In May 1972, the MBTA opened a new southbound headhouse to accommodate a realignment of Boylston Street. That month, the agency received a federal grant that funded two-thirds of a $14.3 million modernization program. As part of that project, the MBTA investigated the feasibility of connecting Essex, , Washington, and with pedestrian tunnels. (The Winter Street Concourse was opened to passengers in 1979, connecting Park Street and Washington, but Essex and State were never connected with the others.) A $378,323 contract for modernization work on the southbound side, including a platform extension, was awarded in 1975; the Lagrange Street and Hayward Place entrances were likely closed during the work.