MBTA announces five-year plan to increase capacity of Green Line stations

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Jakob Menendez

Chief of the Green Line Transformation project Angel Pena lays out construction plan. Jakob Menendez / Beacon Staff

By Faith Bugenhagen

The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority outlined a five-year plan to renovate the Green Line during their community meeting on Tuesday.

Part of the Green Line Transformation plan is the expansion of the Green Line into Somerville and Medford. According to the MBTA website, the construction is slated to finish by 2030.

The MBTA announced other closures on the Red and Orange lines in August. Construction on the Green, Orange, and Red lines will run from Sept. 7 to Dec. 15.

The MBTA plans to replace 7,000 feet of track on the Green Line. The D branch will close every weekend from Sept. 14 to Dec. 29, and the B branch construction will take place during the weekends of Sept. 7, Nov. 2, and Nov. 23. C branch construction will occur on the weekend of Oct. 26. The E branch will not be affected.

Workers will consolidate St Paul Street and BU West stations into one station, and will do the same with Babcock Street and Pleasant Street. Construction is planned to take place during winter 2019, according to MBTA Website.

The Green Line Transformation project includes plans to replace tracks at the Riverside and Beaconsfield stations to increase the pace of rides on the D branch. 

Angel Pena chief of the Green Line Transformation project, spearheaded the assembly and was assisted by directors Desiree Patrice, Tamieka Thibodeax, and Kimberley Woollard.

Sen. William Brownsberger and Rep. Tommy Vitolo of Brookline asked the directors to update information online in order to better circulate information about each update to people.