Boston Central Artery '88 - v2 - (1 of 5)

[MSTS1 Original - Updated for quality purposes, and extended with more video footage. The Sox game on the radio continues...]
My July 1988 filmed drive on Boston's Central Artery Expressway, North End, Charlestown, Chelsea, Revere, and ending at Rocky Beach after the temps hit over 100 degrees that day.
(1 of 5)

[@eddytpsma9]

iam from South America but went to school in Boston university those videos of that time bring me back a lot of beautiful memories of the city of Boston had a beutiful time there that time was from 1969 to 1978

[@KellyMessiah]

The game was July 31st. The Sox won. Rocket pitched a complete game with 13 Ks. Reed lead off with Greenwell hitting clean-up. Barrett went 2-5 with a RBI. Rice hit a solo shot. The red hot Sox swept the 4 game series. All part of Morgan Magic.

[@HayastAnFedayi]

And to make matters worse the state of Massachusetts was supposed to take the highway funds they received and used them on increasing the MBTA system which they never did, because once again people whined about trains or subways being in their backyard, but yet the same people complain about traffic and yet at the same time push for bike paths and the tearing down of transportation infrastructure...talk to the residents of Roxbury and Dorchester who when losing the orange line were promised the silver line service and tell me how happy they are haha

[@mr.goodboi2780]

I love these types of videos. They always relax and intrigue me.

[@boofdfast]

Why were cars better looking back then? Nowadays, they all look alike... Like a round blob of FWD turds. At least, back then, you could tell the difference between a Toyota, Audi, Volvo or Ford... Now, not so much. Great vid, my dad did this commute for 28 years, till retiring. Nice work.

[@Shyzah]

what the hell are you on about

[@EdwardM-t8p]

Now it's even worse! These days they're all identikit SUVs and pick-ups as big as a house

[@DanConroy78]

So nice to hear a Red Sox game in the background.

[@blast_processing-music_disc]

Yolo

[@jonp4846]

Jody Reed.

[@Gordoff-44]

Aaah the sweet static of WEEI? 590AM.

[@choptanktuxent2]

This was how I first saw Boston (albeit in the other direction), and not too many years before this video. It was summer 1980 and I was on my way from PA to a vacation in Nova Scotia with my mother and new stepfather (his brother lived in NS and we would stay with them). The night before we went through Boston, we stayed in South Attleboro and the next day took 95 north/128 south to the split/93 north over the Artery to 128 north to 95 north (after a detour to Salem), continuing on to Bar Harbor, ME. The day after that, we took the ferry to Yarmouth (my first time out of the eastern time zone) and went on up the south shore to my stepuncle's. I basically had to twist my stepdad's arm to take us through the city. :)The only time I stayed in Boston was in 2006 when I took Amtrak from Wilmington, DE to Back Bay and stayed 4 nights at the Charlesmark. Saw the Sox beat the O's, did the Freedom Trail, BU, BC, MIT, Faneuil Hall, had a salad in Quincy Market... great time.

[@MSTS1]

@NEPatriot - The AM signal would fade in and out around bridge structures, and disappear completely in tunnels (to then be replaced by TunnelRadio - 100mW at Dewey Square Underpass). Ken Coleman and Joe Castiglione were broadcasting on WRKO-680 back in '88. It probably was also simulcast on WPLM-FM 99.1 in Plymouth, MA., but with not a very good signal up in Boston- too far down south towards the Cape..

[@hellacrunk1]

Building on the far left with the white side at around 3:17 is where I lived when I was little! 51 Fulton St, North End!🙌

[@miketennis14]

What a great video! I used to take this road so much that when watching the video I felt like I was just on the road and almost like the road was still there. It had great views as others have said. Always enjoyed it especially when there was no traffic. Also, very impressive that the person was able to take such a quality video while driving back then.

[@VSV659]

Back in the 80s, I did this drive everyday down 93 - never saw it this empty . Would occasionally go in the car pool lane - if I saw a cop, I would exit left and loop through local lanes and reach downtown.

[@lewisroadstudio9270]

Wow! Just like being there again! Thanks for the time machine. I knew every inch of that road. ❤

[@animaljustice7774]

Today is July 30, 2024 as I’m watching this so exactly 36 years ago, man it looks so different compared to the highway today!

