MILTON  – The select board will go forward with a lawsuit seeking the repair of the long-closed stairway at the Milton station on the Mattapan trolley line.

The board voted 4 to 0 at its meeting last week to  sue the MBTA after discussing it in a closed-door session.  There was no further public discussion.

In a letter last month, the board threatened to sue the transit agency to force the repair of the stairway, which connects the Adams Street sidewalk with the platform below. In a draft of the court complaint, the board called the condition of the blocked-off stairway "a worsening safety hazard." It listed efforts by town officials and legislators to get the stairway repaired and reopened over the last several years. 

"Milton's efforts have been ignored by the MBTA, leaving Milton with its hands tied and a perpetually decrepit staircase in a station used frequently by its residents," the draft complaint states. "After years of attempted resolution and serious frustration, Milton files this suit as a last resort."

The stairway has been closed for about a decade.

In his reply to the select board's letter, MBTA General Manager Steve Poftak said the stairway cannot be repaired and will be torn down to alleviate the safety concerns. Repairing the stairway would require more extensive work on the station, he said, including installing an elevator to provide access for the disabled and elevating the station platform at least 14 inches.

He said the MBTA is waiting for a final design submission of the stair demolition plans from a consulting engineer.

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"Currently, our plan is to have a demolition contractor in place by the end of the year," Proftak wrote.

There is access to the station from Wharf Street, a block away from the staircase.

The MBTA  plans to rebuild all the stations on the Mattapan trolley line as part of a $114.5 million project, which also includes overhauling the rails and replacing the  historical trolleys with light rail vehicles similar to the ones that run on the Green Line.

Completion of that project is not expected for years. Preliminary design plans are not due until the second half of next year.

An MBTA spokesman declined to comment on the select board's decision.

Reach Fred Hanson at fhanson@patriotledger.com.

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