Wollaston station will close for 20 months in Red Line revamp

There is no elevator in the Wollaston MBTA station in Quincy, slated to undergo reconstruction in July.Pat Greenhouse/Globe staff/File

Construction work at four MBTA stations at the end of the Braintree branch of the Red Line will begin in July, and the Wollaston stop will be closed for 20 months while it is rebuilt, T officials said during a Quincy City Council meeting.

Trains will not stop as they pass through the Wollaston station during that period. Bus service will run between Wollaston and North Quincy to serve riders who typically board at Wollaston, MBTA project manager Joe Cheever told city councilors Monday night.

T officials also briefed councilors on the other projects at the Quincy Center, Quincy Adams, and Braintree stations. Cheever said that in evaluating the options at Wollaston, MBTA staff determined that closing the station will save money and shorten the construction period.

The $38 million full station upgrade will make Wollaston accessible to all riders and mitigate flooding problems, and work will last through 2020. The station will be closed for 20 months between sometime this fall and summer 2019, but construction will continue for 35 months, said Cheever.

At Quincy Center, most of the long-shuttered parking garage will be demolished to make way for new development, MBTA project manager John McCormack and Massachusetts Department of Transportation chief strategy officer Scott Bosworth told councilors. A request for development proposals will go out this year.

As part of the $25 million project, levels five through three of the garage are coming down. Level two will remain, an accessible entrance will be added at the Burgin Parkway side of the station, the station’s elevator will be replaced, and the station itself will remain open during demolition, officials said. Construction is expected to last through 2018.

Bosworth and T officials said they hope there is interest in a mixed-use project at Quincy Center station, similar to the project that is being planned at the North Quincy stop, which includes housing and retail space. The T has received a federal grant for $4.2 million for work to improve accessibility at the station, and there are plans for a bus shelter once demolition is complete.

At Quincy Adams, the parking garage will undergo a $42 million rehabilitation, which will take three years and three months to complete, or until the end of 2020. Improvements will improve traffic circulation and add parking capacity, McCormack said.

At Braintree, the T will spend $31 million to rehabilitate the parking garage, and construction will take 23 months, he said.

The transit authority is installing two new elevators and garage lighting and plumbing, building a new garage lobby and parking services office, and making way for more parking and better traffic circulation, McCormack said.