The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority (MBTA) will begin weekend closures on the Orange Line between Sullivan Square and Tufts Medical Center station for four weekends in January and February starting Jan. 17.
These closures have been scheduled to replace Orange Line station track in both directions at North Station and to perform additional track work at State, Haymarket and Downtown Crossing Stations. This weekend work has been scheduled to build off work that was performed during last fall’s weekend diversions as part of the 2019 Capital Acceleration Plan. These closures are expected to result in 840 feet of full-depth track replacement at North Station and will allow for the replacement of an additional 140 feet of track at State as well as 200 more feet of track at Haymarket.
“This past fall, we made major progress in our efforts to build a better, safer, more reliable T,” said MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak. “Continuing these weekend diversions in 2020 will allow us to maintain that progress while we look to take a more aggressive approach later on this year.”
2019 diversions
The 2019 weekend diversions—six of which took place on the Orange Line and four on the Red Line—began the weekend of Oct. 5, and stretched into mid-December. The accelerated work was part of the T’s ongoing $8 billion, five-year capital investment program, which focuses investments on core infrastructure with the goal of improving the safety and reliability of the MBTA.
The closures allowed the MBTA to accelerate work that will result in completing work on the Orange Line 11 months sooner than originally scheduled. On the Red Line, accelerated work will result in completing work at Park Street four months sooner than planned and at Downtown Crossing nearly one year earlier than planned.
During those 10 closures, the MBTA was able to replace more than 4,100 feet of track at core stations on the Orange and Red Lines. In some cases, the station track that was replaced was over 30-years old. Work during those 10 weekends also included cleaning, painting, stairway replacement, tactile strip replacement, station repairs and lighting upgrades.
Specifically on the Orange Line, the MBTA was able to replace more than 2,378 feet of station track at Haymarket, State and Downtown Crossing.
Additional Orange Line work included:
- Approximately 333,000-square feet of cleaning and 405,000-square feet of painting at Chinatown, Downtown Crossing, State and Haymarket;
- Replacing approximately 1,600 linear feet of tactile strips; and
- Leak repairs, station repairs and wayfinding signage replacement.
- On the Red Line, over 1,750 feet of track was replaced at Downtown Crossing and Park Street.
Additional Red Line work included:
- Cleaning and painting approximately 1,200 linear feet at Park Street;
- Approximately 84,000-square feet of cleaning and 69,000-square feet of painting at Downtown Crossing;
- Repairing and replacing eight stairways;
- Replacing 2,900 feet of tactile strips at Park Street and Downtown Crossing;
- Installing over 1,600 linear feet of new light fixtures; and
- Leak repairs, station repairs and wayfinding signage replacement at Downtown Crossing.
- Beyond the work listed above, the MBTA was also able to use these weekend diversions to perform work including:
- Track and power maintenance between stations, including third rail insulators and connections;
- Tunnel debris clean-up, which will reduce the risk of nuisance smoke and fire;
- Detailed inspections and surveys of tunnel infrastructure for future repairs and long-term investments; and
- Station repairs and maintenance to platforms, escalators, elevators, stairs and fare equipment.
2020 diversion
During the upcoming Orange Line diversions, customers heading northbound are asked to take the Orange Line to Back Bay, transfer to the Green Line at nearby Copley Station (0.2 miles), take the Green Line to Haymarket, board shuttle buses to Sullivan Square and transfer to the Orange Line.
