Confusion in Somerville as Green Line, Orange Line close at the same time
SOMERVILLE -- "It's raining out, so today's just not a good day," said Ja'Mea Jenkins, as she waited for a shuttle bus to start her journey from school in Somerville to work in Boston. She was late for both.
"I walked to the train station and then I looked at the app and I realized I had to go to [another] street," Jenkins explained. She had to take a soggy walk to the stop where buses were running in place of the trains now out-of-commission in Somerville.
"We do have to go through a lot, people starting school, work. The commute is just not that great right now," she said.
Somerville gets a double whammy: a stretch of the Green Line from Union Square to Boston was taken out of service starting Monday. That is in addition to the Orange Line, which has been shut down since Friday. Both will be down for a month, allowing crews to work on updating the MBTA's aging infrastructure.
"That makes things more difficult for everyone," said Charles Reyes, as he pulled into Union Square.
Student Rosalee Santana said it took her more than twice as long as usual to make the trip from Boston to Somerville. "Like two hours," she said.
Somerville Mayor Katjana Ballantyne also took a test ride on the system Monday morning. She is concerned about cars not following signs for bus lanes.
She hopes MBTA officials are open to small changes along the way. "As we get closer to Labor Day, and after Labor Day, that they can make adjustments and hopefully stop the high-pressure congestion areas," she said.