MBTA workers repairing Orange Line track. (MBTA/Twitter)
BOSTON (WBZ NewsRadio) — Commuters who use the Orange Line may have to plan for delays starting Friday night.
The MBTA has announced details for closures between Sullivan Square and Tufts Medical Center Stations for the next six weeks, beginning at 8:45 p.m. on each Friday starting October 4 and running through November 10.
Shuttle bus service will be available between Sullivan Square and Haymarket Stations—however, there will not be any shuttle bus service at the State, Downtown Crossing, and Chinatown Stations. The MBTA has asked riders to take "parallel downtown Green Line service" instead.
“It’s a big job,” said MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak. “We’re talking tracks, train ties, the rocks, which we call ballast, that you put around the train ties to hold them in place.”
The shutdowns will also give the MBTA time “to replace and add new signage, clean, paint, and repair stairs [and] tile within the stations," according to the T.
“We certainly acknowledge that it’s an inconvenience for our customers,” Poftak said. “We’re putting diversions in place so people can get where they’re going to go.”
Following the Orange Line project, the MBTA will move on to the Red Line.
Poftak remarked that “these weekend shutdowns will allow us to deliver improvements in safety, service, and the customer experience sooner than originally planned.”
WBZ NewsRadio's Karyn Regal (@Karynregal) reports
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