THE REVERE ADVOCATE – Friday, February 14, 2020 Page 5 MBTA launches Infrastructure Acceleration Plan T he MBTA recently announced the 2020 Infrastructure Acceleration Plan, which will speed up infrastructure projects for several subway lines and the Commuter Rail this year to improve service, safety and reliability on a faster timeline. These projects will include additional diversions of weekend service on all rapid transit lines and several Commuter Rail lines. In addition to some weekend diversions on the Green Line, the MBTA is planning for a pair of one-month shutdowns on the Green Line: the C Branch in July and the E Branch in August. The 2020 Infrastructure Acceleration Plan will deliver these projects eight years faster than originally planned, and will result in track replacement, upgraded intersections, and station improvements. In 2019, the MBTA executed a plan to expedite projects for customers, delivering projects two years faster than originally planned across the Red, Orange and Green Lines. Much of this work was completed through 10 weekend shutdowns on the Red and Orange Lines through the core of downtown Boston. During those shutdowns, the MBTA was able to accelerate improvements by expanding traditional work windows and increasing the number of work activities that took place. Throughout those weekends, the MBTA accommodated customers by increasing existing parallel service while also providing robust replacement service where feasible during the diversions. “Our administration is dedicated to building a better MBTA for our riders that is safer and more reliable, and the 2020 Infrastructure Acceleration Plan will help to achieve this goal faster,” said Governor Charlie Baker. “The MBTA started these projects in 2019 and will continue a vigorous schedule of construction and repairs aimed to build a system that will move more people from point to point in less time. The T has worked hard to minimize disruptions for riders for the 2020 projects by continuing to provide alternative transportation services and has also developed a new web map so riders can get the information easily during this process.” In addition to the full-month C and E Branch shutdowns, as previously announced, the MBTA has scheduled an 11-month suspension of regular Green Line service between North Station and Lechmere starting in May 2020. During the closure, the T will accelerate eff orts to strengthen the historic Lechmere Viaduct in coordination with the rebuilding of the elevated segment of track through East Cambridge and the realignment of the track to a new, relocated Lechmere Station, which is being completed as part of the project to extend the Green Line to Somerville and Medford. “MBTA customers deserve better service faster, but the T can’t deliver on modernization without disruption, including weekday station shutdowns,” said Transportation Secretary and CEO Stephanie Pollack. “During the shutdowns, we will help people get to where they are going on shuttles or other train lines. Most importantly, the temporary inconvenience will be worth it, delivering safer and more reliable service in months instead of years.” During diversions of regularly scheduled rail service, the MBTA takes steps to provide replacement service to ensure customers can reach their intended destinations. In certain cases, the MBTA increases the frequency of parallel services to accommodate customers displaced by a diversion. In other cases, the INFRASTRUCTURE | SEE PAGE 7
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