[@EdwardM-t8p]

Route 93 - I used to work as an engineer for the highway department and after the 1989 Loma Prieta Earthquake I always was a bit afraid to drive on the lower deck because of what the quake did to a diuble deck expressway viaduct out there. 😬 EDIT: 7:39 Howard Johnson's I remember that place! On nighttime shifts in '85 & '86 I would go there and have steak and eggs with coffee. Those breakfasts were the best! 🤤😋

[@jasoncamp483]

Remember 1988 well. Takes me back. Great upload.

[@jonp4846]

I remember taking the exit off the lower deck (2:30) going towards Storrow and was going a little too fast, hit a bad patch of oil, and pulled a 180 right there at the Gahden. Good times!

[@ShibaMomma143]

The drive through the tunnel was a blink! What a time warp!!

[@NHfiddle]

this is awesome!!! And you've got Ken Coleman on the radio with the Red Sox.

[@ryoamora8655]

The traffic and the cars looked better back then...At least, you could tell an American from a Japanese from a European car, back in the 80s and 90s. Nowadays, not so much...Today, 90% of cars look like generic, round blobs of plastic, boring shit.

[@MrGrouchyjoe]

I like this better than the O'Neill Tunnel...You really got to see the city. Remember going to Haymarket to buy fireworks? Those were the days!

[@willvazz9611]

While you may have liked it, many of us absolutely despised the eyesore! It disconnected us from half of the great city!

[@HayastAnFedayi]

Don't let the naysayers and nimby's get you down, I also loved it better the old way and am a life long Bostonian, they were the days indeed, the old Garden with the elevated Green Line tracks on Causeway street was part of Boston's identity replaced with overpriced condo's and retail establishments that many can't afford.

[@rebecca8525]

@@willvazz9611It’s WAY better now that it’s underground. The Big Dig and the Rose Kennedy Greenway are great improvements to Boston. The air is so much cleaner with less cars above ground and more trees.

[@elevati0nBW]

the city is meant to be seen by people on foot, that live, work or shop in the city NOT to be seen via elevated polluting corridor of traffic MESS. you got to see a ton of the city sitting there baking in the sun behind an endless stream of gas guzzling cars, i remember this distinctly from my childhood, going up in south boston and how big of a mess the big dig was, and when it opened and killed like 4 people IIRC. so glad they put this shit underground, the area is AMAZING to walk around in now.

[@edorourke9223]

I feel like I could have been there somewhere. Is it just me, or was highway driving a little less frantic and insane back then?

[@davidcoviello6808]

I was only 5 when this was taken and that’s the first thought that hit me

[@DanConroy78]

And the Red Sox beat the Milwaukee Brewers 3-2.

[@Ramiestar]

I hear Joe Castiglione at 5:29!

[@SWog617]

I wonder whatever happened to him... 😕

[@rheingoldlounge]

This video is hypnotic, much like driving the Central Artery in real life.

[@MSTS1]

+rheingoldlounge And that's me driving and filming it, so long ago now.. but, I still remember doing it.. A big VHS camcorder on a tripod on the back-seat floor of my old '79 Chrysler Newport.. and it was nearly 100 degrees that day..

[@rheingoldlounge]

Thank you for this great video, Michael! It's a great memento of an almost disappeared Boston!

[@bbashn]

@@MSTS1 I've watched this video many times. What made ya think to drive around Boston and video tape it?

[@maxfranklinmeans]

7:33 What was South Bay Center like back in 1988?

[@opusmax1]

Easy to tell it was a Saturday. I drove from Saugus to Southie every weekday back then and it was usually a mess.

[@EdwardM-t8p]

At that time I was living in Lynn and had to make the same every weekday commute! Ugh.

[@mackdetroit4life]

Does this send me down memory lane...WOW!!! Watching this brings back LOTS of memorys! Thank you for filming this before it was all changed. Thank you!!

[@Masshole4life]

Why does 1988 feel like 1958??

[@jamesmo2932]

Wow Boston has changed alot since 1988 sure doesn't look the same since back then. I was 6 years old back then when this was taken.

[@willvazz9611]

I was -14. I only rode the Artery once, and I was 6 months old. Terrible highway, thank god it's gone!

[@notsure6187]

I was -6

[@SignalMan9292]

It’s still here but an underground tunnel

[@MSTS1]

@MattTrakker - This was on a Saturday afternoon. You're right about the car; it was a Newport, and its about as gone as the old highway is.. Glad you like the ride around the old town!

