How two competing tunnel projects became Boston’s Big Dig

In the early 1970s a radical idea took shape to tear down Boston’s elevated downtown highway and rebuild it underground. At the same time there was a push to create another tunnel to Logan Airport. Here's how those two tunnel projects became one -- and made history as a notoriously troubled infrastructure project.
This is the second in a nine-part podcast series about the history and politics of Boston's Big Dig. It was created as an audio experience. This episode includes archival highway images.
Episode 1: • The Big Dig began with...
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/p...
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[@DavidKutzler]

I lived in Revere, north of Boston, and commuted to work in South Boston in 1972-3. I grew up in rural Montana, and was totally unprepared for Boston traffic. I was shocked at how aggressive Boston drivers were on the central artery. The first thing I learned was to never use your turn signals, because it gave too much information to the "enemy." If you used your turn signal to change lanes, the driver behind you in the next lane would accelerate to cut you off. To change lanes and not miss your exit, you had to act like you had no interest in changing lanes, wait for your opportunity, and abruptly cut into the next lane to compel the driver behind you to tap his brake and let you slide in. I also learned to never challenge a taxi or a city bus. The fenders and sides of taxis and buses were beat to hell from minor collisions.

[@Larry_Harvilla]

I call the exact maneuver you describe a "I-95 Maryland Lane Change" because the existence of this phenomenon first dawned on me one day somewhere northeast of Baltimore. Barring the name I gave it, it is otherwise identical to your description.

[@spikey2740]

Having never been there, I will have to rely on your analysis. It sounded like great training ground for future NASCAR drivers.

[@lolmock25]

Sounds about right 😅😅😅

[@markd8369]

​@@lolmock25😅

[@Ninnybroth]

This is one of the funniest things I've ever read. And of course I'm from Mass.

[@eldochem]

Incredible that you are providing content of this quality for free. This is so well done, thanks!

[@RSF-DiscoveryTime]

All the stuff I ignored as a teen! Now I'm 63 and watching it, really enjoying it like I could not have years ago.

[@leetramp]

I suddenly figured out the video! It's an audio podcast that they just threw random video from Boston freeways in the background! 👍😊

[@Train115]

It does *sometimes* vaguely line up, saw it in the first episode. But most of it is just b-roll.

[@mumblesbadly7708]

Come for the story; stay for the endless footage of bumper-to-bumper traffic on the most hated urban highway in US history.

[@donc-m4900]

Not endless footage, unfortunately. It kept repeating. The traffic however is endless.

[@ab348]

It's a real shame the entire episode used the same few minutes of '80s Boston traffic B-roll on endless loop. A little more effort to use some of the video clips that were referenced in the pod and some stills of some of the individuals quoted in voiceovers could have made it much better.

[@DouglasLyons-yg3lv]

I suspect there were copyright issues? A fascinating story nonetheless and a lesson in so much more than the Big Dig. Uniting neighborhoods that were so different from one another is a master class in building coalitions.

[@danolson5387]

It's only now occurred to me (having already watched episode 1) that it is a PODCAST, meant to be listened to. This youtube footage is a bonus (and kind of amusing to watch).

[@jamie.777]

I worked in Boston from 1994 until 2009.. I lived in central Massachusetts and drove Mass pike to Boston. If u left after 6am you were screwed, if you left after 315pm or god forbid 5 pm, u had a almost 2.5 hour drive [45 minutes NO tra😂ffic] . I would flip off the "Rome wasn't built in a day" billboard every time

[@redundantcow]

I love the revolving videos…I see the elevated highway and remember driving from RI in the late 1980s, a young mother with 3 small children, for lunch at the Northends European restaurant with a little pastry stop at Mike’s. I marvel now as I see what was happening on that stretch. My husband was a sales rep and his territory was predominantly Boston….when I watch this, he asks me to keep the sound low bc he lived it along with all the Bostonians. He still has nightmares about racing to get executives in and out of Logan. I love it and appreciate the podcast. It’s history. Thanks for posting :)

[@ZenRebel33]

This is a great series so far. My only complaint is that the video is a revolving carousel of vids of driving in Boston. While I get the point of the imagery, but it would be better to see clips of the meeting.

[@BarkerBytes]

Omg yes!

[@weevie833]

It's a PODCAST. It was never intended to have video.

[@edmowrey9755]

it could be added easily!! It's a crude voice over miscellaneous video clips. They could be replaced with helpful images, like MAPS!!! @@weevie833

[@flickerblip9044]

Or maybe some still pictures of maps

[@Xsiondu]

That Reynolds guy is a story in itself. Why did he love highways so much. Thank God he kept his eyes and mind always looking for solutions. I wonder more about him.

