The MBTA recently announced that trolley buses on Routes 71 and 73 will be temporarily replaced with diesel-hybrid buses this spring due to Mount Auburn Street and four other roadway projects in Watertown, Cambridge, and Belmont. In Spring 2024, the MBTA expects to begin operating battery electric buses, as announced in the MBTA’s news release:
“These projects require an anticipated five-and-a-half-year shut down of the overhead catenary wire system used to power the MBTA’s only remaining trolley bus service on Routes 71 and 73. While the trolley bus service on Routes 71 and 73 will be replaced with diesel-hybrid buses for the first two years of this shutdown period, the MBTA expects to begin operating battery-electric buses (BEBs) on Routes 71 and 73 beginning in spring 2024.”
The MBTA’s announcement also mentioned the upcoming National Grid project scheduled to take place on Mount Auburn Street before our project begins construction. National Grid will replace and upgrade its new gas infrastructure on Mount Auburn Street between Belmont Street and Watertown Square. This project is expected to take two years to complete and is necessary step before we start construction. We will provide contact information for National Grid once the utility work begins.