Major shutdown of MBTA Green Line begins Monday: What riders need to know
Riders of some of the MBTA's key routes through the core of Downtown Boston will spend two weeks beginning Monday navigating an extensive disruption to the transit system.
The T is preparing to close the central portions of all four branches of the Green Line for 15 days, from Dec. 8 through Dec. 22, as it completes maintenance and safety projects that transit officials said could not wait any longer.
During those 15 days, work crews will replace a component of the Green Line tunnels dating back to their original construction in the late 1890s. The crews will also use the closure to install a long-awaited new safety system for the Green Line and complete other standard repairs.
The closure will stretch from North Station to Babcock Street on the Green Line's B Branch, to Kenmore on the line's C and D Branches and to Heath Street on the E Branch.
Closing a broad section of the Green Line for two weeks was less disruptive than trying to break the project into chunks, transit officials said.
"It's the entire Downtown core. The Green Line trunk and the core follow what were the busiest streets in the city in the late 19th century," Brian Kane, the executive director of the MBTA Advisory Board, said last month. "They're still pretty busy today."
"It sounds like it's necessary. Clearly, we can't rely on 1897 infrastructure," he added. "But this is big."
From Dec. 8 to Dec. 22, the MBTA will suspend service from North Station to Babcock Street on the Green Line's B Branch, to Kenmore on the line's C and D Branches, and to Heath Street on the E Branch.MBTA
The Green Line averaged about 50,000 riders on weekdays over the last year, according to data from TransitMatters , a public transportation advocacy organization.
With the line closed, the T will direct riders to fare-free shuttle buses, the Orange Line, which also runs through Downtown Boston, public buses and the commuter rail.
On the B Branch of the Green Line, the shuttle buses will run from Babcock Street in Allston to Back Bay. Riders can access the Orange Line at Back Bay for travel toward North Station. The Route 57 bus will also be fare-free during the closure.
C and D Branch riders can take shuttle buses between Kenmore and Back Bay.
On all three branches, travel will be fare-free at Kenmore and Green Line stations to the west.
On the E Branch, trains will be replaced by the Route 39 bus, which will be fare-free and run more frequently during the closure.
The T will also offer accessible van service for free between Copley/Back Bay and North Station.
The Worcester Line of the commuter rail will also be fare-free between South Station, Back Bay and Lansdowne during the closure.
Full details on alternate modes of transportation during the closure can be found on the MBTA's website.
The agency warned commuters to "budget ample extra travel time."
Completing the maintenance work now is "vital," Massachusetts Transportation Secretary and MBTA General Manager Phillip Eng said in an interview last month.
Work crews will replace a nearly 130-year-old "trough" housing the trains' overhead wires. Made of wood and installed 20 years before President John F. Kennedy was born, the trough remains safe and functional, but federal officials had flagged it for replacement.
"Has it outlived its useful life? Yes," MBTA Chief Operating Officer Ryan Coholan said. "Is replacing it imperative to get our state of good repair where we want it to be? Absolutely."
Work crews will also install the Green Line Train Protection System, or GLTPS, which is designed to prevent train-on-train collisions and enforce speeding.
It has already been installed in other parts of the Green Line, but the time had come to add its infrastructure to the line's core tunnels, Coholan said.
The T could have broken the projects into shorter segments, but officials calculated that doing so would have been a greater disruption for the public, Eng said.
Packing the repairs into two weeks "allows us to do all this work in this one period and be done and get out," he said.
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