The bridge that carries West Roxbury Parkway over the Needham Line has been gone since late July, and MassDOT says the gap will last until December 2026. That one missing span has changed how traffic moves between Belgrade Avenue and the Holy Name rotary. It also changed how the Roslindale Day Parade got to its finish line and which weekends the commuter rail runs. During the same stretch, Centre Street saw a run of handoffs: a new restaurant in a familiar space, a longtime liquor store under a new owner, and one closing.

Most of what West Roxbury does in October is still happening this year. It's just taking a different route to get there.

The Parade Still Ended at Holy Name

The 50th Roslindale Day Parade stepped off from Roslindale Square at 1 p.m. on Sunday, October 4. In most years the parade heads all the way down Belgrade Avenue to Holy Name. This year it turned right off Belgrade onto Robert Street, climbed to South Street, and followed South Street down to Centre Street and Holy Name. Universal Hub's coverage of the day showed dancers from the Dance Academy in Hyde Park doing flips along the new route and Bolivian dance groups heading down South Street. The rain also held off long enough for the parade to finish.

The parade shows the pattern for the whole season. The end point stayed the same and the path changed, because the West Roxbury Parkway bridge over the tracks, the parade's usual way in, doesn't exist right now.

What Belgrade Avenue Is Carrying Until December

The closed stretch is West Roxbury Parkway from its intersection with Belgrade Avenue to the Holy Name rotary on Centre Street. It's closed to cars and to people on foot. MassDOT's closure advisory put the start at about 11 p.m. on Sunday, July 19. Drivers and pedestrians both take the official detour on Belgrade Avenue. The June detour plan sends southbound Parkway traffic west on Belgrade and northbound Parkway traffic east on Belgrade.

The detour changed one side street as well. Beech Street is now one-way from Belgrade Avenue to the signal at West Roxbury Parkway and Anawan Avenue, which is meant to keep detour traffic off the residential blocks.

Neighbors saw the pressure points coming before the closure began. At MassDOT's pre-closure meeting, West Roxbury Neighborhood Council Chair Larry Costello spoke for Rose's Bounty, the food pantry at Stratford Street Church. It opens twice a month on Fridays and Saturdays, and Stratford Street connects to Anawan and then the Parkway. He warned that weekend work routing traffic through Beech Street and Anawan Avenue could pile up if it landed on a distribution day. MassDOT's representative answered that the agency would coordinate with the church:

"We don't want to see gridlock in the area so maybe we'll get some officers there."

At the same meeting, resident Jeffrey Sarin predicted that drivers would cut through the Roche Bros. parking lot. The project's design engineer agreed and said that short of blocking the lot off, he saw no way to stop it.

Here's where the work stands now. MassDOT's look-ahead for September 25 through October 9 says demolition is finished and replacement has started. Crews are setting precast bridge units between 7 a.m. and 4 p.m., seven days a week. The project team told the June meeting that some shifts would run until 9 p.m. Overnight work would be concentrated on weekends when the trains are out, with noise monitors on site and a 24-hour hotline for reporting excessive noise.

The Needham Line Has Its Own Detour Calendar

The rail line under the bridge is part of the job, so Bellevue, Highland and Roslindale Village stations each lose service on certain dates. The MBTA's current notice, posted September 18 and updated September 25, lists the October dates below.

MassDOT originally projected eight weekend shutdowns for the bridge work and utility relocation. As of early October, though, the MBTA's latest notice doesn't list any November or December dates. The preliminary calendar from June has been replaced by later updates, so the MBTA's alerts page is the place to confirm a weekend before you plan around it.

In July, MassDOT's construction representative told the Bulletin he expected extra buses on Routes 35, 36 and 37 during rail outages. The September rider notice only promises the extra Route 59 trips.

Centre Street Changed Tenants Without Going Dark

A mile up Centre Street, September brought its own handoffs. Most of them kept a familiar place open under a new arrangement.

On September 20, Yeanie's opened at 1761 Centre St. It's a '50s-style burger and chicken spot with a jukebox and swivel seats. Yeanie Bach and her husband Phi Pham, who own Bánh Mì Ơi next door, took over the former Christo's space for their second Yeanie's. The first one is in Dorchester. Universal Hub called it the neighborhood's "newest, and most yellow, eatery."

Further along, Klin Thai at 1894 Centre St. got a beer, wine and cordials license in early September. The 16-seat restaurant opened last year.

Blanchard's, at Lagrange and Centre streets, is getting a new name and keeping most everything else. On September 24 the Boston Licensing Board approved its sale to Bhavin Patel. His attorney told the board the store would run much as it has for decades, apart from a new name: Kappy's Fine Wine & Spirits. Michael Pignone, who has managed the store and has worked for the Elder and Corey family there since 1999, will stay on as manager. The attorney didn't say whether the large white "BLANCHARD'S" letters on the Lagrange Street side will be changed.

One loss didn't come with a replacement. Bruegger's Bagels at 667 VFW Parkway closed in early September after at least two decades. No successor for that space showed up in the coverage we reviewed.

What Returns in December, and What Still Has No Date

MassDOT says the bridge will reopen in December 2026 but hasn't given a specific day. Its June briefing said "early December." The new bridge won't be a straight copy of the old one. Plans call for sidewalks on both sides and buffered bike lanes linking to the existing Belgrade Avenue facilities and the planned Centre Street and West Roxbury Parkway facilities.

Several pieces of the project are still open questions:

• The Belgrade and Parkway intersection. The June plan included full-depth reconstruction there with its own traffic pattern, but the date was listed as TBD.
• Parkway repaving. In July, Universal Hub reported that a further detour might be needed when the Parkway is repaved. The current MassDOT look-ahead doesn't give a date for that work.
• DCR's separate Parkway work. On weekdays through Friday, November 27, DCR has lane shifts and partial sidewalk closures on West Roxbury Parkway between Centre Street and Grove Street for curb and sidewalk improvements. DCR's weekday traffic shifts at Centre Street and Walter Street are scheduled to end Monday, October 6.

Near the west end of the detour, the building at 400 Belgrade Ave. is now leasing as The Bellevue. It was approved as a four-story, 18-unit rental building that includes two affordable units. Its website lists apartments available starting in August 2026. When the Parkway bridge reopens, the stretch of Belgrade Avenue in front of it goes back to being a local street instead of the only way through.

Have questions about how the Parkway closure or the December reopening affects a home near Belgrade Avenue or the Holy Name rotary? Sean Preston follows these West Roxbury projects week to week and is happy to walk you through what's confirmed so far and what isn't. Let's Connect.