Buses to replace trains on part of Orange Line on several nights during July
Subway service between the Orange Line’s four most northern stations will be replaced by buses after 9 p.m. on several nights this month, according to the MBTA.
Shuttles will run between Oak Grove Station and Sullivan Square Station from 9 p.m. until the end of service on Monday, July 1, Tuesday, July 2 and from Sunday, July 7 through Thursday, July 11, officials said.
The buses, which are accessible for people with disabilities, will stop at those two stations as well as at the two stations in between: Malden Center Station and Wellington Station, according to the T’s website.
Assembly Square Station Project, officials said.
Meanwhile, T officials said that "the Orange Line may experience some minor delays in service due to the Oak Grove Platform Rehabilitation Project." That project, scheduled to continue into September, includes complete reconstruction of the Oak Grove Station platforms. The station will remain accessible for people with disabilities throughout the project.
For more information, contact the MBTA Customer Communications Department at 617-222-3200, TTY: 617-222-5146.
E-mail Matt Rocheleau at mjrochele@gmail.com.
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It's always sunny on the MBTA
Jeremy C. Fox for Boston.com
Were these Orange Line passengers tweeting positive thoughts about the MBTA? It could happen.
Jeremy C. Fox can be reached at jeremy.fox@globe.com.
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Route 99 underpass to be closed for weekend
Jarret Bencks can be reached at bencks.globe@gmail.com. Follow him on twitter @JarretBencks.
City launches “City Hall to Go” truck full time
(Photo courtesy City of Boston)
Getting to City Hall might be easier from some Boston residents this summer as the city launches its City Hall on wheels full time.
Starting July 2, the “City Hall to Go” truck will regularly visit neighborhoods on Tuesdays, Wednesdays and Thursdays to provide certain services to residents, and be stationed by request on Fridays and Saturdays at special events, block parties, and street festivals.
The truck will allow residents to pay or dispute parking tickets, request birth, death or marriage certificates, get a dog license, request a residential parking permit, or pay property and excise taxes without travelling to Government Center.
Residents will also be able to sign up for Renew Boston’s home energy audits and weatherization, request raffle applications, and submit claims to the City Clerk.
The city first held a soft launch of the trunk in December.
“The ‘City Hall to Go’ truck makes personal, timely service from the City of Boston possible for a whole new set of constituents,” Boston Mayor Thomas M. Menino said in a statement. “We are constantly trying to push what appear to be the limits of municipal services. The success of the truck’s earliest visits shows that benefits of City Hall can exist far beyond its walls.”
The repurposed Boston Police Department SWAT vehicle will be open until 7 p.m. on weeknights and 5 p.m. on Saturdays.
The truck will also use social media to determine part of its schedule. On the fourth Tuesday of every month residents can tweet @CityHallToGo to tell the city where they want the truck to go that day. The truck will open at the most requested location at 12:30 p.m.
The city provided the following schedule for its mobile City Hall. It is subject to change and residents can follow @CityHalltoGo on Twitter or call 617-635-4500 for updates.
FULL ENTRYMBTA to increase security for July 4
The MBTA will increase security and police patrols around the system on July 4. As in years past, the T will boost subway service and will not charge fares after a certain point at nighttime, officials announced this week.
“We encourage people coming into the city to celebrate to use the MBTA and ask passengers to expect large amounts of people, and as we do every day we ask people to be aware of their surroundings, and if they see something unusual, report it immediately,” said Joseph F. O'Connor, superintendent-in-chief of the Transit Police Department.
He said, that while security is normally heightened on the holiday and for other large public events around Boston, this year there will be even more patrols than on July 4 in years past, including a “significant amount” of both uniformed and plain-clothes officers throughout the public transit system due to the bombing attacks in the city at the Marathon in April.
“We want people to feel safe,” O’Connor said. “We want to reassure the public for people who may be concerned because of the events that happened at the Marathon and in the week after.”
There will be no special restrictions on what items passengers can carry while riding the T, but O’Connor reminded riders that some items will be prohibited within a secure perimeter that will be established around the Esplanade.