[@disastrophi]

Seriously thank you so much for this. I watched and experienced the tail end of the completion of the dig during my childhood and always thought about deep diving and finding out all the history, so thank you!!

[@pappaslivery]

Oh, I remember the terrifying walk under the central artery. I also remember when I first had my license, driving north on 93, and looking into the old garden as it was being torn down.

[@AneudiD78]

Was it poorly lit during the day? And was it even terrifying walking under at night fall?

[@bensneesby2362]

This is such a fantastic series. Thank you.

[@GBHNews]

Thank you for watching!

[@jerry15]

Just starting these videos. First impression from Part 1, there was absolutely no mention of the southern portion of the new Rte 95 out beyond JP and Roxbury. I grew up in Hyde Park during Frank Sargent's tenure and remember plans showing Rte 95 going right thru Fowl Meadow/Neponset River and Hyde Park along the Amtrak path. Residents were grateful it did not destroy the community. I commuted to South Station Commuter Rail throughout the Big Dig. Being a wannabe civil engineer, seeing its progress daily was something to watch! Being a lifelong Boston area resident, it's bringing back memories of driving north, coming out of the Dewey Sq tunnel.

[@allyip5777]

I’m a Bostonian working in Hong Kong and missing home daily. Thank you so much for your podcast videos that bring me home. Thank God for journalists like you 🙏

[@skipd9164]

People that never used the old green monster will never understand how great the big dig was

[@TenemenTTrash]

I was born during the dig but for most of my life it's been complete, but with a little bit of research and just asking your older family members you can find out just how impactful it was and how grateful we should be that Boston bettered itself. Sadly, Bostons stopped working for its people again, everything built these days are either luxury apartments or tech offices

[@rwilson1125]

I hope there is some future mention of Boston sand and gravel and how it is still there.

[@alexmarshall942]

Love this little mini series, the testimony and audio clips are the icing on the cake for me personally 💯🔥

[@deviljelly3]

This is a great piece of work, both parts, you should be very proud.

[@bsperoz]

This is gonna be a NINE EPISODE SERIES??? Wow... I do wish their was video that matched though...

[@philipnauman838]

This is a fantastic series. Thank you.

[@NCR01464]

Died laughing at 5:24 with the city closed sign 😂😂

[@kms1.62]

Sorry, this video feels out of touch because it doesn't even mention the scuttled rail component of the project. A part of the waste of this project was that it was unimodal, but not financed unimodally, the placement of debt and service was unfairly put on the MBA, and excerbated an already aggressive program of deferred maintenance, certainly contributing to its unique current woes. Perhaps this angle is mentioned in other parts of the series.

[@bearcubdaycare]

It's a huge missed opportunity. But having grown up near Boston, and having thought about it a long time, I wonder if the issue is mixing...north vs south, east and west. The logical move would have been to replace North Station and South Station with a central station, near the Blue line to the airport. But that would allow through trains all the way through the city, and that might have been a cultural barrier too far.

[@falsemcnuggethope]

@@bearcubdaycareI think the logical solution would be to move the airport out of the freaking center of the city. Maybe they could repurpose the highway tunnel as a train tunnel even today.

[@milfordcivic6755]

Massachusetts had some of the worst maintained roads in New England in the 1980's. It wasn't until after the Big Dig started, 495 was widened and Route 3 from Burlington to the NH border was rebuilt that they started spending more to improve the roads.

[@DonIzNice1804]

I wish we could also see some of the footage.

[@Ice_Karma]

The difference in Salvucci's accent between the 1980s, when he was reappointed, and the modern day is quite interesting. It sounds like, back in the day, he was adopting a more-"standard", less-"ethnic Italian" accent, for reasons of social prestige (i.e., his "ethnic Italian" accent would have been perceived less positively by listeners).

[@jerry15]

the Boston accents were so much stronger then, listening to John Volpe and he was a Winchester guy I think. And Frank Sargent sounding like a Kennedy

[@myradioon]

Filene's truck at 5:14.

[@_KarlS]

In hind sight, Salvucci seems like a good guy. The project was actually pretty successful ignoring delays and costs. You still have 5 to 7 oclock rush hour AM to PM but thats never going away. The Zakim crossing southbound is slow but its not as dangerous. The greenway space revealed by the central artery removal really does get used. The potholes still come back ever winter but its overall easier to get around. This was a good idea practically speaking. From the south, the Ted Williams tunnel makes dropping someone off at the Airport very easy.

