BOSTON — MBTA officials announced on Sunday night they will be reopening the Alewife station parking garage after it was closed down for repairs.
Following the weekend closures to the Alewife Station parking garage, work crews were able to address areas of concrete deterioration, which means all levels of the garage will reopen at 5 a.m. on Monday, Aug 13, the MBTA said in a statement.
Out of caution, the MBTA closed the garage down on Friday, Aug. 10 after a large piece of concrete fell on top of a car parked inside the garage.
Over the weekend, crews worked to repair the nearly 40-year-old building’s structural integrity.
"During the weekend closure, crews were able to address additional areas of deteriorated concrete, inspect and cover expansion joints where appropriate, and secure the paths of travel for pedestrian and vehicular access to the garage," the MBTA said in a statement. "Following completion of the work, an engineering and safety assessment of the garage’s condition determined that the garage is safe for use. Both MBTA personnel and an independent engineering consultant conducted the assessment."
In addition to the work done this weekend, the MBTA will also be enhancing monitoring of the garage's condition to ensure everyone's safety.
As of Monday, there will be no overnight parking at the garage in order to allow engineers to conduct nightly inspections to monitor the ongoing repairs. The company is asking riders to make sure to take their cars out of the garage before the end of MBTA service each weeknight. The garage will reopen every morning at 5 a.m.
The MBTA also added they are developing a long-term plan for the garage. In early July, the company requested bids for an alewife Garage Structural Repairs contract.
The $5.7 million contract was offered last week and work will begin in September. The contract includes repairing beams, patching concrete decks, re-caulking deck joints and cleaning and flushing the existing draining system.
The MBTA says it will spend $8 billion over the next five years upgrading the whole system’s infrastructure.
Alewife station has 2,627 total spaces.