The Big Dig began with activists who hated highways

The most expensive highway project ever built in America began with a man who hated highways. An activist and an engineer, Fred Salvucci helped stop a highway from being built through Boston. Then he came up with another idea: tear down an elevated highway through the city and replace it with a tunnel.
The project became known as the Big Dig. It was one of the most notoriously troubled infrastructure projects in American history; yet it delivered on its promise to transform the city of Boston.
This is the first in a nine-part podcast series about the history and politics of Boston's Big Dig. It was created as an audio experience; this presentation includes archival images.
Episode 2: • How two competing tunn...
Episode 3: • How Boston's Big Dig s...
Episode 4: • Here's why Boston's be...
Episode 5: • It took a feat of engi...
Episode 6: • Here's how billions of...
Episode 7: • How a power struggle o...
Episode 8: • Boston's Big Dig tunne...
Episode 9: • The Big Dig transforme...
You can find more about The Big Dig podcast at www.wgbh.org/podcasts/the-big...
GBH News is a premier source for in-depth local news and original story telling based in Boston, Massachusetts.
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[@GBHNews]

Hey Big Dig Podcast listeners! Would you be interested in seeing extra archival source material from the time of the Big Dig? Let us know:

[@Bostonguy222]

Yes please

[@edmowrey9755]

Maps! Maps! Maps! Let us LOOK at the various plans and decisions.

[@tonymasiellovids]

Yes! I would be very interested in archival footage. I am particularly interested in footage about the Southwest Expressway, but it all is very interesting. Thank you!

[@fredjr68]

Yes

[@gregl1927]

If only they connected North Station and South Station by rail, then the project would be considered a success. Instead we got an expensive tunnel--just for cars, mostly for people that don't even live in the city.

[@joshualapin7015]

That’s true but I still think it’s way better than what was there before

[@aldinlee8528]

There is ZERO reason to connect those two stations with 'through' rail capability. ZERO! Get over it! Paris and other awesome cities, have many inter-city rail stations, and they are NOT through rail stations. Geeeeeeeesh! They know how to spend their money well . . . the U.S. does not.

[@patsfreak]

As someone from Maine cut off from the rest of the country by rail… yup.

[@andrew_ray]

​@@aldinlee8528Strange to use Paris as an example, the city that has spent decades doing exactly what you suggest we shouldn't. Haven't you heard of the RER? That's the power of through-running.

[@Matt02341]

North south rail connect. Connecting NH to Cape Cod think of it.

[@NuncNuncNuncNunc]

Worth noting, the neighborhoods the highway would have cut through had low car ownership, i.e. these were roads for people outside the area to bypass those neighborhoods. There was a similar unfinished highway in Baltimore. Other states unabashedly demolished huge swaths of land through communities without too much thought for the people being displaced.

[@Jorge-lh6px]

New York City being the key example as to why such a highway plan has disastrous effects on a city.

[@alcubierrevj]

Yea, Exhibit A: Cross Bronx Expressway

[@jasonfischer8946]

That Baltimore highway is still there and falling apart.

[@sdeepj]

These highways should have been built around the city, rather than through them and destroying them

[@DTD110865]

@@jasonfischer8946 If you're talking about the one in Baltimore that I'm thinking of, it should've been kept open.

[@Xsiondu]

Holy crap. This is so well written and presented i feel moved and like i was living through this. It's amazing.

[@hotmetalslugs]

GBH is no joke.

[@ryananderson2346]

I came to say the same thing! Excellent job

[@kumazuma1]

Very well done. As a lifelong Bostonian it was great to understand things i only saw as a kid. Hats off and much thanks to WGBH. So great to see our local station exploring and informing us about our city and providing insite to help us make better choices..i hope..OH anyone else notice that in all the clips no one used their blinkas

[@GBHNews]

Some things never change!

[@QuaimeVLee]

Thanks for this. I look forward to watching more as a kid who grew up in Boston during this project.

[@arthurdent8022]

Thank you for this. I worked for a few months in Boston in the mid nineties. Looked at drainage in the rail yards related to the "big dig" which i knew little about. Its wonderful to see the bigger picture 30 years later. Thank you.

[@BEdmonson85]

Wow, what an incredibly well done documentary. I have no investment in Boston, but I was sucked in. Bravo!

[@TheHonestPeanut]

"A highway miracle knifing through the heart of new England" nice choice of wording.

[@EdisonRex]

Thanks for this. I grew up in Greater Boston in the 60s and 70s and remember a lot of this, including the berms in Saugus that were supposed to be I-95 north of Boston, and of course I grew up next to 128, which naturally became I-95 on its diversion around Greater Boston. This history is invaluable to record, well done. I look forward to your reporting on the Big Dig, which did get rid of the Central Artery, which as a kid I remembered all too well.

[@skipd9164]

I also made a comment on the Saugus berms. That would of cut through LYNN woods and connected rte 95 in Peabody at rte 128 to the rte 95 at revere drive in making rte 95 straight access to the Tobin bridge.

[@interstellarphred]

@@skipd9164 There was supposed to be rail transit expansion in lieu of the cancelled I95; half century later, still waiting while being passed over for new lines South of city.

[@johnperic6860]

Fun fact, when the interstate system was built one of the largest groups fighting against it were residents of rural America. They knew that the interstate, as designed, would kill small town America. They were right of course, but ultimately ignored and forgotten. 1,000,000 people were displaced just to build the interstates, this doesn't take into consideration the displacement caused by the down wind effects, such as the perpetual recession that's consumed small town America.

[@KingLarbear]

So you're claiming that 1 million were harmed but how many millions were helped

[@jamalgibson8139]

What's often missed by discussing the "1 million displaced" is that a lot of that displacement was in small business and local enterprise. Most of those people were only reimbursed for the value of the property, not for the value of the business. And so when you displace a business that has a value in the millions, but only reimburse a few hundred thousand for the value of the property, you destroy a ton of wealth in the local community. Wealth that is wiped out and can't be replaced. And it's often done in communities that already have struggles to build wealth in the first place, so it's basically a death sentence for those local communities.

