Two new Green Line stations opened Monday on Commonwealth Avenue after nine months of construction consolidating the BU West, St. Paul Street, Pleasant Street and Babcock Street stops.
The original stations were decommissioned at varying points during the construction and consolidated into two new stations: the Babcock Street station — between the original Babcock Street and Pleasant Street stations — and the Amory Street station, located between the original St. Paul Street and BU West stations.
Steve Poftak, general manager of the Massachusetts Bay Transit Authority, MBTA Chief of Capital Transformation Angel Peña and Boston University Senior Vice President of Operations Derek Howe celebrated the completion of the $29 million project at a ribbon-cutting ceremony Nov. 16.
The consolidation project hopes to decrease trip times by at least one minute in each direction, Peña said in a Nov. 12 video announcement
The new stations now have platforms that are 225 feet long with 150 foot long canopies to provide shelter from the rain and snow, new benches, accessible entrances, safety barriers from the road and digital countdown clocks that tell when the next train is arriving, according to the MBTA.
The initiative to consolidate the stops is part of the city-wide Green Line Transformation project, which aims to modernize the Green Line by making it safer and more accessible.
During the ceremony, Howe said the completion of the project “marks the start of a new, exciting chapter” for B line riders, many of whom are in the BU community.
The project was originally supposed to take a year, but after working from 10 p.m. to 5 a.m. on weekdays and throughout the weekends, the team was able to finish three months short of the projected finish date, according to the MBTA release.
During construction, MBTA provided shuttle buses that followed the 57 Bus Route stops.
The MBTA project team worked with BU Operations and BU Government and Community Affairs during the construction, since Commonwealth Avenue is home to many BU students and faculty, Howe said in an interview.
“[The MBTA] would obviously alter what they needed to do in regards to commencement, move-in or if we had an event at Agganis Arena, so we more or less had a say in somewhat of the construction schedule, so it didn’t impact the big things that we were having here at the University,” he said.
Edward Sturm, a sophomore in the College of Fine Arts at BU, said the consolidation should make his commute more convenient.
“I think that there were a ridiculous amount of stops on Comm. Ave. on the Green Line beforehand,” Sturm said. “So I think that in terms of just making it faster, and at least where I’m located, [it’s] even more so convenient.”
Marina Chuery, a junior at Wentworth Institute of Technology, said the project was bothersome during construction, but the station is better — even though it didn’t change much of her route.
“I don’t mind anymore, but over the weekend, it was really annoying getting the bus and the shuttles,” Chuery said. “It’s a little weird now that they combined a bunch of stations. I feel like there’s going to be a lot more walking, but the station is a lot better than before.”
Laura Devine, account supervisor of marketing and communications at BU, said she feels the new stations have made Commonwealth Avenue safer.
“I think it’s okay. I wouldn’t’ve put the platform in the middle of [the street]. I think it’s a little annoying to have to walk to either end of the street, but I assume it’s a safety measure,” Devine said. “I think it’ll help traffic on Comm. Ave. for people to not be crossing the street everywhere.”
Erik Gross, who lives in downtown Boston and works at Tesla, said he was happy to see the MBTA investing in the more heavily traveled routes of the Green Line.
“I absolutely love it, actually this is the first time I’ve been here since they renovated [the Amory Street station],” he said. “It looks much more modern, much nicer.”
The Green Line Transformation Team worked to improve safety in the BU area by controlling the pedestrian flow along Commonwealth Avenue, they wrote in an email.
“With all of the BU ridership in that section of the B-Branch, we wanted to improve safety for these stops in the middle of the road,” the Green Line Transformation team wrote. “Customers are prevented from crossing the roadways willy-nilly to move between the platforms and the stations.”
During the ribbon-cutting ceremony, Poftak ended his remarks thanking MBTA riders.
“The last group we should be thanking is our riders,” Poftak said. “They have been patient with us through this process but are now seeing the fruits of our labors.”
Edward Strum previously contributed to the podcast section of The Daily Free Press.
