MBTA: Platform Demolition Part of $3M Rehabilitation Project at Oak Grove Station

The MBTA will begin platform demolition at Oak Grove Station Wednesday night.

The project, which is slated to run from Sept. 4 through Oct. 9, hours will be 8:30 p.m. to 4:30 a.m. Mondays through Thursdays.

"The overnight hours is due to safety reasons," reads a message posted to the city's Facebook page on Tuesday. "...this work can only be performed after rush hours and the heavier work take place at the end of service when power is off," added Karen DeSpirito of MassDOT in an Aug. 29 email sent to Malden officials.

In a call Tuesday afternoon, MBTA spokesman Kelly Smith told Malden Patch that the night work that is going to start Wednesday at Oak Grove is part of an overall rehabilitation project at that location.

"This particular area they have to remove old concrete from the platform and they have to do it through the use of water pressure (hydrodemolition) so they are doing it overnight when there are less people there for safety reasons," Smith said.

The cost of the project is $3 million, and abutters were notified last week about the work that will be starting Wednesday night, according to Smith.

"There was some displacement of the pedestrian bridge at Oak Grove so they are repairing that," Smith said, "and this particular part of the night work is going to be replacing some of the damaged parts of the platform at (the station). 

"They are also going to be repairing and upgrading the signal, power and track work at the station, as well as improving Americans with Disabilities Act (ADA) access."