[@johnperic6860]

@@KingLarbear No, I'm claiming one million were forced out of their homes and their communities literally wiped off the face of the planet. None of what I'm saying includes... 1.) The tens of millions harmed by interstates bypassing them, interstates have been an integral player in the death of small-town America. 2.) The tens of millions harmed by decreases in property value associated with the construction of the interstate. 3.) The tens of millions harmed by interstates isolating them from the rest of the city via a "wall" of road. This was, in fact, one of the intents of many of the intracity interstates. It doesn't matter if 50 million people benefitted from it (which is questionable); that's not an excuse for destroying millions of lives. That would be a very psychopathic way of thinking. With that said the only groups I can imagine having experienced a net benefit due to interstates are: 1.) Car companies. 2.) Construction companies. 3.) Demolition companies. 4.) Shipping companies.

[@johnperic6860]

@@jamalgibson8139 No, that figure exclusively looks at the number of occupied homes demolished and households displaced. This figure does not consider the displacement caused by downwind economic effects, which likely amounts to several millions or tens of millions in both Urban and Rural communities.

[@jamalgibson8139]

​@@johnperic6860Yeah, that's kind of what I was saying, but thanks for clearing it up. I'm not sure what the number of "businesses" that were affected might be, probably in the tens of thousands (not counting the untold businesses destroyed by car centric retail like Wal-Mart), but I agree that they aren't accounted for at all when looking at these issues.

[@who2u333]

The Big Dig is not alone in excessively over budget and behind schedule. I-45 between Houston and Galveston took 30-40yrs. For an essentially straight and level rebuild. No tunnels or fancy bridges. Currently, the section of I-45 running through downtown Houston started replacement studies in 2002. Shovel work is expected to start in 2024. Completion is expected to be in 2041 apparently.

[@JetFire9]

Took? It’s still under construction today. It’s amazing how many politicians have become filthy rich from that massive swindle, and how many more multi-millionaires it will create over the next 40 years.

[@Heyu7her3]

🤯 Oh my.

[@michaelpineiro533]

So, there were already train tracks there, and no one asked "why don't we build a train?"

[@AppalachianMountaineer1863]

It was the 1960s passenger rail traffic was nose diving hard. The entire rail system was due to overbearing regulations. Railroads like the Boston and Maine, New Haven, New York Central, Pennsylvania and various “anthracite” roads of the north east all were suffering economically. The Pennsylvania railroad and New York Central tried to escape their economic issues by merging into the infamous “Penn Central” that took on under its banner the New Haven railroad. This lead to the collapse of the Penn Central which created a broken link in freight transportation that nearly collapsed the other railroads in the north east forcing the government to subsidize the railroad into a new Consolidated Railroad known as “Conrail”. In 1971 all national railroads dropped passenger service after the government again stepped in and formed Amtrak. My point in that rambling was that passenger rail even commuter rail was due to fail because of bad regulation it was only in the mid 1970s when railroads were severely deregulated that rail became viable again. Building a train would’ve sunk way more money than a outlawed highway project.

[@boutellejb]

1:21 "6 lanes, 3 in each direction". On screen - 4 lanes! 😂

[@argonunya8751]

I'm of working class Italian decent and also a civil engineer. I heard the same argument Fred Salvucci's parents made: "be a good worker and then go to college and become a good engineer and afterwards, see which one you like". 30+ yrs later, my engineering degree has taken me around the world. oh, and BTW, my college engineering building was in an old candy factory. Great podcast series, GBH.

[@HeldenFurlong]

Thank you and well done! I'm looking forward to the whole series.

[@cannyexplorer5357]

I remember flying into Logan airport each summer to visit my family in Burlington. Wondering if all the construction there and in the city would ever finish. Family would not drive to or from the airport to collect me so traveled on the bus to Woburn where they met me. Sadly those days are gone, matriarch of the family no longer with us and cousins now scattered due to politics. Have wonderful memories of those six weeks school holidays stays.

[@carkmagus6219]

This was so good! I can't wait for the next episode!!!

[@MattyBottles1]

This is such great content. All these episodes. Also a big fan of the simple bass lines throughout the episodes.

[@BretSilverberg]

As a lifelong Massachusetts man who grew up in the 90s-00s I loved every second of this

[@mcb187]

I used to be amazed at our infrastructure, how the bridges towered over cities, how tunnels crossed vast rivers, how we managed to connect every place in the US with a superhighway. And then I came to the realization that because of my vision, I cannot drive a car. On, I thought, how much difference could that nake? I see people take the bus on TV and in the movies all the time, can’t be that hard! Well, I live in Colorado Springs, which is statistically the worst city in terms of public transportation above 500,000 on earth. Not in colorado, not in the US, on EARTH. I need to walk 2 miles to get the bud, and even then, I can’t get everywhere I need to go conveniently or quickly. If I miss a transfer, I’m stuck for at least 15 minutes, sometimes up to an hour! So, I started researching other cities. Surely Denver is better, right? Barely, but they have their own problems. And then I found out how absolutely terrible our intercity transportation is. You think it’s bad in an urban area? Your in for a nasty surprise. What if I want to visit my grandpa in Grants, NM? Good luck getting between Colorado Springs and Albuquerque! And don’t even think about getting from there to Grants! It didn’t use to be like this, if I wanted to go visit grandpa in the 1850’s, I could have gone by rail, or bus. And it would have been trivial! But the interstates, then the airlines killed the railroads, and the bus companies got only the folks which no other option, and turned to shit. I am going to be a civil engineer with a focus on transportation. But instead of designing highways and huge interchanges like I thought I would do when I was younger, I’m going to try and get public transportation projects going. I’m not the only one who can’t drive. The financially disadvantaged, the elderly, the young, people with medical conditions that make operating vehicles difficult or dangerous, all can’t drive. And I plan to be in their corner, helping push through projects that will make their lives easier. I do hope I’m not the only one who thinks this way. I hope I will have allies in the government and private engineering sector. But if I don’t, I’m going to do my best anyway.

