Lechmere Viaduct and Charles River Dam Road

The MBTA has announced that pavement markings on Charles River Dam Road would be temporarily reconfigured to include dedicated bus lanes. The lanes are designed to support replacement bus service during the planned suspension of Green Line service between North Station to Lechmere Station during construction. During a typical commute, 14,000 riders travel between North Station and Lechmere.

The plan, which was developed in collaboration with MassDOT's Highway Division, will take effect with the closure of a segment of the Green Line north of North Station. That closure, which is scheduled to start on May 24, will allow for the rehabilitation of the historic Lechmere Viaduct and the demolition, relocation, and reconstruction of Lechmere Station and the East Cambridge Viaduct along a new alignment. The complete closure of the viaduct will allow the required work to be compressed into a period of just under one year.

Under the plan, Charles River Dam Road will include all-day dedicated bus lanes in both directions. Further dedicated-bus accommodations will be made along the remainder of the shuttle route on Martha Road and Nashua Street in the area near North Station. The plan, which preserves the existing bicycle and pedestrian accommodations, also maintains two vehicular travel lanes on Charles River Dam Road, and one left-turn lane in the Cambridge-bound direction.

• During the closure, Green Line service between Lechmere Station and North Station will be provided via replacement bus service
• Existing commuter bus routes (69, 80, 87, & 88) will continue regular service to their usual terminus at the existing bus garage at Lechmere Station during Green Line service outage.
• When this segment of viaduct / station work is complete, Green Line service will be restored from North Station to the new Lechmere Station.
• Final completion of the project, including an additional, new Green Line branch to Medford / Tufts Station is anticipated by December 2021.