Melrose Talks Orange Line Alternatives As Shutdown Looms

MELROSE, MA — Express shuttle bus service to downtown Boston during the MBTA’s pending Orange Line shutdown is likely a no-go for communities north of the city, Melrose Mayor Paul Brodeur told the City Council on Monday.

Commuter Rail frequency might not be able to ramp up either. And traffic on area roads will likely be severe.

Locally, Melrose officials are also preparing for neighborhood-level impacts, including concerns about overflow parking around the city’s three Commuter Rail stops.

“There is no way to make this good news or to sugarcoat it,” Brodeur said.

The Orange Line is set to shut down on Friday evening. It will then remain shut down through mid-September to make way for a series of projects along the Orange Line route.

State officials announced the pending closure earlier this month, saying the month-long disruption would be the best way to accelerate needed maintenance that could otherwise take roughly five-years to complete.

They’ve quickly faced criticism over the plan itself and its rollout.

State officials most recently gathered to discuss the disruption publicly on Monday morning, sharing new warnings about roadway congestion in and around Boston.

On Monday night, Brodeur joined state legislators Jason Lewis and Kate Lipper-Garabedian before the City Council, relaying Orange Line news that he said came, in part, just hours earlier in another call with top MBTA brass.

“You can’t understate how devastating this is going to be for our region over the next 30 days,” Lipper-Garabedian said.

Lewis called the situation a “major crisis” for the region.

“We need a better solution,” he said.

Local Leaders Pitch Alternatives

Proposed solutions have abounded in the days since the state’s Orange Line announcement. Among them, Brodeur recently worked with Malden Mayor Gary Christenson and Medford Mayor Breanna Lungo-Koehn to pen a joint letter asking for express shuttle service and increased commuter rail frequency between their communities and downtown Boston.

Lipper-Garabedian said legislators made similar requests.

Melrose City Councilors separately chipped in, with councilors Jen Grigoraitis and Leila Migliorelli recently drafting a resolution calling for more state mitigation efforts.

Brodeur said on Monday that he continues to believe express bus service is “critical” during this shutdown.

The option appears to be off the table for the time being, though, with the MBTA planning station-by-station shuttle service between Oak Grove and Haymarket stations. There will be no shuttles through parts of downtown Boston, with service then resuming at Back Bay to connect with the Forest Hills station in Jamaica Plain.

Commuter Rail trains will run in 45-minute intervals on the Haverhill Line through Melrose toward Malden, where they will add a stop at Oak Grove to the typical route to North Station in Boston.

Leaders Continue To Meet

MBTA leaders have agreed to regular meetings with north-of-Boston municipalities during the Orange Line shutdown, Brodeur said.

Brodeur separately discussed meetings to date, noting that Melrose Police had been involved in some discussions.

Those discussions included conversations about how to manage parking concerns in Melrose, Brodeur said. With an expected spike in Commuter Rail ridership, Brodeur said police will be monitoring for illegal parking around local Commuter Rail stops.

As area communities brace for the Orange Line shutdown, Brodeur said there are many questions that remain unanswered for local residents.

“We honestly don’t know what’s going to happen,” he said, adding “Modeling can only go so far.”

Lipper-Garabedian on Monday called on the MBTA to collect substantial amounts of data during the Orange Line shutdown. In turn, she said, the MBTA should be responsive to its data, making adjustments as needed based on issues that emerge.

Leaders continued to ask for ample communication from the state regarding the shutdown.

“This has impacts on people’s lives and on our employers, our colleges and, of course, the entire greater Boston region,” Lewis said.

Read the MBTA’s "Rider’s Guide to Planning Ahead," which contains outlines of Orange Line alternatives ahead of the shutdown here.