[@youngchu1638]

It also happened in Buffalo NY in 1960s. Right now, it's happening (I-10 expansion) in Houston TX. People in this country "hates" anything new and stay with car-based solutions. If you dig deeper how highways are built, it will shake your head. It goes above and over for African-American neighborhoods (destroying their businesses like barber shops, eateries, churches), but under and below for caucasian neighborhoods (saving their small businesses). Color of the Law, anyone?

[@Freshbott2]

The point you touched on about disadvantaged people is spot on and I want to add. When you’re too young or too old or too drunk or too sick or on vacation or your car’s broken or your partner’s borrowing out etc. this isn’t a pity story about the kinds of people suburbanites can never be convinced to care about. Unless you know anyone born as an adult and with money in the bank, at one time or another- multiple times, that’s 100% of people. It’s not a minority.

[@Comm0ut]

There were no "buses" in the 1850s and no non-local travel was trivial. There was very little rail either. You should know better than to so imply.

[@mcb187]

That was a typo. Should read “1950s”.

[@TheKuptis]

@@mcb187 Well then edit it. You can edit your own comments.

[@AutumnBosco]

Can’t wait to watch/listen to the rest! This was an amazing overview of this story. This gave me more perspective of what the highway building atmosphere was like back then, a clearer view than anything else I’ve seen.

[@campkohler9131]

A great work! I am looking forward to the rest of the story.

[@gregwarner3753]

I commuted from New Hampshire to Boston by bus during the construction of the Big Dig. I considered it an exercise in massive and complicated construction. Not only was an ugly ancient road destroyed it was replaced with a veritable maze of tunnels and underground intersections. Driving it is great, if frightening fun. The most important thing this project did was to support much of new England through some hard times. That result justifies the cost. I am retired and do not use this thing except to travel by bus to Logan Airport or Amtrak out of south Station. Quite convenient for me.

[@dailytriggered]

I was born in 2005 and started driving maybe 3 years ago I was young for the start of the big dig but the driving portion I got to experience when it was completed and nothing beats cruising under all of those heavy traffic to Boston streets when I am going to see my friends and girlfriend in college

[@dailytriggered]

I will say though in more recent times when I’ve been going to use the tunnel late at night it has always been shut down that point seems like a waste

[@808v1]

great docu-news video series, look fwd to exploring this - as a Canadian I had heard of the big dig but only as one of those 'Massive Projects' videos on Discovery.

[@matiasdonoso4425]

Great start to the series! :)

[@FishtownRec]

Americans are able to build, construct, design, and manufacture whatever he puts his mind too. However, that dream is fading away, faster and faster everyday.

[@dougjohns5115]

I'm from Nova Scotia but was working in Boston for a few years during the time of Big Dig construction... I had to drive through the middle of the city every day... I'd like to go back now and see what it's like now finished.

[@7scientist]

The turnpike ad: "knifing through the heart of New England" --didn't see the irony. hst, as a longtime Boston area driver who lived through the Big Dig, it was desperately needed and actually fairly successful--not saying the construction wasn't an epic fiasco

[@Bobrogers99]

I remember when Route 128 was built. "The road to nowhere". Now, even four lanes each way isn't enough.

[@aegisofhonor]

the big dig, despite it's delays and huge cost to build, was a MASSIVE success for Boston, for Massachusetts, for New England, for America as a whole. It brought wealth and prosperity to Boston and the North East more then even it's most passionate advocates could ever imagine. It might have been expensive and with long delays, but it has already paid for itself and will continue to pay dividends for the North East for many many years to come.

[@thastayapongsak4422]

This felt like watching a documentary made in the 2000s, in a good way.

[@ronaldsmith6829]

Another thing (sorry about the previously long post) about the cost overruns: some of this has to do with harassment lawsuits that delay these projects and inflate the cost of it as well. In California it doubles and triples the cost of doing just about anything. In fact, often in determining the cost of a project, the people involved in planning projects will also take into account how much it will cost for the Court fights involved too. It's often more than the cost of the project itself.

[@robertbauer3676]

The Big Dig was costly for Boston, for Massachusetts for the US. It has had longstanding ramifications for public works projects going forward. However, it did make Boston immensely better. Getting rid of that awful raised highway improved downtown boston by orders of magnitude. Its cleaner.

[@eliasadam2345]

Agree, I remember how noisy the whole area was as a kid. It was the most ridiculous highway system too. I remember the sharp left you took right as you got to the north end. The parks they built in place of the old overpasses look very nice. City needed more green and plazas.

[@ConvincedIdiot]

I am 1000% here for the next episode, and any following. I moved to Boston in 2011, and have always wanted to hear more about the origin of the project, the causes and effects, etc.... Very well made, loved it...

[@ricktasker8248]

Interesting and well done. Thank you.

[@pookatim]

The Interstate highway system was built as part of the Defense System of America. Eisenhower, who was the Supreme Allied Commander of World War II brought his experience with logistics to the office of President. When he took office it was clear that there was no way to quickly and efficiently move military equipment around America in the event of an invasion. The Interstate Highway addressed that. With this system and its wide, sturdy roadways things like tanks and supply trucks could move swiftly and efficiently from anywhere to anywhere in the US. This is also why there are long straight, unobstructed sections that could serve as runways for aircraft. It is why all the highways were numbered with odd numbers running North and South and even numbers running East and West. Any driver would immediately know the direction of his travel from border to border and from coast to coast. Before the interstate there were only "routes" which were a series of local roads and highways drivers could follow to follow long distances such as Route 66 or Route 27 the Lincoln Highway. These route often ran right through populated towns with narrow roads and lightly built bridges. Not at all what the military would require in an emergency.

[@NewBunny-vc2pm]

And Eisenhower was wrong. Today, a tank would have no chance getting into Boston, it would be stuck in bumpah to bumpah traffic with every officer worker in a single car in front of it.

