The Big Dig

  The Big Dig in Boston, Massachusetts, has been recognized as the "largest, most complex, and technologically challenging highway project in the United States" (1). Officially named the Central Artery/Tunnel Project, this enormous endeavor, costing around $14 billion, "replaced Boston's deteriorating six-lane elevated Central Artery (I-93) with an eight-to-ten lane state-of-the-art underground highway, two new bridges over the Charles River, extended I-90 to Boston's Logan International Airport, and Route 1A, created more than 300 acres of open land and reconnected downtown Boston to the waterfront" (1). The plan for this project was conceived in 1970, but official planning did not begin until 1982.  Substantial completion was reached January 13, 2006. 

   It can definitely be said that the Big Dig project cost an extremely high amount of money, yet its impact so far shows its value, writes financial analyst Nicole Gelanis.  She relates, "Travel time through downtown at afternoon rush hour is down from nearly 20 minutes to less than three, consistent with pre-construction estimates. Elsewhere on the underground highways, travel times are between one-quarter and two-thirds shorter; average speeds in some sections have shot from ten miles per hour to 43 (speed, rather than drivers’ veering toward too many exits in slow traffic, is the tunnels’ biggest safety problem)" (2). In addition, "airport trips are between one-half and three-quarters shorter. A 62 percent drop in hours spent on the new roads saves nearly $200 million annually in time and fuel" (2).  

   The Big Dig has proven to bring other benefits, as well. Gelanis writes, "Investors and residents are reacting positively to the infrastructure improvement" (2). She states, "commercial properties along the old Artery increased in value by 79 percent in 15 years, nearly double the citywide increase of 41 percent. Owners have reconfigured buildings to open views where they once bricked up windows, and are renovating property in other newly accessible parts of Boston" (2).  Commercial and residential prices are also predicted to rise as "tourists and well-heeled potential residents once put off by the physical and psychological barrier now happily wander over from other parts of the city" (2).

Sources: 1.  http://www.massdot.state.ma.us/Highway/bigdig/bigdigmain.aspx
                   2. http://www.city-journal.org/html/17_4_big_dig.html