BOSTON — The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority has suspended some service on its Orange and Green Line subway lines in downtown Boston after the discovery of what the agency termed “a structural issue” with a parking garage being demolished.
The MBTA said in a Thursday press release that the company demolishing the Government Center Parking Garage had advised the agency that garage support columns that pass through MBTA tunnels near the Haymarket station are “severely deteriorated, creating an unsafe environment in the tunnel.” MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak said the issue is a result of the construction work “and the MBTA will seek to hold HYM Construction accountable for all costs associated with this event. … as a result of this private party’s project, we must divert trains until the tunnels can be inspected and cleared by independent experts.”
Service will not resume until structural engineers conduct examinations and any necessary repairs are completed. In the interim, bus bridges will operate on the Green Line between the Lechmere and Government Center stations; the Haymarket station is closed and will not be served by buses. Orange Line service is suspended between Bay Back and North Station. More information on closures and options is available here.
WCVB-TV reports that HYM Investment Group, which is part of the Government Center garage ownership, had earlier contended that the problem was not related to the garage demolition, saying that a column near the rail lines “was identified as compromised from years of water damage.”
The city of Boston said it had closed some streets in the area as a precautionary measure while the column underwent further analysis.
MBTA service in the same area was suspended earlier this year after a partial collapse of the Government Center garage during demolition, an accident which killed a construction worker [see “Service disrupted on two MBTA transit lines,” Trains News Wire, March 28, 2022].
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