Our streak of unseasonably warm, dry weather ends today, but at least it's Friday. Let's get to the news: C you later: The MBTA is kicking off another sprawling nine-day Green Line diversion this weekend — and permanently closing one stop. Both closures are related to the T's multimillion-dollar effort to make its aboveground stops ADA compliant. (The agency is also installing 17 miles of new cables as part of its project to replace the Green Line tunnel's Gilded Age-era signal system.) - The diversion: This Saturday through next Sunday (Nov. 7-15), the entire Green Line tunnel will be closed, from North Station to Kenmore. The entire C branch out to Cleveland Circle and the E branch to Heath Street will also be suspended. And the B branch will be suspended between Kenmore and Babcock Street. Click here or scroll below for the T's guide to alternative transit options (many of which are free).
- FYI: The T says it has no plans this time to do signal work on the Orange Line while also diverting Green Line riders onto Orange Line. That happened during the recent Green Line closure over Halloween weekend, which led to long Orange Line waits and outraged transit watchdogs. " We think it's really important that shutdowns have good mitigation," Chris Friend, the interim executive director of TransitMatters, told WBUR's Rachell Sanchez-Smith, adding the group was "disappointed" because "that didn't seem to be the case" last weekend. (According to an T spokesperson, last weekend's Orange Line delays were exacerbated by several other issues, including an unplanned signal problem, a stuck train door and a trespasser on the tracks.)
- The forever closure: Friday is your last chance to use the Green Line's Fairbanks Street stop. The C branch stop is closing permanently Saturday and being consolidated into an upgraded Brandon Hall stop (which is a three-minute walk down Beacon Street).
- Up next: The T is also planning to close the Green Line's Kent Street stop later this year. Officials say removing the two bunched-up stops could make C branch rides up to a minute faster.
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| A diagram of the Nov. 7-15 partial closure of the Green Line and alternative transit options. (MBTA) |
Full blown: Vineyard Wind, the 62-turbine offshore wind farm off the coast of Massachusetts, is now fully up and running. WBUR's Miriam Wasser broke the news this morning that the project quietly reached full commercial operations last Thursday, Oct. 29. Miriam has more here on the long and sometimes bumpy journey it took for Vineyard Wind to reach this milestone. - The news came just hours after Revolution Wind, a slightly smaller wind farm nearby with contracts with Connecticut and Rhode Island, announced it had reached full power Thursday. The two projects combined have the capacity to generate enough electricity for 750,000 homes.
It's over: The Associated Press officially called Question 5 for the "no" side yesterday, a day after supporters of the ballot measure had conceded defeat. The latest count shows just over 52% of voters cast ballots against the measure to tweak the state's Chapter 62F revenue cap/rebate law. - Watch this (5,000-square foot) space: It's also not looking great for Question 7, the state's last uncalled ballot question. With 97.6% of precincts reporting, the no side has a more than 33,000 vote advantage over supporters of the ballot question to make it easier to build homes on small lots.
It's also over: After a two-month strike, Encore Boston Harbor workers and management have reached a deal to end the work stoppage. The unions representing the casino's housekeepers, cooks, servers and other workers announced last night that they had ratified a new collective bargaining agreement (details of the deal weren't immediately available). Meanwhile in Maine: Former Gov. Paul LePage appears to be headed to Congress. In the race for Maine's open 2nd Congressional District, Democrat Matt Dunlap conceded to LePage yesterday. The 78-year-old is poised to be New England's first GOP member of the House since 2019, just as the region becomes Republican-less in the Senate for the first time since the Civil War . The district's current congressman, centrist Democratic Rep. Jaren Golden, announced he wouldn't seek reelection last fall after Dunlap announced a primary challenge from his left. In court: Closing arguments are expected today in the federal trial of former Stoughton police officer Matthew Farwell. The 40-year-old is accused of killing Sandra Birchmore, a pregnant 23-year-old, in 2021 to keep her from revealing their sexual relationship that allegedly began when she was 15. The Associated Press has a recap of how the trial has unfolded so far. P.S.— The Arlington International Film Festival has a new name. Do you know what it is? Then take our Boston News Quiz. |
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