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Modern, Accessible Maverick Station in Works for E. Boston

Posted on: Wednesday, 5 October 2005, 21:00 CDT

By Lucas Wall, The Boston Globe

Oct. 5--Maureen Murphy can see the downtown skyline across the harbor from her East Boston neighborhood, and lives only blocks from the Blue Line station at Maverick Square. But for Murphy, who uses a wheelchair, getting downtown requires a lengthy trip because the century-old subway stop has no elevator and only one escalator.

Murphy instead must board a bus outbound to Wood Island Station, where she can get on an inbound Blue Line train. When she's heading to State Street, her trek isn't over. She has to get off at Government Center Station and transfer again to an outbound train so she can reach the only elevator at State Station.

"Isn't that wonderful?" Murphy asked sarcastically. "You can't do anything from here."

So she sat in the front row among 100 or so people yesterday and cheered as a passel of dignitaries broke ground on a $55 million overhaul of Maverick Station, the latest stop to be upgraded in a $750 million modernization of the Blue Line. Work is already underway at State.

The Maverick upgrade isn't expected to be finished until mid-2008. But Murphy said the start of construction marks a milestone for a project the community has been seeking for two decades. The new and improved station will have two elevators, two escalators, and automated fare equipment as well as updated lighting, intercoms, and signs.

"It's going to be fantastic once it's done," Murphy said.

City, state, and federal officials all said they have been pestered for years by East Boston residents and businesses to make Maverick Station accessible and improve its appearance.

The station is one of the oldest in the city, originally constructed from 1900 to 1904 as part of the tunnel under Boston Harbor that first accommodated streetcars. The Blue Line subway to Revere was built later. Maverick Station was last rehabilitated in 1968.

East Boston, long heavily populated by immigrants, has experienced a development boom in recent years as urban homebuyers seek a better value across the water from downtown. Speakers yesterday predicted that the station improvements, which will include beautifications to Maverick Square, will be a catalyst to attract more residents and businesses.

"One of the most asked questions when I come to forums in East Boston is, 'What's going to happen to Maverick Station?' " said Mayor Thomas M. Menino. "It fits in with the other renovations and new development we have in this community, the renaissance of East Boston."

Douglas I. Foy, secretary of the state Office of Commonwealth Development, said a new subway station less than a five-minute ride from downtown is bound to attract additional apartment and condominium construction nearby.

"We already have an amazing amount of housing development going on in this neighborhood, and the transit improvement is going to reinforce that effort," Foy said.

The work at Maverick Station is the latest phase in a comprehensive $750 million project by the Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority to reconstruct the 12-station Blue Line. Renovations at seven stops are complete. Improvements to Government Center and Orient Heights stations are being designed. Bowdoin Station, currently the downtown terminus, will be eliminated as part of the Government Center renovation.

In addition to providing accessibility, a key element of the Blue Line work is extending platforms to allow for service by six-car trains, which are standard on the Red and Orange lines. New trains for the Blue Line start arriving next year.

The T estimates that the entire project, which began in 1994, will be finished in 2009.

"In the not-too-distant future, the four-car overcrowded trains on the Blue Line will be a thing of the past," said the MBTA's general manager, Daniel Grabauskas.

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Source: The Boston Globe

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