[@Matty002]

i didnt know boston accents could sound nice, but hearing fred salvucci talk was actually pleasant 👀

[@stephenlight647]

That’s because, uncharacteristically, he wasn’t yelling at you! 😂

[@cisium1184]

When mild, New England accents can be very pleasant. This is true of most accents, really.

[@heatheryoung3808]

This old footage of Boston areas makes me miss my grandparents and parents and ponder things they lived through that we might have never fully gotten to talk about 😢😢

[@BarryMckockinner]

Looking forward to the next episode

[@Anon21486]

It is always interesting to see something of the past and how it shaped the present day. However, I think it must be stated that you could only imagine what would have been if the highway progress wasn't stopped when it did. Luckily, remnants of the time is still completely visible on Google Maps so here is a little guide, starting from the south working northward.... Canton, MA: Where I-95 makes a sharp turn and I-93 ends, you can actually see the clove-leaf intersection with 2 pigtails heading north. This was where I-95 was suppose to continue into Boston. If you continue northward from there, you will get past the woods to the Providence/Stoughton Commuter Rail line. You can continue on that rail line (eventually connecting to the MBTA Orange Line) into Boston to see where the I-95 was suppose to go. Boston, MA: On the Boston side, you can see the bottom portion of the Inner City Beltway and in fact, people drive along it every day. However, it goes by a different name, Melnea Cass Blvd/Mass Ave Connector. Somerville, MA: Although there was great discussion of the highway being proposed to go through Cambridge, MA, it should be noted of where the northern section of the Inner City Beltway was to be connected to present day I-93. Looking at Somerville where the I-93 Northbound exit towards Sullivan Square and where Storrow Drive connects to I-93, you can still see the little offshoot where the northern portion was suppose to begin.

[@pappaslivery]

There's a number of other places around greater Boston of unbuilt highways. The highway that carries rt1 up the hill from the rotary at Revere was supposed to veer right over the marsh. Rt 3 was supposed to carry through Lexington to meet rt 2. That's why rt 2 grows to 8 lanes unnecessarily.

[@Anon21486]

@@pappaslivery I didn't mention the Rt-1 to I-95 tail in Revere because that happened after the inner belt was canceled.

[@edwardmiessner6502]

@@Anon21486 No, that section of I-95 through the Rumney Marsh was supposed to go through the Lynn Woods Reservation, destroying the sanctity of that park and polluting Lynn's water supply. That road also was cancelled by Governor Sargent. And Route 2 was supposed to continue through North Cambridge and Somerville from the Alewife Rotary (now a stoplight) by veering over to and following along the Fitchburg Branch of the Commuter Rail and it was supposed to hook up to the Inner Beltway in a 5-storey interchange right over Union Square Somerville.

[@pappaslivery]

@@Anon21486 yeah, it's just fascinating where stuff was intended to go.

[@pappaslivery]

@@edwardmiessner6502 I wish there was a better connection for alewife to be an interchange between cars and subway at the end of rt 2. My point is more that rt 3 ends at 128 creating a massive bottleneck. The roads were designed to have all these connections but some of them don't exist. It would have been better to be a more cohesive setup. In retrospect, if the inner belt was built first and it's disdain from locals stopped the central artery being built, would Boston have been better or worse off? And to me there was no need to go through the lynn woods, but a connector spur into Lynn similar to lowell would have helped that city connect far better than it does today, and that part of the mess was already made. Now we have a bad rotary at bell circle, and a bad rotary leading up the hill into saugus

[@TheLochs]

We called it the big pig. I remember the construction. It was a pain in the ass for me living in Eastie.

[@dfoleyusa]

I grew up in Los Angeles and now live in Boston for work and benefit from the Big Dig as I never had to live through the nightmare construction. I was a child of the freeway system in Los Angeles. The Interstate system out west is absolutely vital given the distances we have to travel and even intracity on the eastern seaboard they have their place but the urban planners of the 40s and 50s went a bit nuts. One that comes to mind is the LOMEX or lower Manhattan Expressway that would have demolished the West Village where I lived in the early 2000s. I can’t even imagine a LOMEX let alone an inner Boston belt. It might provide some time savings traffic relief but my god would it have been an ugly scar. Glad people like Jane Jacobs stood up and fought back. Highways like any form of transport have their benefits and costs finding a balance is key and still a work in progress.

[@tackywhale5664]

@dfoleyusa You have the kind of sense that most people in the comment section appear to be missing. Kudos to you!

[@evanfunk7335]

Good analysis. The problem was that highways completely lost their vision. INTERstate. Between cities, not in them. There shouldnt be a highway within 3 miles of a city downtown

[@eliasadam2345]

@@evanfunk7335 One of my favorite highway systems are those in Spain. The highways except for the major cities just bypass small cities and towns and they provide an adjacent service road alongside you as you get to a minor city that comes to merge into the major artery road that goes straight to the center of the city. Traffic flows so freely in Spain outside of Madrid and Seville. The historic towns and small cities don't have some highway running through it and the original city road structure is preserved.

[@TrinityCourtStudios]

I worked for the commuter rail until January. Now work for Amtrak The Big Dig is better than the central artery……But it’s still a failure. The traffic is still absolutely f***ing terrible. It merely buried it underground. You know what would’ve ACTUALLY reduced traffic? A North-South Rail Link would connected the heavy rail systems between North Station and South Station. The Downeaster is the only Amtrak route that isn’t directly connected to the remaining national intercity rail system. It’s INSANE. To tangibly reduce traffic you need to get cars off these stupid highways. The only good way to do that is to connect these two incredibly busy railroad sides of Massachusetts together.

[@eliasadam2345]

The Big Dig helped traffic for like maybe 2 years. At the time I lived on the Cape and in the early 2000s picking someone up from Logan Airport wasn't so brutal. Traffic was a little slow in the tunnels if it wasn't rush hour, but not at a complete stand still like it is all the time. But this last summer, granted there was construction, worst I've ever dealt with. I pay extra money to not have to fly out of Logan just so I don't have to drive into Boston.

[@Mia-C-Crest]

Thank you!