[@craiginnh8277]

All that money and time, and traffic is still a mess. One thing that stood out to me in this video was seeing the black diesel exhaust. Thankfully that's in the past.

[@miguelcontreras3953]

I lived in Burlington 89-93 and drove to Logan for business trips many times at different times of the day, it was ugly and awful, there was never a good time coming back thru the tunnel even with no accidents or car breakdowns which happened once in a while. The podcast video loop brings back nightmares of my trips to Logan.

[@reeddeer793]

Great work - But pleaseeee show the footage that we hear in the future if ur licensing allows

[@bsperoz]

43:40 Where the Boston Festival Of Bands is held annually (and my band plays every few years as part of it)

[@bradoswalt1616]

I probably should have been looking to see my car in all that I-93 gridlock footage. 😂

[@icedcoffeebreak4679]

At 42:27 , does the maroon sedan rear-end the other maroon sedan?

[@ULTRA1BOB]

Hey guys, this is a fantastic documentary, but we could do without footage with reruns of constant heavy traffic.

[@petercondaxis7879]

We used to call it "The Southeast Distressway - the world's lahgest pahkin lot" 😜

[@JoshuaChowabc]

Loving this series

[@michaelmisanthrope]

Nice piece. Who is doing the music at the end? Never mind.

[@Mk99987]

11:50 Show the videos you mention, not just the audio.

[@Pedroisanickname]

"People had been talking about how to fix the artery since it opened." Nuff said there.😂

[@interstellarphred]

I recall comments when it first opened that it was working so well, that the roadways connecting to it would need to be widened.

[@skipd9164]

If you ever used the old above ground highway. You would understand that it was worth it. Remember a lot of different parts had to develop new construction procedures. Also a couple of unexpected problems happened

[@interstellarphred]

@@skipd9164 Used it a lot, nice views! I recall how the structure would shake when sitting in stalled traffic.and my dad cursing, driving his delivery truck; preferred more transit railways; Now I have nothing to look at but tiles and car asses; still stuck in stalled traffic.

[@wakeupamericaandresist2413]

⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️ thank you for a series

[@dave900575]

I remember parking under the central artery as a kid to go over to the pushcarts and then over to the North End. There was an organ grinder sat by the tunnel. One day my brother was tossing the keys up in the air and catching them except one time they didn't come back down. I've wondered over the years if they stayed tucked away until it was torn down or vibrated off their ledge. Luckily mom had her keys with her.

[@GBHNews]

great story - and a true Boston mystery!

[@matiasdonoso4425]

Great episode, but the images!

[@GBHNews]

Thanks so much for this feedback! We're experimenting with how to present podcasts visually on KZbin. Episode 1 was very involved, so for episode 2 we wanted to try something simpler. Based on your feedback we're going to try to meet somewhere in the middle for future episodes. Hope you keep watching and would love to know what you think!

[@ydhirsch]

Where was some stock footage of Maverick Square? How about the old traffic jam at the Sumner Tunnel toll booths? Where was stock footage of the tunnels' results? How about the Airport Silver line, enabled by the tunnel, which is vastly more airport passenger friendly than the Blue line to the airport shuttles? It's not like WGBH lacks footage.

[@matiasdonoso4425]

​@@GBHNews Thanks! As a foreigner that doesn't know the protagonists or even the mentioned places it would be a great help. I do love the series and look forward to the following episodes. Regards from Mexico City.

[@matiasdonoso4425]

Specially Maverick Street, please show us Maverick Street.

[@TheKuptis]

@@GBHNews Guess y'all never heard of video podcasts where the podcaster still shows relevant video clips and graphics to support what's being said. This is a video platform after all.

[@Historian212]

Would have appreciated footage of the people involved, video clips of speeches, etc., for this video version. Some traffic footage is fun, endless is boring.

[@NewBunny-vc2pm]

imagine how we feel, watching people drive drive drive everywhere when they could be on the T!

[@4403323]

After using it for many years, I think it was a success. Everything feels expensive at the time when it was first built.

[@bobl6139]

I remember before route three north and south plus 93 widening plus prior to rt 25 and 44 expansions,also rt 80. As. Hirise window cleaner working on the 200 high st building and sitting on the artery guardrail in my bosun chair chatting with drivers stuck in perpetual gridlock. Th artery went way over budget but it almost always flows even bumper to bumper . And I’ll be damned if reducing the number of exits,a concept I thought to be crazy seems to have worked . And god bless the Ted Williams tunnel for those heading south it helped develop the seaport

[@Nerd_of_Anarchy]

I dont live there, why am I so into this?

