to close for one year for rebuilding. Customers using 52nd Street Station may have noticed the installation of a new elevator on the westbound platform along with other electrical work.  The new, completed platforms and elevator are scheduled to open in April; at which point the temporary platform structure will be removed, signaling the finish of major work at the station. 46th Street Station is also scheduled to open in April.  Work crews are eagerly finishing up electrical and mechanical work, elevators, and station finishes to ensure the building is ready to open on time for customers. Weekend El shutdowns will resume for customers in March.  Notices will be posted at stations and in the travel advisories portion of the website to keep customers informed about these service changes.   A view of the new crossover outside 52nd Street Station, allowing trains to operate over each of the tracks in both directions. DECEMBER 2007   Currently, 125 of a total 161 guideway spans have been replaced on the Market Street Elevated Construction Project. This was a strong year for the Market Street Elevated (MSE) project in West Philadelphia.  With nearly 75% of the work completed, the El Shutdowns have been suspended for the remainder of the year and our customers can enjoy full Market-Frankford Line service through the holiday season.  Presented here are pictures from some of the work conducted throughout the year to highlight the progress of the project. A glimpse of what it takes to construct the new Millbourne Station.  Work crews are progressing steadily to ensure the station will reopen this Spring.     46th Street Station is also slated to reopen in the Spring of 2008.  Shown here is the new track, platforms, and station foundation.

OCTOBER 2007 Crews are working hard to complete all their scheduled track work for 2007 before the reconstruction work takes a break for the upcoming holiday season. The leaves may be falling from the trees around the region, but along Market Street new guideway structure has been going up on Market Street Elevated (MSE) reconstruction project.  Crews are working hard to complete all their scheduled track work for 2007 before the reconstruction work takes a break during the holiday season beginning November 17, 2007.  Customers can count on the El all holiday season as SEPTA runs full service every weekend through the New Year.  SEPTA has replaced nearly 75% of the entire guideway in the MSE project. The new elevated guideway is being installed in sections – spans that are pieced together.  Work crews have replaced 125 of the total 166 spans that make up the elevated portion of the Market-Frankford Line, including eight additional spans -- five spans between 50th and 51st Streets, two spans over the 54th Street intersection and one span within the 6200 block of Market Street, installed during El Shutdown Weekends, over the past month.  With the addition of more than 568 feet of structure being replaced this Fall, SEPTA is nearing the 75% completed milestone for the entire length of elevated guideway.  To get a picture of what all of the El structure will soon look like just go to areas between 51st and 62nd Streets and also between 43rd Street Portal and 47th Street to see fully replaced, brand new elevated structure. Progress can be seen on the station buildings at 46th Street and Millbourne Station. Construction at Millbourne and 46th Street is also progressing at a solid pace, with platform deck installation completed at both stations.  As the El travels past these stations, riders have a front row seat to see the progress on the station buildings, and platform canopies and guideway construction.  Both stations are slated to re-open next summer. The new Community Information Center Office is now open on the mezzanine of 56th Street Station.  SEPTA is committed to serving the communities that depends on the El for transportation services.  Recognizing that area residents are impacted by the reconstruction work, the project’s Community Information Center (CIC) Office recently moved to the mezzanine level of 56th Station.  A second office at the Enterprise Center (4548 Market Street) will also be open to customers and our neighbors to answer questions or concerns about the on-going work. Just this week, an Open House was held at 56th Street Station.  SEPTA staff spent time with riders and members of the community.  This event, which showcased the importance of the El has to the people and economy of West Philadelphia, included a special reading of The Little Red Caboose to about 40 preschoolers from the nearby Thinking Out Of The Box Learning Center.  The day care center, located directly across the street from the 56th Street Station, provided the children with a close up view of the station’s construction progress and transformation.      SEPTA held an Open House at 56th Street Station on October 30, 2007.

