I've been up there once and a friend of mine drove me in that area when it was still in the last stages of the project. It's messed up that the project cost was over then what was initially said and of course that motorist's death. It was a slap in the face to state/local government and the engineering company.

 

I too am finally glad it's through. For many years the roads kept changing from one day to the next. I'm sure the peeps from around the area can attest to that. You never knew where you were going. I went to High School in Boston 88-92 and used to walk from South Station to Tremont thru the theater district and China town- total chaos but interesting to watch something of that magnitude come together.

Hey fatmike, your in the North End?- Galleria Umberto ring a bell? The best "fast food" Italian I have ever had!

 

Thanks for posting the article and pics Mike.

Having driven in the 'before' traffic, the after situation must be wonderful (I've not been back in recent years).

It is a marvel of engineering, but a disaster from a project management standpoint. No doubt there were going to be unforeseen problems (known unknowns and unknown unknowns ) but the schedule and budget overruns are a disgrace. I suspect there was MASSIVE corruption involved in this.

 

An absurd comparison. One is about national security. The other is reducing traffic in one city.

War is certainly insanely expensive, but look how much the 9/11 bombings cost the country. By some accounts over a TRILLION dollars, so I could argue (but won't) the war is 'only' half that.

 

Of course, Umberto is great. Lines down the street at lunch time

 

I wasn't trying to compare the two for similarities. I'm simply pointing out the amount of money the government throws around but yet people are shocked at a necessary highway project that is the heart of a very important city.

This war has been very much about rebuilding Iraq (not just simply "national security"). So billions are spent rebuilding an enemy county but rebuilding a portion of a major US city raises questions.

 

You are trying to compare the two on the basis of absolute money spent, so of course there must be some relationships drawn between similarities or such a comparison is pointless. And, as I stated earlier, it's quite easy to see that the scope of each project is so different. The Big Dig is 10 miles of transportation infrastructure. Iraq is a country, bigger than California and on the other side of the world, in which we're waging a war against terrorists. A 30:1 ratio actually seems ludicrously small.

Again, whether the project was necessary or beneficial is a separate issue from why people complain about it. There was so much wrong about the project from top to bottom that is representative of government failures.