[@opusmax1]

Since this was 25 years before GoPro cameras, can you tell us what kind of equipment you used? I'm picturing one of those late '80s Panasonic videocams that sat on your shoulder, weighed 20 pounds and cost $1000.

[@MSTS1]

+opusmax1 '88 Panasonic Camcorder.. the shoulder aspect was great for balance.. $ + WT were much less.. The cam was set on a tripod in the back-seat area of my '79 Chrysler..

[@Altasren]

Yep, definitely Saturday. I did the Artery commute from 1986 to late 1988, and it was bad enough from Malden to Columbia Point when I had to be at work at 7:30 AM ... I'd have blown my brains out if I had to go into the teeth of rush.

[@EdwardM-t8p]

I know how you feel! I remember when I had to drive to work on the highway in, as you said it, the teeth of the rush.

[@Seegie16]

I remember going into the north end wit my parents in the 80s. We used to park under the highway and it was cheap and easy to find tons of parking

[@Celts24]

So awesome to hear the great Ken Coleman with the call of the Sox game. Seeing the city while driving brings back many memories.

[@subway007]

i remember when my mom use to drive through here on the artery... brings back loads of memories.. now these days there's tunnels here n there.

[@MSTS1]

@blembree1 - Glad you like them, so do I. I think the building that you are referring to was the Analex Building on Causeway St. If facing north, it stood to the right of the old Boston Garden. And up until 1983, to left of the old Garden was the Madison Hotel. All of that is long gone now.

[@EdwardM-t8p]

My union had offices in the Analex Building! Small world, @MSTS1.

[@tonyc6116]

I miss that Howard Johnson’s.

[@boofdfast]

Is this you driving, MSTS1? If so, what kind of car is it?

[@MSTS1]

+boofdfast See reply to rheingoldlounge

[@andresdelcampo6733]

They were hoping for a rematch with the Mets in the world series which they never got.

[@RobertMCotter]

Sounds like Ken Coleman and Joe Castiglione.

[@Sir_Wilo]

This looks so weird to me i wish i can time travel

[@kespeth2]

1:07 see that stub on the right? That's where 695 would have joined had that project not been nixed. That stub is still there today, in fact.

[@radanju3]

So unfortunate that never came to fruition.

[@billlyl3725]

Ken Coleman = Chefs Kiss

[@ghostofsquashmin]

these videos are awesome...where'd you start out, somerville?

[@lloydmarshalljr1951]

At the end of your video clip here, after leaving the I-93 artery and stopping at that wide intersection, it's like driving into a *SPENSER For Hire* scene. About that same time, Robert Urich's show was either being filmed or had wrapped up.

[@DarthVader1977]

Ed Romero!

[@warheart1016]

I wasn't alive in 88, born in 92, but I remember how cool the central artery was. It's also cool to see Andrew and South Bay back then. I grew up in Dorchester near by. Thanks for sharing this.

[@Zangodoo]

You don’t remember shit

[@warheart1016]

@@Zangodoo shut up bitch

[@Zangodoo]

@@warheart1016 hahaha a comment from a year ago and you reply in seconds. Sad.

[@Zangodoo]

@@warheart1016 how’s Jeanine doing?

[@warheart1016]

@@Zangodoo idk who Jeanine is but your tattoos suck bro.

[@johnochiltree1170]

Jeez… I’d forgotten what it was like driving up there.

[@pthompson2005]

6:57 1-800 GET MACE

[@KansasCityPrince1]

If you really want to experience Boston you got to go to the hood. Roxbury, Dorchester, Mattapan, Roslindale, Hyde Park, Jamaica Plain (aka Puerto Ricansville). You will have the time of your life.

[@terry6729]

Things don't look too different from Boston now. as a 2002 baby, it's a bit soothing to see.

[@MSTS1]

@NEPatriot - I understand the allegiance of western Connecticut to NY; it's closer to there than Boston. The location of the Hyatt Regency on Memorial Drive in Cambridge is a great spot to see the Boston skyline across the Charles River, especially at night.