[@chuffa1130]

I lived in Boston with the big dig start to finish, In Dorchester and Somerville. I now looking back at this 13 billion dollar project and that it might have set Boston back and what it squandered, We now complain about public transportation but it's obvious that Boston is still in the hangover phase of this project. Who benefits from this short stretch of underground and did it really alleviate any traffic? I believe it was GBH way back before all this, and asked a study group of women what they through of this project and the budget and they responded with The 13 billion dollars should have been put into public transportation and road enhancements. I wonder what Boston would have been like if that were done?

[@1drinstar]

This is very interesting. Thank you.

[@GBHNews]

Thank you for listening/ watching

[@alaeriia01]

23:34 I love that mural! I see it every time I go to Microcenter.

[@interstellarphred]

Waited longer for rapid transit to North Shore in lieu of the cancelled highway; Central Artery/ Tunnel sucked out the oxygen for fifty years out, now the mass transit railways are falling apart faster than they can be maintained.

[@eriklakeland3857]

The Boston Metro Area desperately needs the North-South Rail Link

[@interstellarphred]

@@eriklakeland3857 Did a lot of advocacy in which the link was promoted, but discovered functional problems that created a lot of deal breakers. Not the least being this tunnel would be some 80 to 100 feet below sea level, with lots of holes in it at the deepest parts, next to a rising ocean. They lost me when the promoters proposed shoving inflatable corks into all the pedestrian passages and porter Square depth escalators when a storm was coming. Got to hobnob with a lot of pro transit engineer types, and started to grow a consensus that the link should be to the West of the downtown, on higher ground, essentially doing the envisioned ring corridor as a FRA spec. heavy railway. ( if it cannot run on the national system, it is light) There is already a link in mothballs out in Worcester, along with an underutilized airport.

[@eliasadam2345]

@@eriklakeland3857As someone living in NH, no thanks. It'll just encourage more budget minded tourists from NYC coming here in the summer. Let those people go to Cape Cod instead where it's been ruined by them.

[@interstellarphred]

@@eliasadam2345 The sheer volume of cars ruins a place long before the people do. Note how "scenic" was dropped from the auto tags? the widened roads with the noise walls saw to that. The massholes subsidize the NH economy on so many aspects, yet they will deny that.

[@eliasadam2345]

@@interstellarphred Great points. But no thanks to connecting the rail system between South Station and North Station. Nobody complains about the massholes who come up here to make big purchases for no sales tax on the weekends. What people in NH and Maine can't stand right now are tourists who never leave.

[@edwardmiessner6502]

It's unconscionable what the highway builders did to that stretch of Jamaica Plain and Roxbury --- turn thriving neighborhoods into a forerunner of the 1970s South Bronx and 2000s Detroit. But people were able to stop the roads that would have choked the city with even worse traffic! I worked at the Mass. Highway Department 1985 to 1999 and there were plenty of discussions about the Big Dig when I was in the South Boston highway district office. One of my coworkers worked on I-95 South through the Neponset River marshes and there was this enormous turtle 🐢 that had to keep moving downstream. And he said one fine day the turtle settled in behind Governor Francis W. Sargent's sister's house and that when she heard where the highway would go, she was livid. And my coworker said that was the real reason why Governor Sargent stopped the highways! I don't think it was the only reason.

[@alanstevens1296]

So would they rather that the old Central Artery viaduct was still in operation?

[@NuncNuncNuncNunc]

@@alanstevens1296 The Inner Belt and Central Artery were different routes. This episode covered the Inner Belt, so not sure what you are getting at.

[@alanstevens1296]

@@NuncNuncNuncNunc I replied to a poster who objected to the impacts of the highway that was built in the 1950s.

[@4149stonepony]

Sounds like a great exaggeration, they built highways in every city and they did not turn into Detroit or the Bronx. Why the clunky comparison but yeah we should all be happy because elitist groups got their way.

[@timregan1005]

what stretch of jp and roxbury? what are you talking about? the forest hills overpass? there's no highway in jp/rox

[@amelierenoncule]

Surprisingly [To ME, that's who.], mes amis, this presentation IS quite grande !

[@GeoMeridium]

As a Mainer, I think if Boston builds a north-south tunnel, Portland, ME should build a double tracked tunnel of its own under the promenade so that there can be an Acela/commuter rail station under Monument Square. While Portland is small, the downtown has a walkable traditional urban core that goes on for a couple miles, and many of the small surrounding towns are the same way. There are also a couple abandoned railway lines with very convenient alignments that could be used for transit if there was a central tunnel/station to tie everything together. A tunnel is also needed because the current Portland Amtrak station is held back by not being in a walkable or attractive location near tourist areas. Although there is a push for a station by the Medical Center, it's still over a mile away from the Old Port and Commercial Districts, where the density and tourist areas are. It's also worth mentioning that a fair number of European cities with similar populations/settlement patterns have pulled similar networks off (Luzern and Innsbruck come to mind), and I think proper planning, we could fully utilize the tunnel (and have a de-facto 5 stop downtown subway line), by funneling a few low frequency commuter rail lines into it (accumulating into semi-decent headway for inner-city journeys). If the tunnel existed, we wouldn't really need any new railway tracks to get regional rail service going as the freight companies have essentially abandoned the corridor between the East End bridge and Yarmouth. The Midcoast Downeaster route going north also already has walkable, underutilized station sites in Freeport, Brunswick, and Bath (currently not in use), and it has the potential to offer a Park & Ride at Exit 15 on I295 for commuters. Looking south, the same goes for Biddeford/Saco, Old Orchard Beach, and Wells. There's another convenient/unused corridor starting at Westbrook Mills that goes by the soon-to-be-finished mixed use Rock Row development and Jetport that could function more like an LRT. These lines might serve small towns with less demand, but even half-hourly service on 2-car trains could accumulate into 7-minute headway for downtown trips.

