Rehab of Government Center Station!

Finally the T is using a little common sense! Thanks to Rich Davey of course!
In today's Boston Herald the MBTA announced it is looking to go forward with the once planned Government Center station renovation. This time around the new, but not really any more, GM will be using a wonderful plan to finally save the MBTA some much needed money and also a lot of time during the construction process. The plan, which is still in it's planning stages, calls for a complete top-to-bottom make over of the entire station. If you use the Government Center station on a regular basis or have just walked by it before you know that its not much to look at first of all and the inside is very rundown and just plain old.

The head house that is in place now was built in 1964. To me it kind of looks like a war bunker right out of WWII. The inside of the station also kind of feels like a bunker. Its dark, cramped, and very hard to move around in. The current station also does not comply with The Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) requirements, meaning the station has no elevator access to its platforms from the street.

The $71 million renovation calls to level the existing head house and build something new and inviting. The new head house will be a large, three story glass tower. Two brand new elevators will be installed for the station making it ADA compliant. All of the platforms for the Green and Blue lines will also be rebuilt. Hopefully it will make it easier for people to get around down there! Tile floors, new lighting fixtures, and almost double the amount of fare gates (which will help eliminate the bottleneck that usually occurs during rush hour) will all be new features of the new station.

Now for the issues with the project: The T has proposed to close the current Government Center station for three years or until the project is complete. By closing the station for the entire construction period the T would save around $16 million and also cut about 15 months off the estimated 4 year construction time. The problem with closing the station for around three years would be that the 21,000 riders who use this station would have to look elsewhere to get where they need to go. To me this does not seem like that big of an issue. People who use the station to access the Green and Blue lines don't have to look too far to find other stations. There are four stations within walking distance to GC that offer Green and Blue line connections; Haymarket, State st., Park Street, and on weekdays Bowdoin station. Walking a little farther for your commute really is not going to kill you. Especially if the you can get a brand new, state of the art, station and it will help to save the MBTA a little money. As of right now Mayor Menino has not signed off on closing the station but I am keeping my fingers crossed. LETS START DIGGIN!