BOSTON — The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority will extend the current maintenance closure of the Blue Line by two days, to April 30, to complete work needed to eliminate 16 speed restrictions, the agency announced Thursday at a board of directors meeting.
The current Blue Line project began April 17, first involving a closure between the Maverick and Wonderland stations, and then, beginning April 22, between the Airport and Wonderland stops. It involves full track reconstruction, rail and tie replacement, and ballast tamping, among other work. It is part of the ongoing Track Improvement Program, which seeks to eliminate existing speed restrictions by the end of the year.
“Understanding that the conditions of our infrastructure have impacted riders for far too long, the Track Improvement Program was established to deliver these critical repairs sooner, removing speed restrictions while performing additional state of good repair work in parallel,” MBTA CEO Phillip Eng said in a press release. “We are committed to performing this work on the Blue Line safely and properly and thank the public and the community at large for their patience as we give our teams and contractors the time they need to complete this long-deferred work.”
As of April 16, all 16 speed restrictions on the Blue Line were within the current work area. They covered 4.78 miles, or 38% of the Blue Line, according to the MBTA speed restriction dashboard.
