The Alewife garage closed its second-floor parking area for a second weekend after falling concrete rubble fell on a car earlier this month.
Although a customer’s car was damaged, no-one was injured during the incident. The garage, featuring 2,600 parking spots, was closed the following day for inspections and repairs before it could reopen to the public. Now the MBTA is taking added precautions to ensure the safety of the public, conducting additional inspections over the weekend.
“Out of an abundance of caution, the MBTA will also be conducting assessments on each of the remaining floors of the garage and performing spot repairs as necessary,” the MBTA said in a statement following the incident.
Additional innspections
MBTA spokesman Joe Pesaturo announced the closure of the Alewife garage this weekend, sharing when the second floor will re-open to commuters.
“Following a week of enhanced monitoring and inspections during the overnight hours this week, the MBTA is closing the garage for the weekend,” Pesaturo said in a statement. ” It will re-open Monday morning, August 20, at 5:00 a.m.”
The rest of the Alewife garage has been deemed safe.
According to WCVB, the MBTA has a number of planned repairs set to begin next month that include repairing the beams and decks, re-caulking deck joints and cleaning the existing drainage system. A project that is estimated to cost roughly $5.7 million.
A history of safety issues
Since the falling debris, WCVB’s 5 Investigates has taken a deeper look into the matter and has discovered previous reports detailing unsafe conditions and safety concerns last year involving the Alewife garage. Noting that it wasn’t until now, following the dangerous incident, that officials have decided to follow through with repair bids placed last month.
Due to the closure of roughly 500 parking spots on the second floor, drivers were told they could park their cars at Wellington, Oak Grove and Riverside.