[@francoistombe]

Structures like this have to be regarded in the long term. The Boston subway system was started 140 years ago. Every bit of tunnel was expensive at its time of construction but once built it is forever and today is regarded as an excellent investment. Same said for water systems. This dig may be a white elephant today but ridding the city of the SE Distressway will be a big positive in the long term. My only caution is that if one is from outside, familiarize yourself with the route before driving it. As one is only looking at concrete walls one has to know where you are from knowledge and memory. There are no visual clues. Take a wrong turn and you could end up anywhere but not where you intended. Speaking from experience.

[@vincentkosik403]

I lived in Boston metro during the Big Dig project known as the Big Pig...budget for 2 billion and cost over 6 billion.. Never mind the amenities were cut back like parks and such and the tunnel was poorly constructed with tiles falling down, killing at least one person. Much corruption during building it. For example, cement trucks had a time span for their offload and had a time ticket...if it expired they went back to the yard..did not get a new cement load but a new time ticket!!! Also office workers getting paid for a week but only showing up one day ect

[@jrdosreis6484]

I live just north in Chelsea, they recently announced to replace the Tobin bridge and hopefully we could get our own big dig

[@scotcoon1186]

My last trip to Boston, I picked up off the last exit when the ceiling fell in on the big dig. It's pretty scary not sitting in traffic in Boston, really.

[@liamjewell62]

This is exellent!

[@xcrockery8080]

That was great, thanks, I've never been anywhere near Boston.

[@aiditam9790]

Great documentary!

[@GBHNews]

Glad you enjoyed it!

[@pas42hfd]

Massachusetts has some of the worst most outdated, dilapidated highways in the country. Haven’t improved them in over 50 years. The clover leaves at RT 93/95 and 93/495 need to go and they all need to be widened.

[@Guokas0422]

So I grew up in Massachusetts born in Salem. I've asked all my Massachusetts friends this question and no one ever has an answer: So why hasn't I-84 ever been extended North into northern Massachusetts in New Hampshire? In other words Why was I forced to drive all the way East to Worcester and Lowell to get NH? Most people I ask agree so you have to pay the mass Pike tolls; But couldn't you just make the I-84 extension into Southern New Hampshire a toll road also?

[@cocoacrispy7802]

'knifing through the heart of Massachusetts' Couldn't have said it better...

[@alexm8071]

This should also be a book. Feels like I'm listening to a different version of The Great Bridge

[@johnarnold6623]

Fun fact: the interstate highway system was created as a way for the government to deploy its troop more efficiently anywhere in the country. Each highway road is built to withstand and line of tank’s running down it.

[@timregan1005]

yeah it wasn't really for people. it was for military movement

[@jimbotron70]

It's the same in many other countries.

[@markfomenko8873]

Robert Moses ruined many urban areas in New York using eminent domain laws and building highways. Unfortunately his methods and ideas became very popular with urban planners nationwide.

[@kevinm.9323]

Sir you must be the same age as myself. Construction from kindergarten until I was driving and starting college. It never seemed to end.

[@patsfreak]

When I was growing up I was just a kid and knew the Big Dig as a place I saw once on a field trip and the place where all the welders went when they went on strike at BIW.

[@timothyjewett625]

This is such a well done video, I love this so much as someone who grew up in Medford for 24 years from 96 onward. I only vaguely remember the big dig as a child. This project was definitely over budget, but has breathed life into the cities downtown, I am forever grateful for all those who protested the inner belt highway. Somerville and Cambridge’s now very expensive real estate and some of the coolest areas would have been destroyed. Boston is so highly sought after now for its density and urbanism and that is kept alive thanks to the brave folks who took time out of their day to protest. I for one love seeing this small tree that is growing on the dead inner belt loop off-shoot on the upper deck of 93 north. It is so symbolic of growth being better than destruction. I am not sure if I am the only one who notices it, but I always point it out to my wife and family. I am saddened that highways have blown through such beautiful places like the middlesex fells reservation and down the mystic through my hometown and I hope that we can someday at least guide it back to being more harmonious and stop expanding the highways with “one more lane bro” it never solves any congestion and we can’t even keep up with the cost of road and highway construction as it is.

[@jimcasey1975]

I grew up in Medford too. 120 year old two family homes that were purchased for 20k in the 1960’s now being sold for close to one million. Not sure if you still live there but you can have it. The only time I visit Medford now is on Sunday afternoons when I go to pay my respect to my parents at Oak Grove cemetery and to thank them for all that they did for me.

[@RPSchonherr]

We need to stop widening roads because of congestion. Instead, we should be building mass transit on those same routes.

[@DTD110865]

No, we need to resume widening and building roads. And that doesn't mean I'm against mass transit either.

[@RPSchonherr]

@@DTD110865 The more roads get widened the more traffic uses it. The jams never end because people just build around it. If instead they used the space for mass transit more people can travel in less space making road traffic lighter.

[@DTD110865]

@@RPSchonherr Even in places that need mass transit, we also need better roads. Stopping highway improvements causes more traffic jams, and air pollution.

[@DonIzNice1804]

Wow! Look at Chuck Turner. He was so young back then but just as fiery.

[@johnconnolly6011]

There was another highway stopped that lead from the PA Turnpike outside the city of philly. It was I-76. The road went from philly to Valley Forge. That was built in the 60 maybe 50. The state wanted it to run from I-76 to Reading. It would pass a newly built nuke power plant. It was stopped at Valley Forge by a boys reform home run by Catholic church of philadelphia. They had to go thru their land. Next to them was big beautiful houses not to old. It was held up for years, the boys home lost. So the people won. The church worked out a deal so not to knock down the building. I was a boy at the reform school at the time. We used to play on the unfinished part in 1980. The 6 lane highway stopped right at the edge till everyone agreed on the road.

[@Penfold497]

Boston resident and driving enjoyer here. The results are really good. We have added significant numbers of drivers, but things are still smooth. It’s amazing how much better traffic is than it was 25 years ago.

[@teapotdome]

this. i'm old enough to drive in the city before and after the big dig... it is much better after.

