The Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority is heading a $72 million project to renovate the Government Center T station and make it more accessible to the disabled.
The project, estimated to be completed by 2015, will have 10 fare gates, two new elevators, and accessibility improvements such as raised platforms, brighter lighting and new tiles.
Two-thirds of Green Line stations have no features to help the disabled take the subway, including on the line’s most trafficked stations such as Government Center and Park Street.
The Government Center makeover is part of a larger T renovation to make the subway more accessible to people with disabilities, prompted by a 2002 lawsuit on behalf of the disabled.
But the Government Center project in particular has garnered attention over the past week, after a Boston Herald columnist reported that the updated station will include a three-story glass tower that will replace the current head house.
In an email, T spokesperson Joe Pesaturo said that the project will not be centered around changing the subway station’s cosmetic features, but will be intended to improve accessibility to people with disabilities.
Pesaturo added that fewer than 25 percent of this project’s budget will go to funding cosmetic changes.
“This project will finally bring this major subway station, where two rapid transit lines intersect, into compliance with the federally-mandated Americans with Disabilities Act,” Pesaturo said.
“From our perspective, we expect that any renovation would be completely accessible, and the T has been doing a great job with improving access to stations,” said Bill Henning, director of the Boston Center for Independent Living, an advocacy group for the disabled, in a phone interview.
“The more the system is accessible to people with disabilities and the general public, the better off everyone is,” Henning said.
The BCIL filed a lawsuit against the T in 2002 on the behalf of 11 individuals that was settled in 2006.
“[The T] have been doing a terrific job…what they have to do is quite extensive, so there are still many areas to be addressed,” Henning said.
One of the biggest issues in terms of subway station accessibility is the gap between the platforms, Henning said, because this gap is dangerous to a person in a wheelchair.
However, he maintains a positive attitude about the progress that the T is making from what he has seen so far.
“As long as everyone keeps their eyes on the prize, this thing’s going to come out just great,” Henning said.
At a T service plan meeting on Tuesday, some complained about the T services offered to elderly and disabled people.
One attendee named Jewel Cash brought up an incident where a bus driver denied her access to the ramp that is used by people with disabilities to get on the bus.
“A lot of us have things that are wrong with our bodies that you can’t observe…so if I’m not limping or crying or on a wheelchair, it doesn’t mean that I don’t have a need,” Cash said. “I have a card for disabled riders, but I shouldn’t have to prove to you that I need this for you to do your job.”
“I’ve sometimes fallen in the gap that happens when a bus doesn’t come close enough to the side,” Cash said.
These gaps would be dangerous for people with osteoporosis and similar disorders, she said.
Cash was optimistic about the proposed renovation project, particularly because she believes that a person in a wheelchair would have a hard time accessing the current Government Center T station.
“I definitely would appreciate it …I am a baby boomer, so we’re all coming apart physically,” she said. “That would be very important because it’s connecting two lines, the blue and the green line.”