Lechmere (MBTA station)

LECHMERE
The inbound entrance to Lechmere, with faregates at right
Location	Cambridge Street at O'Brien Highway East Cambridge, Massachusetts
Coordinates	42°22′15.3″N 71°04′39″W / 42.370917°N 71.07750°W / 42.370917; -71.07750Coordinates: 42°22′15.3″N 71°04′39″W / 42.370917°N 71.07750°W / 42.370917; -71.07750
Owned by	MBTA
Line(s)	Green Line "E" Branch
Platforms	2 side platforms
Tracks	1 (balloon loop)
Construction
Parking	347 spaces ($6.00 fee)
Disabled access	Yes
History
Opened	July 10, 1922
Rebuilt	2010; 2021 (planned)
Traffic
Passengers (2013)	6,421 (weekday average boardings)
Services
Preceding station   MBTA   Following station Science Park toward Heath Street Green Line "E" Branch Terminus   Starting 2021   Science Park toward Heath Street Green Line "E" Branch Union Square Terminus Science Park toward Riverside Green Line "D" Branch East Somerville toward College Avenue

Lechmere is a light rail station and the present-day northern terminus of the MBTA Green Line. It is located at Lechmere Square in East Cambridge, Massachusetts near the intersection of Cambridge Street and Monsignor O'Brien Highway (Route 28). Green Line trains run around a balloon loop, inside which is a small yard used for midday and overnight storage. The station has two platforms, which are not connected within fare control; the outbound terminus is on the northeast side of the loop and the inbound platform is on the southwest side. Lechmere station is fully handicapped accessible.

As part of the Green Line Extension project, the current (1922-built) Lechmere station is planned to be demolished. A new elevated station will be built on the opposite side of the O'Brien Highway. This station will be adjacent to the Northpoint development and will have a direct connection to the Somerville Community Path. The new station is planned to open in 2017, and will be an intermediate station on the "D" and "E" branches and will no longer serve as a terminus.

When the Tremont Street Subway fully opened in 1898, surface cars entering the subway from Cambridge Street and Bridge Street in East Cambridge had to cross Craigie's Bridge and proceed on surface streets to the Canal Street Incline. The trip from Lechmere Point over the bridge was slow and prone to delays. After five years of construction, the Lechmere Viaduct and Causeway Street Elevated opened on June 1, 1912, providing the streetcar routes from Harvard Square and much of Somerville a direct route into the subway.