[@marke8323]

I was stationed in the Army outside of Boston in the late 70's before the Big Dig and going in to the city was a nightmare. The Subway system was very good and the City was great but the highways were a nightmare. I still miss the New England Grinders...Mmmmm...

[@electro_sykes]

if you hate highways so much prioritise public transit not underground highways

[@AppalachianMountaineer1863]

Public transit doesn’t translate to interstate highways. Public transit isn’t the solver of all problems

[@tommarney1561]

I can't believe I watched this whole thing. 😄

[@LarryDickman1]

My grandparent's house used to be at the Auburn, MA interchange of the Mass Pike. A lot of people lost their homes to eminent domain. The same with building I-290

[@jimbotron70]

Were they indemnified?

[@Wickedpissah138]

I had two family members, one from each of my parents sides, they had to relocate or move their house in Chelsea for construction of Route 1/Tobin Bridge… however they were offered pretty good deals and payouts

[@povertyspec9651]

Fun fact: Everything you have ever bought at your local grocery store, Walgreens, clothing store, restaurant, etc., gets there by highways. Every trip to the local emergency room gets there by highways. Highways are the backbone of the world's economy.

[@lesleyheller2271]

In Manhattan we were wrong to oppose "Westway", the proposed underground replacement for the West Side Highway. As a result, all our beautifully developed parks along the Hudson River are compromised by street level traffic.

[@mairhart]

Nothing is stopping Westway construction today… Except, people *choose* not to build it because it would bankrupt all other transportation in the region.

[@marios3202]

As a lifelong MA resident, and someone who came of age while the big dig was being completed, it was a failure for many, many reasons. Firstly, every single man in Massachusetts that was of working age was participating in some kind of scam that involved the big dig. People were signing up to do "no show" and "no work" jobs for construction companies involved in the project. Basically you would allow your information to be used to pay wages like you were working on the big dig when you never were. You would split the money with the construction company. I know at least ten people that did it. It also didn't help that the big dig was ramping up at the very start of the opioid epidemic in MA. People were scamming the big dig to get money for OC. It was an absolute mess.

[@weevie833]

I would not call that a failure. The project fulfilled its charter. What you describe was a collateral effect of all projects that are too big to monitor down to the minute details - as unfortunate as it was. It was a failure of oversight, auditing, or management, if you like, but not a failure of a project.

[@backbay2242]

Baloney. The project was a tremendous success and would have been worth it at twice the cost.

[@skipd9164]

I don't believe that. I do know some companies were ripping off the project and they got exposed. If you were to see one big company doing the project then maybe. There were a lot of different companies and unions involved. There were probably some no shows but on your scale I don't think so. I do know there were a lot of new types of construction parts. There were also inspection process and I got screwed by a concrete supplier. They would take trucks that got rejected and send them to private construction construction. I never was notified about getting the delivery. I had a pour that was supposed to be my bragging project. I started having problems with it setting immediately and was never told it was hours older than usual. I never had this issue and never thought I would find out because of a news article on state getting settlement from supplier. It actually ruined me

[@JohnDoe-ou4lo]

😂😂 thanks Mario for this ridiculous and laughable comment 😂😂. Life long mass resident?? I think your watching too much sopranos nephew 😂😂. I worked union construction DURING the big dig!! Didn't see empty job sites filled with "no shows", instead I worked my a$$ off and made great money with incredible overtime. Boston is a great city 👏 and great for hard working 💪🏽 tax payers. But your probably living in mommies basement playing video games complaining how 🤔 you can't find a good job. Seriously your comment made my laugh 😂, take care Junior 😂😂

[@SigandGibbs]

I can't believe what they got away with - doing that to peoples homes

[@youngchu1638]

Happening right now in Houston TX and it happened back in 1960s in Buffalo NY. It's because they treat non-whites as savages, disposables, and evil. If they don't, they won't be able to conquer.

[@NuncNuncNuncNunc]

If you've driven down a highway in the US, there's a good chance you've gone through where someone's home or farm used to be, maybe even a cemetery or two.

[@AppalachianMountaineer1863]

@@NuncNuncNuncNuncI-81 North through West Virginia, Virginia, Maryland and Pennsylvania you cut through nearly 10 civil war battlefields. You basically replicate the Confederate army’s march north to Gettysburg in a way it’s very cool historically but also it’s equally tragic that the history has been disturbed by highway.

[@Ransomed77]

I've heard that China is constructing 6 miles of new roads every hour. Not that I want to hold China up as an example of how everything should be done, but it raises the question: why do simple public works projects in the US take decades to complete? Your desire for a new era of infrastructure is commendable. The way forward involves betting on ourselves rather than relying on a government with its bloated bureaucracies. Wind and solar may indeed play a viable role in the future, but if left in the hands of politicians, these endeavors will, like 'The Big Dig' itself, enrich only a few at the expense of the many. Thanks for your video, very interesting.

[@lucmarchand617]

We have same problems montreal,quebec good integration,bad planning.good video😮

[@robertbenkelman947]

I use to live in Elizabeth NJ. Interstate 95 cut through the Elizabeth-port neighborhood. I read a book on how the interstate building destroyed neighborhoods. In Bakersfield California they did that building a freeway through an old neighborhood. One side an affluent neighborhood yet the other side not so. They are extending hwy 58 freeway. The freeway ends, just ends, been that way for decades. In the neighborhood homes and businesses were build on land designated for the freeway extension. Well they extended the freeway right through that neighborhood, homes were lost and businesses too.

[@davidgriffin9412]

The biggest reason that government projects go over budget is by the time you get all the environmental work and studies done the costs have risen also government tends to keep changing what The requirements of what they are making the longer it takes.

[@chickmcgee1000]

This is a fascinating piece. In the end, I can only come to the conclusion that Thomas Sowell reminds us of one fact, there are no solutions to life’s problems, only compromises. That’s a realism not welcome and certainly not allowed in a political world.

