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Blue Line shutdown continues for an extra five days
By adamg on Sun, 05/08/2022 - 11:15pm
The MBTA announced today that the Blue Line shutdown between Airport and Bowdoin has been extended until May 13 so workers can "complete additional work and finish scheduled work" in the tunnel. Expect delays on the alternative shuttle buses and ferries.
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Comments
It would be nice if they came clean
On what exactly this work that they are doing is, why it needed to be done so suddenly (and when the Newburyport/Rockport line is still hobbled) and what the benefits will be to riders when it's done. So far, it's been pretty unclear.
Also: "complete additional work and finish scheduled work."
1) What additional work? Did they find new things that were wrong to fix? And 2) the schedule was that it was supposed to be done today. So it's no longer scheduled work, is it?
A bit of transparency here would go a long way. (Who am I kidding …)
Anyway, thanks Charlie Baker for fixing the T. Great work.
They are also pushing back
They are also pushing back some of the Newburyport/Rockport signal work until later in May, trains will be running between Newburyport and Boston the week of May 9th, instead of starting the planned busing to Orient Heights.
Newburyport Project ongoing - read linked article
https://www.boston.com/news/local-news/2022/04/07/shuttles-replace-train...
Meanwhile, the Blue Line tunnel opened in 1904. The daily ridership on that line as of 2019 was 69,000. An extra week to make primarily electrical repairs and upgrades in a 120 year old tunnel under the harbor does not appear to be either poor management or some sort of regional injustice.
They are taking the tracks up
They are taking the tracks up and putting new ones down. You can see them do this at the East Boston memorial park just before the airport.
Replacing 2,200 feet of track between Airport and Maverick stations
Installing a new truck pad west of Airport Station to accommodate more work vehicles for project acceleration
https://www.mbta.com/projects/blue-line-maintenance-work
I'm assuming
That your last line is not sarcasm, as this is an example of the T literally getting fixed.
Meanwhile, I'm still wondering why the slow orders that were a part of my Orange Line commute a year ago are still in place, with the only evidence of progress being replacement rails left on the trackbed at Back Bay.
I live on top of Maverick
I live on top of Maverick station I could not be more interested in the details of what is going on. I am typically a *huge* defender of the T.
Communication with regard to this work has been disgraceful, T leadership should be ashamed.
I will just make up in the
I will just make up in the absence of any information: that they were close, went for it and missed (hence the late notice), then decided to slip an entire week to not repeat the fiasco.
Peak MBTA
And I’m not even talking about not finishing a project on time–that’s pretty much baked in. But announcing it on Sunday night is just unreal. An extra week of work isn’t something you realize you need at the last minute.
Yep
I live near the Blue Line, and have been driving to Wellington to commute during the shutdown. I expected the shutdown to be delayed, checked the mbta site on Sunday, and was thrilled to see that the alert was gone. Thought I should double check this morning, et voila. Back to Wellington. The fact that I distrusted the mbta enough that I knew to check for an alert on Monday morning that was removed all weekend says it all.
I notice that the alert about the Wonderland to Orient Heights shutdown, which I believe was scheduled for May 12-29, is now gone. I wonder if that means they'll delay that work so that it extends well into June now. I think this would be the time to finally figure out how to bike to work. Google maps informs me that it's faster than the T anyway.
I'm a big public transportation advocate. The T sucks.
I checked at 4am was still gone
Like you I checked but I live near Maverick so I can take the Ferry but I also knew to check and at 4am they didn't list any trains running (after 5am because they haven't started service for the day yet) but still had the alert gone so no indicator either way.
They rescheduled
the other work to a “later date.”
Thankfully it’s more convenient for me to use the the non-MBTA Seaport ferry for my weekday commute anyway.
The only good thing about this
is five more days of free ferry service between Long Wharf and Maverick.
Not free if you're going to
Not free if you're going to seaport $5 each way
well
.. yes.. because that's a different service.
How Many Flights Will Be Missed Today?
Getting off at State, and discovering that not only is there no train, but you're going to have to haul your luggage to some other station to wait for a shuttle. And your flight leaves in . . .