ITEM PHOTO BY OWEN O’ROURKE
MBTA Central Square Station.
By Thomas Grillo
LYNN — Work is underway on a $6.1 million project to improve the MBTA’s Central Square Station and its parking garage.
The station and its garage are in need of a variety of repairs resulting from years of neglect.
The scope of work in and around the T stop includes the installation of new sidewalks, the replacement of step stones to prevent pedestrian accidents, stair and elevator equipment repair, improved drainage, expansion joint and structural repairs, painting of the steel girders on the 5-story garage, as well fixes to the commuter rail platform, according to the T.
In addition, an assessment of the facility will be completed with recommendations for how to enliven the street level where North Shore Community College (NSCC) is temporarily leasing space near the intersection of Market Street and Harrison Court.
Like all MBTA capital projects, the T’s engineer for that job contacts the Transit Police for detail coverage based on the work to be completed. If the T’s police cannot manage the detail, they will call the local police department for assistance. Joseph Pesaturo, the T spokesman, said the T police have been assigned safety duty at the site. He did not immediately know how many police were assigned to the Central Square project, how many hours they work or the amount they are paid.
The Massachusetts Department of Transportation provided the money as part of its Pay Go Capital funding. Work on the NSCC space is expected to be completed just after Labor Day while the stairs are slated completed by mid November.
The station will remain open during construction.
When completed, the T said safety in the station and the garage will increase and better walking surfaces will offer better mobility in and around the site.
Built in the 1990s, the Central Square Station is a stop on the T’s Commuter Rail Newburyport/Rockport Line. It consists of a center island platform serving the two station tracks on an elevated grade that runs through the downtown. The garage is integrated into the station. The station also serves as a hub for a dozen bus routes serving the North Shore.
