The Big Dig!

The Big Dig project built more tunnels throughout the city of Boston and was meant to decrease congestion on inner city streets that are not designed for quick travel. There have been allegations of negligence in funding and selection of building materials. The project was conceived in the 1970s by the Boston Transportation Planning Review to replace the rusting elevated six-lane Central Artery. The expressway separated downtown from the waterfront, and was increasingly choked with bumper-to-bumper traffic.

There have been a couple issues dealing with the creation of the Big Dig. While digging the tunnels excavators came across unexpected geological and archaeological sites like buried buildings and ships which caused problems such as finishing the project in a timely manner.

Sustainably speaking, the reduction of congestion on inner city roads, the appointed officials can minimize vehicle emissions and time spent in the car for each individual. By expanding downwards we can decrease the amount of surface area we use to commute. This can decrease surface land cover by asphalt, but it still has potential to disrupt ground water in the area.

Many environmental impact mitigation projects (transit, pedestrian, bicycle, and parks) also remain. Although these were legal requirements for approval of the environmental impact statement, many are not funded because of the massive cost overruns on the highway portion of the project. For example, though the North Point Park was created as part of the project, it ended without constructing pedestrian bridges to neighboring parks.