[@jonathandorr2234]

I’m frustrated from wanting to see examples of what you are speaking of. Too much repetition, of the same highway footage. I lived through this, I drove through all of it , and you could show, what you speak of.

[@NewBunny-vc2pm]

imagine how we feel, watching people drive drive drive everywhere when they could be on the T!

[@Rahshu]

After two episodes, one of thing stands out to me about the highway boosters, and that it feels like a class war. Over and over this theme of communities not being consulted about these top-down projects by people who see them as impediments to building recurs. I suppose that's still relevant today, this tussle between the idea of America as a representative democracy in which everyone is equal before the eyes of the Law and the reality that frequently the wealthy, powerful, and well-connected are able to run roughshod over the populace and command the ears of the politicians more readily than the general citizenry. Given how faith in America's democracy is at such a low, it seems the issue has definitely not been resolved.

[@cr2814]

Good video. But it the video went with the audio it would be a lot better

[@paul6925]

Americans get so passionate about highways! Here in Toronto people are fighting over demolishing the elevated Gardiner Expressway but I'm not sure many crowds have shown up physically to protest for either side. If they did it certainly wasn't big in the news. (although they did show up decades ago when it was being built).

[@myradioon]

Everybody is swiping on their phones and writing comments instead of showing up.

[@brianarbenz1329]

1:04 “Highways are beautiful things. They’ve built America. They built the middle crass.”… That’s no typo. That’s what Bill Reynolds is quoted by Salvuci as saying. Freudian?

[@briangpz]

It's hilarious how the residents of Boston, and even the guy who produced this documentary, don't even take into consideration that there is an entire State outside the city limits. It's as though the people of central and western Massachusetts don't even exist when they talk about elections for governor.

[@Splintor13]

Why were some of the interviews and such in the first Episode and not in this one?

[@rkgsd]

0:10 Anyone notice the rear end collision during the filming of the traffic?

[@Xsiondu]

This is great

[@GBHNews]

Thanks for watching/listening! Hope you tune in for our next episodes.

[@bstruks1662]

Great audio documentary, but the visual doesn't make sense, you're talking about the blizzard of 78 and all you can show is the traffic on the elevated highway which is basically all you show, not good

[@NewBunny-vc2pm]

imagine how we feel, watching people drive drive drive everywhere when they could be on the T!

[@sarcasmo57]

Well, there ya go.

[@danam0228]

23:00 "just $85 a month" in East Boston?! You can't rent a room for $850 there now. Have to go out by 495 (about 30 miles away). That much futher into NH for a whole apt. Wtf?!

[@pvb876287]

I lived it. I endured it. I left it.

[@BarkerBytes]

Listen up. Im a huge infrastructure nerd and also a documentary nerd.... but what is going on here? Why dont we see the people being interviewed!? Why are these miniseries just 1990 videos of Boston's SHITTY traffic?!

[@NewBunny-vc2pm]

imagine how we feel, watching people drive drive drive everywhere when they could be on the T!

[@opbreak]

And...Boston traffic is still a mess, not to mention the surrounding belt traffic.

[@maroon9273]

After the big dig. The traffic spread further out.

[@ydhirsch]

How many episodes of this series are planned? It seems to just dead end at two.

[@GBHNews]

There are nine episodes and they will be released weekly on Wednesday mornings. Episode 3 is out tomorrow!

[@lorenzodicapo6305]

Boston is a monument to poor city planning and half-assery. That anecdote about the Olmstead park is typical. The big dig is an embarrassment. Pushed through with no public input, to make Menino and his construction buddies millions, while adding absolutely nothing positive. Over budget, shoddily made, unnecessary. Sure, the park is nice, but no new bike lanes, no promised light rail connection, the silver line is a well- publicised joke that even the bus drivers themselves hate and belittle. All so some rich dudes from Wellesly can shave five minutes off their airport run. Great job, Tom. People like Salvucci and Bob Moses have caused damage to this country that will take generations to heal

[@donc-m4900]

Poor City planning? Blame the cows and the path they took.

