Commonwealth Avenue Bridge will be getting a major facelift starting July 26, in a replacement project that’s slated to take 18 and a half days to complete.
The Commonwealth Avenue Bridge Replacement Project will bring limited lane access to commuters on the Massachusetts Turnpike, as well as closures along Commonwealth Avenue — including a shutdown of the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority Green Line B branch, said Jonathan Gulliver, the acting highway administrator for the Massachusetts Department of Transportation.
Green Line service from Kenmore Square to Brighton Avenue/Packard’s Corner will be closed, but MBTA shuttle buses will be provided along Commonwealth Avenue. Local residents and businesses, bicyclists, pedestrians and emergency vehicles will have access to Commonwealth Avenue throughout the project.
This project has been in the planning and preparation process for the past three years. Throughout the process, Gulliver said MassDOT has strived to conceptualize a plan that expects no delays, while educating the public about the construction project.
The project is a result of MassDOT’s Accelerated Bridge Program, which began in 2008 as a means to replace structurally deficient bridges, and bridges that have surpassed their useful lifespan. The Boston University Bridge has been one of the ABP’s recent renovations.
Although the Commonwealth Avenue Bridge was not originally part of the ABP, Gulliver said the bridge’s proximity to the BU Bridge meant that it was quickly identified and logged for reconstruction.
Given the intensity of the project and the commuter disruption it will bring, MassDOT has incorporated extensive outreach plans to educate and inform the public on the construction, hosting numerous press conferences and direct-outreach to communities over the past several months.
“We realize that people are not going to be happy hitting a lot of traffic,” Gulliver said. “But … we really work with them to make sure they understand why and what the final benefits are going to be when it’s done.”
Gulliver said the specificity of the timeline, 18 and a half days, was a conscious choice made by MassDOT authorities to limit its impact since the project will disrupt thousands of commuters using the Green Line, buses, the commuter rail, and roads above and below the bridge.
“By going in and dealing with all that all at once, having a really intense disruption over and done with … [it] gives you less overall impact to the commuting public,” Gulliver said.
Director of Highway Safety at the Executive Office of Public Safety and Security Jeff Larason said he’s been involved in raising awareness of increased safety risks to commuters during the construction period.
“What we’ve been trying to do is simply … increase awareness of the importance to stay attentive on the road, drive present and to put those phones away,” Larason said.
Curtis Nikitas, a project manager at the MBTA, said his department has been working intensely for the past three years to perfect the technical details of the construction, even developing an hour-by-hour schedule for all parties involved in the project.
“I think we’ve covered just about every contingency that you could possibly think of,” Nikitas said. “So I think with that and our planning … we should be able to overcome just about anything.”
With the Green Line shutting down during construction, Nikitas said they have put measures in place to accommodate those that rely on the T during their commute.
“Our goal is to have police details at all these key intersections to keep traffic moving, to keep the busses moving, [and] to mimic Green Line service as best as possible,” Nikitas said.
Nikitas said he is confident Green Line services will be up and running again by the morning of August 14.
A previous version of this story set Jonathan Gulliver’s title as ‘Acting Massachusetts Department of Transportation District 3 Highway Director’ when his preferred title is ‘Acting Highway Administrator for the Massachusetts Department of Transportation’. This change has been reflected in the article above.