He said random bag inspections, which are performed daily at strategically-chosen parts of the T, will be performed on the holiday. O’Connor also encouraged riders to download the agency’s free smartphone application which allows users to report suspicious activity by sending text and photos directly to Transit Police.
He said that Transit Police will, as they do regularly, work closely with federal, state and city law enforcement throughout the holiday.
The T also plans to institute schedule-related changes similar to what the agency has done on Independence Day in years past.
On Thursday, July 4, fares will not be collected after 9:30 p.m., subway service will run at “rush hour levels” after 2 p.m. and the last outbound commuter rail trains scheduled to leave Boston will delay their departure to allow passengers more time to board after the fireworks display at the Esplanade.
“Customers are urged to take public transportation to and from Fourth of July events and advised to check T-Alerts and mbta.com for the most up-to-date service information during the holiday,” the agency said on its website.
Officials also reminded riders that bicycles are not allowed on any subway lines on July 4. Bikes are also not allowed on inbound commuter rail trains from 10 a.m. to 6 p.m. or on outbound trains after 4 p.m.
Buses will operate on a Sunday schedule. Before 2 p.m., the T’s four subway lines – the Red, Blue, Orange and Green – will operate on a Sunday schedule.
The commuter rail will operate on a Saturday schedule, until the day’s final outbound commuter rail trains, all but one of which will delay their departures from Boston until 11:45 p.m. – about 45 minutes after the city’s fireworks display usually ends. The #1173 to Newburyport is scheduled to depart at 11:15 p.m.
Quincy and Hull boats will run on a weekday schedule. Charlestown boats will operate on a Saturday schedule. Hingham boats will not run.
Passengers who use The RIDE service are asked to check directly with their contractors for specific schedule changes.
For more information, visit the T’s website, www.mbta.com.
E-mail Matt Rocheleau at mjrochele@gmail.com.
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Statue of General Warren rededicated on Bunker Hill Day
(Photo courtesy National Park Service)
More than 100 years after it was originally unveiled, the statue of Major General Joseph Warren, a key Revolutionary War figure, has been rededicated.
The statue, based on a portrait of Warren by Boston artist John Singleton Copley and sculpted by Henry Dexter of Cambridgeport, was rededicated on Bunker Hill Day, Monday, June 17.
Warren was a Boston physician and a leader of Patriot groups in the lead up to the American Revolution. He wrote articles criticizing the British monarch and delivered speeches on the anniversaries of the Boston Massacre.
He helped raise and ready militias and was named second general in command days before the Battle of Bunker Hill. Instead of commanding, he fought in line as a volunteer and was killed in the battle on June 17, 1775.
Bunker Hill Monument Association president Arthur Hurley and past president John Alves, along with Grand Master Richard Stewart of the Grand Lodge of Masons in Massachusetts, and Boston National Historical Park Superintendent Cassius Cash rededicated the statue after the annual Bunker Hill Day Commemorative and Patriotic Exercises.
George Wildrick, a descendant of General Warren, also participated in the rededication ceremony at the Bunker Hill Monument.
The statue was originally unveiled and dedicated by the Bunker Hill Monument Association on June 17, 1857.
This past October, National Park Service conservators Margaret Breuker and Carol Warner cleaned and treated the statue to restore it to its original luster.
E-mail Kaiser at Johanna.yourtown@gmail.com. For more news about your city, town, neighborhood, or campus, visit boston.com’s Your Town homepage.
Whole Foods to hold job fair for new Charlestown location
The Whole Foods Market opening in the Bunker Hill Shopping Center is hosting a job fair to fill positions at the new location.
The Texas-based chain is hosting a three-day job fair this week at the Bunker Hill Knights of Columbus for its Charlestown location, which is expected to open by the end of September.
The new store is replacing Johnnie’s Foodmaster as Charlestown’s only supermarket. The switch from Johnnie’s to Whole Foods in Charlestown is part of the closing of all 10 Johnnie’s Foodmasters in the Greater Boston area.
Six of its locations--South Weymouth, Arlington, Brookline, Melrose, Somerville and Charlestown—are being transformed into Whole Foods while a Medford location will become a Stop & Shop.
A Whole Foods spokesperson previously told the Globe that the store extended job offers to several former Johnnie’s employees.
