Now, the Massachusetts Department of Transportation and Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority want people to be aware of a raft of new closures and Red Line interruptions every weekend this month.

The state transportation department started upgrading the century-old bridge in 2013. Anyone who regularly uses — or used — the iconic salt-and-pepper shaker bridge over the Charles River knows all too well about headaches stemming from the closures.

Add one more New Year's resolution to your list: Find an alternate route when the Longfellow Bridge close s on January weekends.

During the closures, MBTA buses will be the only vehicles allowed to traverse the bridge. Because of work near the Red Line tracks that run along the bridge, the Red Line subway service from Kendall/MIT to Park Street will also be replaced by shuttle buses on Saturdays and Sundays. The shuttles will include a stop at Charles/MGH.


Stay tuned for even more traffic changes. Last July, I reported that the contractor chosen to work on the bridge, a consortium of construction giants called J.F. White-Skanska-Consigli, has pushed the full reopening of the bridge back two years to December 2018. Officials said this past summer that additional work will continue into 2019, but it won't affect traffic.

Commuters will breathe a big sigh of relief at that time: The bridge has been estimated to carry about 28,000 vehicles and more than 90,000 transit users a day when all of its lanes are open.

The bridge project was estimated to cost $255 million, but state transportation officials wouldn't say on Thursday whether the delays have increased the price.

Two key issues on agenda

The MBTA was embroiled in controversies all through 2015, and it looks poised to repeat the pattern in 2016. On Monday, the T's fiscal control board will tackle two huge issues: proposals for fare hikes and new commuter rail schedules.


Fare hikes have been on the minds of fiscal control board members for months. On Monday, T officials are expected to present some of the options that riders may see in July.

Fare increases can't be called a certainty yet, but the control board and the T have certainly made it clear that it's a strong possibility. Right now, the question is how high they'll look to raise the fares, which were last increased by about 5 percent last year.

MBTA officials are planning a budget that assumes a 5 percent fare hike. But control board members can go even higher, a prospect that has riled lawmakers who say they fought to cap the agency's fare hikes at a lower rate.

As if that weren't enough drama for one meeting, MBTA officials are scheduled to propose new commuter rail schedules.

MBTA officials had said they planned to implement new schedules that wouldn't drastically change the departure times of many people's trains. But when the MBTA quietly announced changes to the schedule in November, commuters saw many of their usual trains cut from the new timetables. Legislators quickly got involved, and the MBTA reversed course.

The MBTA will now present new schedules on Monday, and will hold several public hearings on them before putting any into use this spring.

The meeting starts at 1 p.m. at 10 Park Plaza in Boston. They're expecting a big crowd, so head to the conference rooms on the second floor, instead of the smaller state transportation board meeting room.


Nicole Dungca can be reached at nicole.dungca@globe.com. Follow her on Twitter @ndungca.