[@NEPatriot]

@MSTS1 You're right. It was a lovely hotel. By the way, as you were driving, the signal was fading in and out. I know the flagship today of the Sox is WEEI 850...I know b/c there is a Red Sox affiliate here in my hometown, WGCH 1490. What station were you listening to the late and I think though a I'm a Yankees fan great Ken Coleman? Since 'GCH began airing the Sox in 04, well it's been success... I KNOW ABOUT '04! On a good note, WGCH also airs the Patriots...since 2008.

[@RedSoxNation92]

This is pure gold!

[@Firestone1]

Summer of Morgan magic!

[@megalodon8473]

I remember that summer very well! A crazy hot one it was - I made the trek into Boston many a time; I was 15 yrs old during the summer of '88 - I remember all those Sox players too! Morgan magic that summer - pretty sure it was Ned Martin and Bob Montgomery calling the games on TV38... those were the days!! I miss Boston to death.

[@burnlastsunday]

Walpole Joe.

[@MSTS1]

@mediadude08 If you watch all 5 parts, you'll see (and hear) lots of stuff you never did before as well..

[@alexanderking5395]

I remember the old South Boston Incinerator.

[@blembree1]

That's a trip down memory lane for me. What was that yellow brick building that occupied the space that the Fleet Center now stands? I've looked all over for what it may be. Anyone know? Thanks for the videos MSTS1!

[@MSTS1]

@ghostofsquashmin - Thanks. I started around Mystic Ave., Medford-Somerville area..

[@Firestone1]

the summer of morgan magic!

[@thatmuse76]

That is about as bad as the few expressways in DC proper.

[@martystiles6976]

must of really sucked tryin to pull in a distant am station while in the artery

[@mediadude08]

I had never seen the first 36 seconds of this vid before.

[@kevin62387]

WOW that is the late Ken Coleman on the radio.

[@josephdimauro4956]

Sat. July 30 ,1988

[@MSTS1]

@Bootleg127 - Thanks!

[@adstalga]

What else is better than a Red Sox win? A Red Sox win against the New York 'Roidees!!!!

[@burnlastsunday]

Ha you say that while Clemens is pitching for the Sox

[@BachBeethovenBerg]

It was against Milwaukee.

[@NEPatriot]

My first trip to Boston was around July, maybe Aug 1988. It was a Sat/Sunday affair. It was a motorcoach tour with a stay at the Hyatt Regency Cambridge. Fell in love with the city and have ever since...even if I disagree with the politics and baseball. The food, NHL, NFL and NBA...I may as well be a kindred spirit. Saw Quincy Market, Fanueil, Freedom Trail. Would love to see the North End as I am of Italian heritage.

[@griffin324]

What street is that at 8:24?

[@DigitalIslandboy]

It is still there. You can see where he turned off the Southeast Expressway by the "Fortress" warehouse storage building that had the big inflatable chain and pad-lock on its exterior and then took that off ramp to Boston St.

[@chrismanson3211]

I memba

[@MichaelLaferriere]

Looks like a much more pleasant (and quicker) drive than the underground parking garage called the Big Dig.

[@HayastAnFedayi]

I miss the old elevated Central Artery, they should have left it where it was, the only reason it had notorious traffic problems was because the rest of the expressways and Inner Belt weren’t completed to form the complete interstate and belt system around the greater Boston area, I get no one wants a highway in their backyard but what were the planners supposed to do back in the 50s??? They properly planned out the highways but politicians caved to cities that didn’t want a highway...kinda like people who move next to an airport and complain about the plane noise. I only imagine how faster we could all get around if the belt project was completed, instead we are left with greenways that do nothing to alleviate the traffic congestion, and btw I live right next to Route 3-Northwest Expressway in Billerica so I know what it’s like and it’s not that bad and only wish they finished Route 3 all the way to Cambridge to meet up with Route 2, I can tell you it would alleviate the traffic jams on 95 and 93 trying to go into the city smh

[@interstellarphred]

Highway expansion only makes even more traffic that clogs up just as bad as if nothing was done. The transit railway expansion that was to happen in lieu of the cancelled highways fell far short of the proposals, with the exception of the South Shore.

[@MichaelLaferriere]

@@interstellarphred The rest of the artery was never completed. Thats the problem.

[@BostonSmitty]

I was 11 in 1988, I forgot how junky the cars looked. Even the newer ones.

[@gpettigrewgmailcom]

I've been reading up on the Big Dig lately thanks to the GBH podcast. I have very few memories of the Central Artery, other than the mural of the whales. Thanks for this.