Some have worked at other Whole Foods Markets during renovations, while others chose to wait until the Charlestown location opens. Some declined the job offer.
Not all Johnnie’s employees were offered jobs with at the chain.
The job fair will be held on Tuesday 3 to 7 p.m., Wednesday 1 to 5 p.m., and Thursday 9 a.m. to 1 p.m.
All applicants must complete an online application prior to attending the job fair.
E-mail Kaiser at Johanna.yourtown@gmail.com. For more news about your city, town, neighborhood, or campus, visit boston.com’s Your Town homepage.
The MBTA can't be all bad. Can it?
Jeremy C. Fox for Boston.com
These Green Line riders had a not-bad wait at Kenmore Station on Thursday night.
Jeremy C. Fox can be reached at jeremy.fox@globe.com.
Follow him on Twitter: @jeremycfox.
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MBTA to make its 15 busiest bus routes faster, more reliable; work includes moving, eliminating stops
The MBTA says it will make its 15 busiest bus routes faster, more reliable, and more accessible through a series of changes this summer, which include relocating some stops and eliminating others.
Construction on some of the bus routes will begin this week and upgrades to all of the effected routes are expected to be made by the end of August, officials announced Monday.
The 15 “key” routes carry about 40 percent of the T’s total bus ridership. The routes run more often than other bus routes to serve high-density travel corridors, primarily in Boston, but also stretching to Arlington, Belmont, Brookline, Cambridge, Chelsea, Everett, Newton, Revere, and Watertown.
The T hopes to make each route about 10 to 15 percent faster by moving some stops and removing others. The goal is for there to be a bus stop every 750 to 1,320 feet, or about four to seven stops per mile. Many stops now are as close as 200 feet.
The agency also hopes to run more reliable bus service by better adhering to schedules and by trying to reduce “bunching,” when two or more buses on the same route are traveling close to each other.
More “passenger amenities,” including new bus shelters at 85 stops, as well as benches and trash barrels, will be installed. Some sidewalks will be improved and some curb extensions will be built.
New signs and pavement markings will be installed to provide better route-related details and to keep drivers from stopping or parking at bus stops.
Traffic signal improvements are expected to be made along some routes.
Work will include bringing bus stops into compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act to improve accessibility for seniors and people with disabilities, officials said. In some cases, that will mean lengthening the bus stop area.
The T also plans to install new "Park and Pedal" bike parking cages at Alewife Station and the Beverly Garage in July and at Wollaston, Back Bay, Dudley Square and Wonderland stations in August.
Funding for the program includes $7 million in federal stimulus money and another $3 million in federal transportation funding.
Over the past two years, more than 50 public meetings have been held about the “Key Bus Routes Improvement Program.”
“The MBTA is looking forward to improving the quality of amenities and service on some of our most utilized services,” General Manager Beverly Scott said in a statement Monday. “This aggressive and ambitious project will reduce trip times, enhance customer comfort, accessibility, convenience and safety, and make service more reliable and cost-effective.”
A list of the 15 routes and projected timelines for construction are as follows. The schedules are subject to change, T officials said:
Key Bus Routes
Route 1 – July 1st – July 25th
Route 15 – June 24th – July 12th
Route 22 – June 17th – July 17th
Route 23 – June 17th – July
Route 28 – June 17th – August 30th
Route 32 – June 24th – August 8th
Route 39 – July – August
Route 57 – July 15th – August 30th
Route 66 – June 24th – August 1st
Route 71 – August 1st – August 30th
Route 73 – August 1st – August 30th
Route 77 – July 25th – August 26th
Route 111 – August 9th – August 30th
Route 116 – July 19th – August 30th
Route 117 – July 19th – August 30th
For more information on the bus improvement program, click here.
E-mail Matt Rocheleau at mjrochele@gmail.com.
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Capturing the MBTA, rust and all
Jeremy C. Fox for Boston.com
Another day, another crowded Red Line train.
Jeremy C. Fox can be reached at jeremy.fox@globe.com.
Follow him on Twitter: @jeremycfox.
Follow Downtown on Twitter: @YTDowntown.
