SEPTA next year is going to start building new platforms on both sides of the Margaret-Orthodox stop on the Market-Frankford line and add three elevators to the station.
“The goal is to make the station fully accessible to people who use wheelchairs,” Mauricio Silva, SEPTA project manager, last week told members of the Frankford Business and Professional Association.
The work will begin in the late spring or early summer, Silva said on Oct. 28, and will take about three years to complete.
SEPTA will try to ease the impact on the businesses during construction, Silva said.
Frankford Avenue will not be shut down completely during the day as work on the El overhead is being done, he said. However, a full Avenue closing might occur during the night and on weekends, especially when concrete is being poured.
For the most part, El service will not be interrupted during the workweek. Temporary platforms will be built north of the current ones while the old platforms are demolished and rebuilt. On weekends, however, buses will take commuters from the Erie-Torresdale stop to the Frankford Transportation Center.
Silva said the project currently is in the bidding stage. The entire project is expected to cost $30 million, with $20 million of that on construction costs.
The Margaret-Orthodox station is the last of Frankford’s three El stops to be made fully accessible, Silva said. Work at the terminal was complete in 2003, and the Church Street station was upgraded in 2004.
SEPTA is doing similar work in other areas of its system. Three elevators will be installed by spring of next year at the Race-Vine station on the Broad Street Line. Design for two elevators at the 40th Street stop on the Market-Frankford line is ongoing, Silva said. Construction is scheduled to start by the end of 2015.
SEPTA will keep neighborhood residents and business operators informed about the Margaret-Orthodox work, spokeswoman LaRissa Sappington told business association members. “We will have community meetings.” ••