[@himbourbanist]

Can't help but think that fully removing the highway instead of just covering it up would have been a much better solution

[@de-fault_de-fault]

In the long run, absolutely. But any time you suggest getting rid of car infrastructure, people lose their minds, so the political calculus is difficult. The first thing people say is "but then all those cars will go into the streets" rather than "Oh yeah then I guess if I want to get to that spot I just won't drive." And unfortunately, the (100% reasonable) backlash against building highways in populated areas also brought a sort of (100% absurd) generic NIMBYism to the surface, where people also oppose building the transit projects that would help people not even miss having a highway to drive on.

[@popcorn8153]

@@de-fault_de-fault Milwaukee is having the same debate with a strip of highway called I-794 right now. They want to tear it down because it cuts right through downtown, but the opposition says it's too late and we just need to accept the "reality". The reality is, their commutes might be 5 minutes longer.

[@crayonburry]

That conversation is currently going on in Austin with I-35, tho the TxDOT is pretty set to expand the highway and have private companies cap it.

[@4149stonepony]

Yeah highways were built to "cut right through downtown" save the banal rhetoric for what is really happening. The city and you believe taxpayers should sit in extra traffic, spend lots of money to destroy their commute, create extra traffic for social engineering purposes, so the city can develop and gentrify downtown to the benefit of whom? City residents? No you are destroying their highway for real estate interests, social transition, and gentrification. Sounds like a real fucked up idea and people would be right to hate it.

[@JoeyLovesTrains]

@@popcorn8153yeah, that highway isn’t utilized that much to begin with, I think next time that needs to be rebuilt it might get torn down. Although that whole interchange with I-94 was revuilt somewhat recently

[@joaodorjmanolo]

Controversial take: I like the big dig. I'm glad it was made.

[@bobgardin2347]

Great content. However, it could use better graphics, consistent with the narrative.

[@Herr2Cents]

I remember my college roommate telling me that the Big Dig was going to be free money. He was in construction at the time as an estimator.

[@tim1398]

What about the Rt 3 ending at 128/95 in Burlington? The layout at the end there has always made me assume it was meant to continue on to Boston.

[@tim1398]

To answer my own question, the "Northwest Expressway" was meant to connect with Rt 2, first at the Lexington/Arlington line, then in later plans at Alewife. en.wikipedia.org/wiki/U.S._Route_3#Burlington_to_Tyngsborough_(Northwest_Expressway)

[@stephenlight647]

Who the hell would prefer the Central Artery to the current buried highway? The old highway cut Boston off from the harbor. I don’t get the entirely negative portrayal.

[@toddmarshall7573]

The Interstate Highway System was proposed by Eisenhower after seeing the German Autobahn. Eisenhower was disgusted to find the designers ran the highway through the cities rather than around them. My neighborhood was also destroyed by the highway going right through the middle of my town. In retrospect, make a case for cities in this day and age. They're no longer necessary... not desirable.

[@iknklst]

Not true at all. Eisenhower was part of a prewar military exercise as a young officer long consisting of moving men and military equipment as rapidly as possible across the nation. He realized this nation needed a national network of roads as a matter of national defense decades before the autobahn was ever even thought of. www.eisenhowerlibrary.gov/research/online-documents/1919-transcontinental-motor-convoy

[@StewieJustSaidThat]

this is why you should fund PBS guys.

[@skipd9164]

I don't know why my city is not involved in your program or it might be because I have just started. Route 95 was supposed to go through my city but we stopped it because it would go through our woods. City of Lynn MASS stopped the federal government from building it. R 95 stopped at Peabody where it was supposed to connect to 128 but also continue to Revere at the rotary by drive in. This is where R 1becomes R 95 to Tobin bridge. If you drive thru Lynn on R 107 or western Av. South bound you come to the Revere marsh road. Driving down marsh rd look to your right and you will see what would of been R 95. Lynn successfully stop the federal and state governments from destroying our Municipal Lynn Woods wich is the largest city owned property. It was to go thru undeveloped section including the Breed Jr high and Clasical High school. I believe we were the first municipal government to stop the federal highway from being built. I also followed the big dig closely and it was the first major highway to be rebuilt under the existing one still being used. Some technical issues were developed and helped other future projects

[@KevinMiller-lh9ur]

No one wants the roads but damn they complain when its gridlock and it takes forever to get around. Cant have it both ways.

[@baja1988_Texas]

The interstates should never have been routed through the cities, but around them instead. Then let state and local government figure out how best to connect the inner city with the interstate outside of town.

[@makeitpay8241]

there was a lot less traffic back when they were built.

[@TheRandCrews]

Exactly autobahn in Germany, which they tried to replicate it, is designed that way. Lol my city in Canada is one of the only cities to not have a freeway or highway near to downtown, it had former routes marked for highways but it got bypassed anyways

[@perfectallycromulent]

you should look at a map of New York and tell me how 8 million people on Long Island are supposed to get to the rest of the country without interstate type highways going thru part of New York City.

[@jacobe9790]

@@perfectallycromulentThere’s a more effective and less space intensive form of transport that can move people outside of dense areas to places where they can be connected to other methods of transport or take them all the way to where they need to go: rail

[@blessedbow720]

@@jacobe9790 not to mention a more efficient way that can travel both day and night across the country: also rail

[@CAPOCAP]

I moved to the Boston suburb from Sweden in '95 living from the near beginning, duration, finish, and enjoyment of the Big Dig. The benefits of it is surmountable before its existence, the Rose Kennedy Park is enjoyable and better than the highway viaduct that existed prior, but it could have been EVEN better. If not the absurd cost overruns, we could have seen an even bigger revolution on multi-modal transit for the people connecting South Station and North Station of what is today two separate commuter rail spokes into a regional rail behemoth in the USA rivaling that of SEPTA, NJ Transit, Metro-North, LIRR. Maybe not on the last two. Regardless, that rail connection between South Station and North Station would have electrified commuter rail service in the Greater Boston area earlier.

[@bobl6139]

Don’t even tell me that the delayed cape cod bridge renovations aren’t related to this debacle. And the reason for the cost overruns was letting firms that were originally bidding bersus each other on the project form co ventures in order to provide “cost savings “