This smells like a mystery at N. Station

A reader says North Station smells -- and it's not the service he's talking about.

"What's the story with the stench at North Station?" wrote John of Medford. "For well over a month, North Station has smelled like sewer exhaust."

John emphasizes the point, saying, "I'm not generally taken to sobbing during my commute on the Orange Line . . . but at times the sulfur cloud under Causeway Street has made my eyes water."

And when there are schedule adjustments on the line, and the trains wait with doors open, "every passenger is aware of the smell, but nobody wants to make eye contact or acknowledge that they're choking on it. I'm afraid, too, that the rider seated next to me might think I'm the source."

John has smelled it on both Orange Line platforms, but he says it's stronger on the outbound (Oak Grove) side.

Wearing a Tyvex suit and carrying a duffel bag of (grapefruit-scented) Yankee Candles, we went with MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo to the scene to search out the stench.

We smelled it. Pesaturo did not.

A passenger sitting nearby said it was horrible at times . With a breeze wafting through the station on Friday, however, it was not.

We went to the inbound platform, site of Our Lady of the Eternal Ceiling Leak, which has been around since the Super Station was known as the Just All Right Station. No odor.

We went back to the other side, under the out-of-date FleetCenter sign. We smelled it again. Joe? Nope.

"I smell the sweet scent of safe and reliable transit services," Pesaturo said at one point, directing passengers to go down a "corridor" to get to the TD BankNorth Garden.

Despite his olfactory denial, Pesaturo pledged to have someone sniff out the problem, whatever it might be. He also said someone would fix the signs. Sniffers, please keep us posted.

We were doing something in Park Street station when we looked up at the ceiling and saw something we'd never seen before, camouflaged amid the ceiling's patterns .

There on the westbound platforms, just after the station attendant's booth in the middle of the platform, is a small sign with a red background and white lettering reading "northbound" and "southbound." And every once in a while, when a Red Line train would rumble into the station below, a light would pop on behind one of those words.

This being the T, we assumed the sign was short - circuiting. But the more we listened and watched, it seemed timed to the arrival of Red Line trains. So what gives?

T officials could give no date for when the sign was installed, though most believe it was more than 20 years ago. It is mainly used from time to time by MBTA personnel to hold a Green Line train so that passengers coming up from the Red Line can make it to a train.

Officials said it's also used to alert passengers for east and west connections at the end of service around 12:50 a.m., when all trains depart downtown. It is rarely used during rush hour due to the very frequent level of service on both the Green and Red lines, officials said.

Anthony of Beverly was held captive at Logan Airport's Central Parking garage last month.

This happened after he and his wife drove two cars to Central Parking to pick up friends. One couple left the garage without a problem. The second car, Anthony included, was stuck in Central Parking from 12:15 to 1:19 a.m. after someone left a paid parking ticket in the vending machine inside the airport.

Needless to say, the exit gate stayed closed.

"We were told by a woman at a booth we had to back up -- very dangerous at that place, then go to her booth," Anthony wrote. "She took [the] receipt and refused to give it back. . . . She said it was for a different person. We waited 20 minutes at that toll booth while the woman was on her computer."

They went to the office to meet with a supervisor, who told them he had no record of their Lexus coming into the garage that night. "Do the tickets have to correspond to a specific car? There was no sign that said that."

Eventually, they had to pay $8 again before being allowed to leave.

"Why on earth were we delayed for over an hour in the middle of the night? Is there not a person at Central Parking who can make a decision to release us in five minutes instead of an hour? Where is common sense?"

Danny Levy, Massachusetts Port Authority spokeswoman, called the event "an unfortunate occurrence."

Levy said that not only had Anthony's car presented a receipt instead of a ticket, somehow the tickets for the two cars that were driven to the airport had been switched.

"We can completely understand [Anthony's] frustration that evening -- especially having to wait an hour to exit the garage," she wrote in an e-mail response. "However, this is a case in which the system we purchased worked as intended," Levy wrote. "When customers enter our garage, a photo is taken of the license plate. This is information that includes the date and time of entry, which is placed in the computer system."

When Anthony tried to leave and the receipt did not match the vehicle, it's the responsibility of the parking supervisor to investigate, Levy wrote.

"It is not uncommon for people to try and beat the system by pulling a parking ticket upon return to Logan after an extended trip to avoid paying their full parking fee or, worse, to steal a vehicle. The computer catches these discrepancies, requiring further review by Massport . . . In the long run it was our attempt to safeguard against fraud."

