The shutdown of the new Green Line Extension for six weeks is “cause for alarm,” Somerville state representatives wrote to MassDOT and MBTA this week as they raised several concerns about the service disruption for T riders during the middle of summer.
Last Thursday ahead of the holiday weekend, the MBTA announced that Green Line service between Lechmere and Union Square stations will halt for 42 days from July 18 to Aug. 28. This is due to MassDOT repair work on the Route 28 Squires Bridge, which crosses over tracks near Union Square station.
The Somerville reps — Mike Connolly, Christine Barber and Erika Uyterhoeven — on Monday wrote a letter to MassDOT Secretary Gina Fiandaca, the MBTA board and MBTA GM Phillip Eng about yet another travel nightmare for the region.
The state reps said they’re concerned that the alternative travel bus options will not be enough during the six-week service disruption.
“We want to make sure that we’re serving the public, and that we’re not allowing a major gap in service to fall through the cracks here,” Connolly told the Herald after the reps sent the letter to MassDOT and the MBTA.
He noted that the Green Line Extension shutdown will start on July 18, in two weeks.
“We’re hopeful that we can see some more robust accommodations for riders before then,” Connolly said.
This T shutdown “isn’t your typical MBTA nightmare so to speak,” he added, pointing to the MassDOT project on McGrath Highway as the reason for the service disruption. MassDOT needs to repair deteriorating steel on the Squires Bridge, which will ultimately impact the Green Line service.
When the MBTA announced the six-week shutdown, the T said riders could use existing bus service. The state reps are skeptical that the T’s current bus service will be enough for all of Union Square’s Green Line riders throughout the day.
“As elected representatives of Somerville, the most densely populated city in the Commonwealth and home to significant environmental justice communities — this is cause for alarm,” the state reps wrote in the letter.
“… The T must either do more to show how existing bus service can accommodate all Union Square riders, or else make provisions to schedule additional MBTA buses or to hire shuttle buses as needed,” they later wrote.
The state reps are also asking the T to make buses free at Union Square to help speed up boarding during the shutdown.
“It’s worth remembering the Green Line Extension was the product of a legal mandate designed to address the impact of air pollution associated with highway expansion in the first place,” the state reps wrote. “And yet, despite all this, the only alternative being offered here is to rely on existing MBTA bus service, which has often been unreliable and recently faced a fresh round of scheduling cuts, including to the 86 and 87 buses.”
The Herald reached out to the MBTA about the letter from the state reps, and a spokesperson for the MBTA punted to MassDOT about the repair project.
A spokesperson for MassDOT said in a statement, “MassDOT is reviewing the letter and working closely with the project team and the MBTA on developing a response and addressing concerns raised.”
