Boston's Big Dig

I'm going to Boston for the weekend and I know pretty much nothing about it. So far all I know is that the Celtics and Red Sox are Boston-based, and that the Boston Tea Party happened there. So, like any good traveller, I used the two best options available to me. Fox, who had lived there for a year, and the Lonely Planet guide book. All I got from both is that I needed to read up on the Big Dig. Ever heard of it? Neither had I.

The Big Dig is a $14.6 BILLION dollar project happening in Boston, which is the largest and most complex highway and tunnel project in US history. For a country where bigger is better, this is really saying something. This immense project has been going since 1982 and is now, finally, on the brink of completion. I’m sure the locals are pretty happy about this! Considering that the option was a stop-and-go traffic jam for up to 16 hours a day – every waking hour – by 2010, catering to the increase in traffic flow by building an 8-10 lane underground highway seems reasonable. The downside of all of this is that the project has incurred criminal arrests, escalating costs, death (the roof collapsed on a motorist), leaks, and charges of poor execution and use of substandard materials.

Having this valuable knowledge tucked away in my head now, I'm feel like I'm finally ready to see Boston, where traffic should be low and mobility high... or will it?