Government Center T Stop Will Close for Two Years Starting in March

Image via MBTA

The countdown is on, the signs are going up, and the construction will soon begin.

The MBTA announced on Wednesday that Government Center Station at City Hall Plaza would be closing down for two years beginning on March 22, so that the transit agency can begin repairs and upgrades to the stop, and improve connections between the Blue and Green Lines.

Once the construction is complete, the T plans to reopen the new station in 2016. When it does, Government Center will be in compliance with the Americans with Disabilities Act, feature a new interior finish and back-up electrical systems, and have a new head house structure as the main entrance to the stop. Upgrades will also bring new escalators to the station, as well as LED signage, more security cameras, vendor space, and a new fare collection area, according to the MBTA.

T Spokesman Joe Pesaturo said a sign like the one depicted above will be put up at the station in the coming days, and workers will post additional notices to remind riders about the construction and diversions.

As the work begins, and carries through 2016, T officials said trains will pass through the station but won’t stop, which means riders will have to rely on walking a little further from surrounding stations, or taking shuttle buses provided by the transit agency.

“If your trip usually included Government Center Station, please allow an additional ten to fifteen minutes for your travel,” according to the T. “The bus will make stops outside State Street Station, Government Center Station, Bowdoin Station, and then return to Haymarket. No fares will be collected on the shuttle bus.”

Officials posted additional travel recommendations for commuters, as well as answers to other T-related questions, on a page dedicated to the Government Center project.

Government Center is where the annual Boston Calling festival is held, when thousands of people descend upon City Hall Plaza to catch bands playing on stage over the course of three days.

But Michael Marotta, who runs Vanyaland, reports that it won’t be an issue, and organizers are working with the city to figure out the perimeters near the construction site.

The closures were first announced back in 2011, and the project was later delayed because the T didn’t want the upgrades to happen at the same time that construction was going on in the Callahan Tunnel. The $90-million project at Government Center will be the station’s first update in almost half a century.