Boston drivers who have struggled with traffic-induced headaches for the last 12 years will finally start to see the results of one of the nation’s largest engineering feats.
The Big Dig, designed to improve traffic flow in Boston’s highly congested Central Artery, was originally intended to reduce drivers’ frustration. Thus far, the project has only increased those frustrations. But Big Dig officials have expressed hope that the undertaking will be completed within the next two years.
THE PROJECT Big Dig designers expect the new Central Artery will smoothly and comfortably carry a quarter-million cars each day. According to Massachusetts Turnpike Authority records, Boston would face stop-and-go traffic for 16 hours every day by 2010 if nothing were done to replace the current elevated highway.
Though the Big Dig, officially called the Central Artery/Tunnel Project, is a multifaceted undertaking with many sub-projects, its primary goal is to bury what many say is a poorly designed Central Artery. Erected in the 1950s, the Central Artery carries Interstate 90 and Route 1 through downtown Boston.
The official Big Dig website says the existing artery faces three primary problems: too few lanes to sufficiently handle ever-increasing traffic levels; too many exits; and its appearance.
‘The artery was poorly designed in many regards,’ said Michael Powers, the general counsel for the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority, ‘and unfortunately we have no options other than to leave it the way it is or bury it. We chose the latter.’
The plan proposes not only to bury the artery through downtown opening a wide tract of land for aesthetic improvements but also to widen the highway from its current six lanes to eight and in some places 10. It also reduces the number of midtown exits to three in each direction in an effort to eliminate bottlenecks.
‘This undertaking doesn’t have just one benefit,’ Powers said. ‘Not only will rush hour be a much smoother ride, but downtown will also look and hopefully smell better.’
The Big Dig will not only whisk traffic along with ease, but will also help to lower carbon monoxide levels in the city by 12 percent, according to Massachusetts Turnpike Authority environmental surveys. The surveys said because the improvements will keep traffic moving, air quality will greatly improve.
The central artery itself does not represent the whole project. Included in the $14.6 billion price tag are various urban and suburban transit projects such as the commuter rail extensions to Newburyport, Plymouth, Fall River and New Bedford, restoration of Green Line service to Arborway and a move underground for the Green Line along Causeway Street between North Station and Science Park.
THE PROGRESS On March 29, the I-93 northbound tunnel finally opened to traffic, moving Boston commuters one major step closer to alleviating their driving headaches. The opening of the tunnel, which remains unnamed, marks the largest segment of the project completed to date, and cost $4 billion to construct.
Sen. Edward Kennedy (D-Mass.) cut the ribbon to officially open the tunnel on March 30.
‘It’s great to see this key portion of the project finally finished,’ Kennedy said. ‘This has been a hard run of years for Boston and the Commonwealth, as we’ve tried to bring this important dream to fruition. Now we’re seeing that dream realized.’
Authority spokesman Sean O’Neill said though the tunnel faced what the MTA called ‘teething problems’ as drivers reoriented themselves with new roadway configurations, it has succeeded in reducing travel times through downtown. Estimates put time savings less than one month after the change at 35 to 40 minutes during peak hours.
This opening came on the heels of last January’s I-90 connector, which connects with the Ted Williams Tunnel, the first completed segment of the Big Dig. The tunnel, connecting Logan International Airport with South Boston, opened in December 1995.
Rail transit projects included in the Big Dig are also nearing completion. The Green Line tunnel under Causeway Street is expected to open in 2004, and work on the commuter rail extension to Fall River and New Bedford is already underway. Other extensions of the commuter rail have been previously completed including those to Newburyport, Plymouth and Middleboro.
After 12 years of construction, the Big Dig is 88 percent complete, projects remaining include new tunnels and bridges, as well as the destruction of the elevated highway and restoration of surface streets.
THE WOES Despite some progress, the Big Dig has had its share of hang-ups. Leaking tunnels, years of delay and nearly $1.4 billion in expenses running over the original price tag have plagued the project. Federal auditors also recently discovered that one of the companies overseeing the Big Dig had over-charged the public by $31 million. The auditors made the discovery after scrutinizing bills submitted by New York-based Parson Brinckerhoff Inc., one of two companies hired to oversee construction.
According to a recent Boston Globe article, Parson Brinckerhoff has denied the claim and has appealed the audits. They refused, however, to release accounting documents to support their claim, and the Commonwealth may pursue legal action. Federal auditors speculated the total amount over-charged could reach $50 million approximately two percent of the total price tag as they had only reviewed receipts through the 1997 fiscal year.
Powers said the Turnpike Authority believes the findings of federal auditors. He said that the costs involved in completing the project make it easy for companies to bury superfluous charges deep in legitimate expenses.
‘The findings are valid,’ he said. ‘The auditors know what they are doing, and I find it hard to believe that Parson Brinckerhoff doesn’t know what they doing. You don’t just overcharge by $50 million.’
The naming of the new I-93 tunnel also caused controversy. Original plans called for the tunnel to be named after late U.S. Speaker of the House Eugene ‘Tip’ O’Neill, who helped bring the Big Dig project to fruition. Gov. Mitt Romney, however, wants the name changed to Liberty Tunnel. Romney opted to put O’Neill’s name on the less illustrious connector with I-90. At a State House hearing on Tuesday, state politicians debated the matter, but no decision has been reached.
THE HISTORY According to the Big Dig’s website, the need for a solution to Boston’s commuter crisis dates back to the construction of the original Central Artery in the 1950’s. It became clear shortly after it opened that the elevated ‘erector set’ design would not sufficiently serve increasing traffic levels. Moreover, many Bostonians thought the Artery was an eyesore, cutting the North End off from the rest of the city.
The idea to bury the central artery was first introduced in 1969, when Fred Salvucci, the transportation commissioner to the Mayor of Boston, was inspired to find a solution to the city’s traffic woes. He began technical studies of a series of widened underground tunnels.
Though construction on the project officially did not begin until 1991, official planning began nine years earlier, in 1982, with environmental impact studies. O’Neill spearheaded the campaign for federal funding, but it was not until 1987 after many years of political parlay with the Reagan administration that funds were obtained to begin the project.
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