MBTA To Temporarily Shut Down Green Line Extension

MEDFORD, MA — Shuttle buses will replace MBTA Green Line service on the newly opened Green Line Extension beginning this month as crews perform “final-phase construction work” on the extension’s Medford Branch.

The new branch is now expected to open in late November.

Announced on Friday, this shutdown on the Green Line will begin on Monday, Aug. 22 and run through Sunday, Sept. 18. It will impact stations between Government Center and Union Square.

Shuttle buses will run between Government Center and Union Square, making stops at Lechmere Station and the Lechmere Station Bus Loop. The shuttles will bypass the Science Park station.

“The MBTA is in full support of making these safety-related changes, and appreciates the support of riders and the public as the Medford Branch is brought into passenger service,” the MBTA said in its announcement this week.

The long-awaited Green Line Extension partially opened earlier this year, with service extending to the new Union Square station in Somerville.

The larger Medford Branch was set to open this summer, providing service to five new stops reaching into Medford. The MBTA has since pushed the opening date to November, citing multiple reasons including necessary re-testing of power systems.

Some support crews that were previously assigned to the Green Line Extension project have also been reassigned to respond to directives from the Federal Transit Authority following its investigation into a series of safety issues throughout the MBTA system, the agency said.

Largely focused on the Medford Branch, the upcoming partial Green Line shutdown will also make room for private work at the nearby Government Center Garage, the MBTA said.

These plans move forward just a matter of days after state officials announced an unprecedented total shutdown of the Orange Line on Wednesday. That shutdown will begin on Aug. 19, four days before the Green Line shutdown. It will then run through Sept. 18.

News of pending Green Line disruptions beginning at Government Center also comes just over a month after the MBTA quickly shut down a series of Orange and Green Line stops in downtown Boston in June after crews found deteriorated support columns in tracks under the Government Center Garage.

Service resumed after roughly two days of disruptions.

The same location was the site of a fatal demolition accident in March, when the ninth floor of the garage collapsed. The collapse was believed to have damaged subway tunnels in the area, prompting delays and disruptions at the time.

See additional details and updates on Green Line Extension work and related diversions through the MBTA website.