MBTA station closures planned to help speed up desperately needed repairs

BOSTON (WHDH/AP) — State transportation officials have signed off on weekend closures of key portions of subway lines in the fall to speed up desperately needed repairs to the aging Boston-area transit system.

The plan, approved Monday by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority’s control board, means disruptions in weekend travel for riders on the Red, Orange and Green Lines.

The plan includes closing eight Orange Line stations during six weekends in October and November, followed by several weekends of closures on the Red Line, including South Station. Shuttle buses will replace trains during those periods.

There won’t be any closures during the weekend of Thanksgiving and two weekends in December.

The MBTA has experienced six train derailments so far in 2019, including one most recently on the Green Line at Riverside Station in Newton last Wednesday.

“We believe these temporary diversions are necessary to improve the system that has been neglected for decades,” Republican Gov. Charlie Baker said in a statement.

MBTA General Manager Steven Poftak said the aggressive plan will cause inconveniences in the short term but will be worth it in the end, shortening some timelines by as much as 11 months for certain projects.

He said the work — which includes replacing track on the Red and Orange lines — was previously scheduled to take place only during limited overnight hours.

Orange Line

Eight stations from Tufts Medical Center to Sullivan Square will be shut down for six weekends in October and early November. This will affect up to 145,000 people each weekend, according to an MBTA spokesperson.

Red Line

Six stations from Broadway to Kendall Square will close for four weeks in late November and early December. This will affect up to 155,000 people each weekend, an MBTA spokesperson said.

Green Line

Along with 14 weeks of previously planned closures along the D branch, parts of the B or C branches will be shut down over four weekends.

Poftak said the station closures will also give T workers a chance to do other jobs around each station.

“In many cases that’s going to be inspecting tunnels, plugging leaks, washing the stations, cleaning debris in the tunnels — all the types of things we don’t often get a chance to do,” he said.

The improvements on the Green Line include the replacement of 7,000 feet (2,134 meters) of track. The weekend closures will allow the work to be completed five months earlier than initially planned — in December 2019 instead of May 2020.

On the Red Line, crews will replace 900 feet (274 meters) of track at the Park Street and Downtown Crossing stations. The work also includes installing new signs, adding 1,250 new lighting fixtures, and cleaning, painting, and repairing stairs and tiles.

On the Orange line, crews will replace 2,250 feet (686 meters) of track and clean and paint within Chinatown Station and put up new signs and clean, paint and repair stairs and tiles in the Downtown Crossing, Haymarket, and State stations.

The MBTA is also in the process of preparing an aggressive schedule of shutdowns for the 2020 construction season that may include weekday shutdowns in addition to a greater frequency of weekend shutdowns.

Details of the plan are anticipated to be released later this year.

The upcoming accelerated projects include:

Green Line intersection upgrades: The MBTA is making 30 intersection upgrades on the B and C branches to mitigate the risk of service interruptions by replacing aged track.

The acceleration plan condenses planned work by five months, by increasing the number of weekend diversions from 10 to 14 on these branches.
This will help complete the project by December 2019 instead of May 2020.
The T will now also replace 7,000 feet of track during the planned weekend diversions.
Green Line D branch shutdowns are already scheduled for the weekends of September 14-15, September 21-22, September 28-29, October 5-6, October 12-13, October 26-27, November 2-3, November 9-10, November 16-17, November 23-24, December 7-8, December 14-15, December 21-22, and December 28-29.
Three new weekend closures on the Green Line B branch will take place during the weekends of September 7-8, November 2-3, and November 23-24.
One new weekend closure on the Green Line C branch will take place on October 26-27.

Red Line: Park Street wayfinding and station improvements: The MBTA is replacing and adding new wayfinding signage, adding 1,250 new lighting fixtures, and cleaning, painting, and repairing stairs/tile within the station.

The acceleration plan condenses planned work by four months, by doing four new weekend diversions on the Red Line in November and December 2019.
This will help complete the project by December 2019 instead of April 2020.
The T will now also replace 900 feet of track and do tactile edge replacement on platforms during the diversions.
Four new weekend diversions will take place between Kendall/MIT and Broadway on November 16-17, November 23-24, December 7-8, and December 14-15.

Red Line: Downtown Crossing wayfinding and station improvements: The MBTA is replacing and adding new wayfinding signage, and cleaning, painting, and repairing stairs/tile within the station.

The acceleration plan condenses planned work by 11 months, by doing four new weekend diversions on the Red Line in November and December 2019.
This will help complete the project by December 2019 instead of November 2020.
The T will also replace 900 feet of track and do tactile edge replacement work on platforms during the diversions.
Four new weekend diversions will take place between Kendall/MIT and Broadway on November 16-17, November 23-24, December 7-8, and December 14-15.

Orange Line: Downtown Crossing, Haymarket, and State wayfinding and station improvements: The MBTA is replacing and adding new signage and cleaning, painting, and repairing stairs/tile within the station.

The acceleration project will condense the project timeline by 11 months through six new weekend diversions on the Orange Line in October and November 2019.
The T will also now replace 2,250 feet of track and clean and paint within Chinatown Station.
Six new weekend diversions will take place between Tufts Medical Center and Sullivan Square on October 5-6, October 12-13, October 19-20, October 26-27, November 2-3, and November 9-10.

The MBTA says the projects will mitigate the risk of service interruptions, improve safety for passengers, improve on-time performance, increase accessibility, and improve the customer experience.

To read the full MBTA report, click here.

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