[@lorenzodicapo6305]

@@donc-m4900 the cowpath thing is a myth. If it wasn't: so the city planners just said ,'the cows did it well enough,' and never did anything? Proving my point then. Also, cows had nothing to do with the Big Dig

[@Paul1958R]

No it was full assery

[@NewBunny-vc2pm]

I moved to Boston in 2005 when the trees for the Rose Kennedy Greenway were sitting in burlap ready to go in. I got rid of my personal car that same year (who needs it when you can walk, bike, and T everywhere? Also, that climate change thing). I agree with you about the Big Dig being unnecessary and traffic is something like 80% worse than It was before! It is incredible that so many people choose to drive. It's also incredible that while Sargent cancelled the SWE, and converted the highway funds to transit and parks, Dukakis (supposedly a public transit booster) went all in on Salvucci's Big Dig instead of saying, "look, the answer isn't a duplicate highway in a tunnel, it's a serious regional transit plan with the funding to match." It's wild to me that contemporary urban planning activists think Salvucci is some kind of wise elder...

[@philipmcdonagh1094]

If you want to see infrastructure disasters then look no further than Ireland, hard to believe this is the US. Mind you it is Boston which is mostly Irish which would probably explain a lot.

[@LiveFreeOrDie2A]

Comparing Mike Dukakis vs Ed King to Muhammad Ali vs Joe Frazier is.. 🤦‍♂️‼️

[@wildmano1965]

Boston is a perfect example of "Just flush the whole thing down the !#$%^&* toilet and start over." It is still a car-centric mess. The "Big Dig" was a big joke.

[@oldgordo61]

Not just Boston any city that starts doing these big projects never seem to stick to the original budget. In Montreal where I am from they're planning to extend the Blue Line subway with 5 new stations to Anjou. This has been an ongoing issue for over 40 years when the Blue Line was first opened. Construction is finally about to start next year and finish by 2030 they have even started and the project cost is now $6.4 billion which will no doubt go much higher.

[@dougmcgavin7273]

Interesting audio, useless video. While the audio is about a specific subject the video should relate to it instead of showing endless loops of the same traffic!

[@NewBunny-vc2pm]

imagine how we feel, watching people drive drive drive everywhere when they could be on the T!

[@bobmarshall3700]

Got sick of the constantly repeated footage of cars on the freeway. Same shots over and over. Also, the audio is very bad when the old chap is telling his story. An old man muttering away!

[@joegalen9264]

this video is all video of traffic, should be audio podcast only

[@RsigmaGS_G]

I’m listening to this without the video…you don’t have to watch it if you don’t want to

[@ferky123]

You can use your podcast player.

[@jimlangerie]

Had to stop watching it. I use video for side-entertainment. I like to look at things that catch my interest. The discussion mentions "the lady in front of the building", but only shows traffic. The traffic does not add to the discussion at all. Probably fine as a podcast. Useless at teats on a boar when shown on KZbin.

[@lindat6688]

Exactly. They put so much effort into getting all this great information, and then completely fall down on the video. What the heck?

[@myradioon]

Speak for yourself. I spent the whole time looking for my car at the time. Also all of the trucks I drove for companies. The whole video brings back the 90's - the last era when 'Boston was Boston'. I saw a Filene's truck. I lived in Fort Point and that stretch of highway was my surroundings. The Big Dig literally started every morning in my backyard.

[@samking4179]

hahahaha! GBH, a gov't sponsored tv channel, reporting on a failed gov't project. they just don't get it.

[@geoffmccoll4640]

Is this something to do with the internet in 2023?

[@spikey2740]

Reagan was the first of several huge mistakes to alight in Washington DC.

[@oldgordo61]

The democrat party incumbents running the country and states are no better than the republican side. They talk a lot about caring for the average working joe the minorities the nieghbourhoods yet they have run these places into the ground. San Fran L A and NYC and other big cities have an out of control crime looting homelessness crumbling public eduation and infrastructure and a fentynol and ophoid problem that is killing hundreds if not millions of american.

[@Paul1958R]

Reagan: 'Government is too big and it spends too much'. So what did he do about it? He saw to it that it got bigger and spent even more.

[@oldgordo61]

Compared to how much the Biden govt has been spending? @@Paul1958R

[@roboneil408]

​@@Paul1958Runtrue.

[@baldoldbear]

cars cars cars people talked i see cars descriptions of roads areas i see cars this is a radio program not a for tv worst video ever not even a note saying where the cars are it could be timbuctoo a totally wasted chance to explain what the big dig for those that weren't part of the planning department seeing the maps every day bet there were vidio and pictures pity they weren't available

[@milfordcivic6755]

Wow. Sentence structure. Use a period.

[@NewBunny-vc2pm]

imagine how we feel, watching people drive drive drive everywhere when they could be on the T!