SEPTEMBER 2007 It has been quite a year for riders of the Market-Frankford Line in West Philadelphia, and with the completion of two extended service shutdowns, this summer, they can see the progress made on the Market Street Elevated Reconstruction (MSE) project every time they use the EL. As you might imagine, replacing the existing structures and track area took a great deal of planning, coordination, implementation to ease, as much as possible, any inconveniences for our customers and our neighbors in the surrounding community.   Workers have been taking apart the 100-year-old, existing guideway span by span.  New guideway is pre-fabricated at other construction sites prior to being trucked to Market Street where it is hoisted into place and secured during an El Shutdown.  Having these spans already built reduces the time necessary to erect them during an outage.  Of the 166 total sections of elevated guideway west of 40th Street Station, 119 sections are now brand new.  In Spring 2007, workers replaced a total of five sections of guideway - two in the 6200 block of Market Street and three in the 5900 block.  Crews also spent much of the springtime preparing the construction site for the large-scale guideway replacement effort scheduled to take place over the extended outages of July and August.      The dog days of summer proved very active and productive for the MSE project.  During the 9-day shutdown in July, work crews replaced ten sections of guideway between 45th and 46th Streets and ten sections between 54th and 55th Streets.  During the 16-day August shutdown; fifteen sections of guideway were replaced between 52nd and 54th Streets and eight sections between 46th and 48th Streets.  Customers can also see the important construction progress made at 52nd Street with the completion of interior and exterior masonry work at the new station building.  The phased opening of a brand new 52nd Street Station entrance occurred on June 25, 2007.  New permanent platforms and stairways continue to be erected while the station remains in use.  The new 52nd Street Station fareline The new 60th Street Station headhouse 60th Street Station reopened on June 18, 2007.  Customers welcomed a brand new station headhouse and fareline.  The station is completely ADA accessible with elevators and escalators.  The 60th and Market intersection had re-opened to traffic full-time in January 2007, with occasional closings for safety reasons, such as moving equipment involved in the station reconstruction. Now the station, and the streets around it, are back in full service. The new 60th Street Station fareline 46th Street Station remains closed for reconstruction but crews are diligently installing new roofing, platforms, escalators, elevators and other customer-friendly details. Millbourne Station closed on April 23, 2007 - also for reconstruction.  New electrical wiring was installed along with 500 feet of new track during the extended summer shutdowns.  New platform decks were installed the weekend of September 21st.  Peering out the window while riding toward 69th Street, customers can see new spans of guideway being fabricated in the empty lot opposite the Millbourne station area.  Once completed, this guideway will replace the existing structure over 63rd & Market Streets heading into the Cobbs Creek/Millbourne Station area.   New platform decks at Millbourne Station   Pre-fabricated guideway being assembled opposite Millbourne Station APRIL 2007 Millbourne Station Millbourne Station, at Wister Drive & Millbourne Avenue, closed on April 23, 2007, for approximately one year while work takes place to construct another new, ADA-accessible station.

2006 & EARLIER In 2005 several construction milestones were achieved with the replacement of approximately 1,500 feet of guideway between 56th and 61st Streets and the installation of 26 new structural columns during two nine-day summer shutdowns. In addition, work was completed at 56th Street, the first of six stations to be reconstructed as part of the MSE Project. This ADA-accessible station reopened to riders February 2006.  Construction progress was also made at 60th Street and work began at 52nd Street Station. To facilitate this work, 60th Street closed at the beginning of June 2006; 52nd Street Station will remain open for service except during scheduled weekend and extended El service outages.    In April 2006, weekend shutdowns of the El between 46th and 69th Streets commenced to help prepare for the first extended EL shutdown that began on Friday, July 14, 2006, at 8 p.m. and continued through Monday, July 24 at 5 a.m. During this time, heavy equipment demolished and removed the existing El guideway between 51st and 62nd Streets. New, pre-fabricated 45-75 foot guideway sections, including the track structure, were transported by truck and set into place. A second extended El shutdown took place in mid-August 2006. SEPTA appreciates the patience of our riders as the construction teams work to complete the rebuilding of the EL in West Philadelphia and Delaware County.