Head to some of the Silver Line and other stations and check out the future: a series of illuminated digital billboards wrapped around columns.

They're backlit and cool, operating on a single network, with new messages popping up every six seconds. We're thinking "Blade Runner." The billboard company says the displays use a "cold heat" technology and can be shaped to the surface on which they are applied. Bigger bonus? The advertising contract with Clear Channel will bring the MBTA more than $500,000 during the initial year and about $5.6 million over the 10-year contract.

Bus shuttles will be used next weekend on the Blue Line between Orient Heights and Government Center stations as work on Maverick station gets going. From the start of service next Saturday, March 31, through the end of service on Sunday, April 1, Wood Island, Airport, Maverick, Aquarium, State Street, and Government Center stations will close.

The shuttle service will be free and will stop at each station EXCEPT AIRPORT. Instead, Massport will have shuttles from Maverick station to Logan terminals. Also, don't forget about the Silver Line to Logan. Expect 15- to 20-minute delays . . . The newly renovated Charles/MGH station on the Red Line will have its official grand opening Tuesday at 11 a.m.

Two lanes of Interstate 93 south approaching and through downtown will close 11:30 p.m. to 5 a.m. tomorrow to Friday morning and 11:30 p.m. Friday to 1 a.m. Saturday.

I-93 south at Massachusetts Avenue will close 11:30 p.m. tomorrow to 5 a.m. Tuesday.

The Haymarket on ramp to I-93 south and the Callahan Tunnel will close 10 p.m. Thursday to 5 a.m. Friday and 11:30 p.m. Friday to 5 a.m. Saturday.

The Storrow Drive on ramp to I-93 south will close 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. Tuesday to Saturday morning.

Exit 23 (Purchase Street) off I-93 south will close 11:30 p.m. to 5 a.m. Wednesday to Saturday morning.

Exit 20B (Pike west/Albany Street) off I-93 south will close 11:30 p.m. to 5 a.m. tomorrow to Thursday morning.

The Essex Street on ramp to I-93 south will close 11:30 p.m. tomorrow to 5 a.m. Tuesday.

The Herald Street on ramp to I-93 south will close 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. Wednesday to Saturday morning.

Exit 18 (Mass. Ave.) off I-93 south will close 11:30 p.m. to 5 a.m. Tuesday to Thursday morning.

Two to three lanes of I-93 north through downtown and Charlestown will close 11:30 p.m. to 5 a.m. tomorrow to Saturday morning.

Exit 26 (Storrow Drive) off I-93 north will close 11:30 p.m. to 5 a.m. Thursday to Saturday morning.

Exit 23 (Government Center) off I-93 north will close 11:30 p.m. tomorrow to 5 a.m. Tuesday.

The Atlantic Avenue on ramp to I-93 north will close 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. starting Tuesday and Thursday nights.

The Essex Street on ramp to I-93 north will close 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. tomorrow to Saturday morning.

The Pike east at Exit 24 (South Boston) will close 11:59 p.m. Wednesday to 5 a.m. Tuesday.

The ramp at Exit 20 (Pike east) off I-93 north will close 8 p.m. Wednesday to 5 a.m. Thursday. Access to Kneeland Street/South Station will remain open.

The ramp at Exit 24 (I-93) off the Pike east will close 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. starting tomorrow and Thursday nights. Access to Kneeland Street/South Station will remain open.

Access from South Boston to the Pike east and Logan Airport will close 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. starting tomorrow, Tuesday, and Friday nights.

Traffic set-up work will take place on Washington Street and Harrison Avenue from 9 p.m. to 5 a.m. Wednesday to Saturday morning.

The Sumner Tunnel on-ramp to Storrow Drive will close 11:30 p.m. to 5 a.m. Thursday to Saturday morning. Sumner Tunnel access to Haymarket will remain open.

The on ramp from Congress Street to I-93 in South Boston, and Exit 24 (I-93) off the Pike west will close 11:30 p.m. to 5 a.m. tomorrow to Friday morning.

The Congress Street on ramp to I-93 south and the Pike west will close 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. tomorrow to Thursday morning.

Herald Street between Harrison Avenue and Albany Street will close 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. tomorrow to Saturday morning.

Complain to us at starts@globe.com. Don't forget to send us your hometown. Outside the paper, the column can be found at boston.com/starts with daily updates on the Starts & Stops Blog at boston.com/starts/blog. Our mailing address is Starts & Stops, P.O. Box 55819, Boston, MA 02205-5819.

© Copyright 2007 Globe Newspaper Company.