GBH Big Dig Podcast

[triplemultiplex]

YouTube's algorithm scored a hit for me recently.  GBH in Boston is in the middle of a podcast run about the entire history of the Central Artery project. 

https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLMQKK3_a14M3A-SQdVVWhOfOw8xRUuueJ

They go back to the deepest roots of it all spending the entire first episode talking about Boston's freeway plans and subsequent public opposition just to lay the groundwork for the actual project.  Pretty interesting stuff, even if you know the cliff notes version of how it all went down.

If you're watching it on video, much of the each episode is just talking over B-roll of vintage Boston since it's primarily an audio piece, but there's still interesting visuals sprinkled in.  I could go for more maps, of course, so I was at some points, pulling up maps in a browser tab for reference.

Obviously the Big Dig is 'ancient' history at this point, but having the whole timeline meticulously laid out like this and explained for non-roadgeeks is quite interesting.  Would recommend.

[DRMan]

Episode 1 also appeared as part of the 99% Invisible podcast.

[The Ghostbuster]

Too bad it will never happen again in this country. I'm sure there are other inner-city freeways that would have benefited from having a "big dig". Including some that weren't constructed.

[pderocco]

I dunno, it happened in Seattle, and that wasn't ancient history.

[JREwing78]

It's good background on what makes megaprojects of its ilk (California high-speed rail, Seattle's tunnels, etc) both so rare and so expensive.

The podcast's insight into the characters involved in the project both inside and outside government makes it a valuable resource. Boston was ahead of its time in experiencing both the positives and negatives of downtown highways, and it just happened to catch the right window of opportunity to get the project funded and pulled off.

[The Ghostbuster]

If any of you find any other podcasts on massive road construction projects, let us know!

[Pete from Boston]

Worth a listen. It might bring back PTSD for people that lived in New here when bad news about the Big Dig dominated headlines for years. It amazed me how much I had not thought about in years.

Very heavy on the public policy end. Engineering of course gets plenty of attention but that is not the focus here.

It is a pleasure every single time I get to listen to Fred Salvucci, and this series gives us lots of him.

[Alps]

I had Fred Salvucci for two classes and he was great except for how anti-695 he was. I blame him for ruining roads.

[Pete from Boston]

I had Fred Salvucci for two classes and he was great except for how anti-695 he was. I blame him for ruining roads.

The longest I've talked to him was at a movie screening on Hood Rubber in a church basement in Watertown. We were both at the back of the room, and I said to him, "I know why I'm here, but why is Fred Salvucci here?" I joked to him that he was out of context. We had a nice chat.

(He was there because his father worked at Hood Rubber, taking the streetcar equivalent of today's 70 bus from Brighton to Watertown.)

[Rothman]

I had Fred Salvucci for two classes and he was great except for how anti-695 he was. I blame him for ruining roads.

Roads are ruined?

[PHLBOS]

I had Fred Salvucci for two classes and he was great except for how anti-695 he was. I blame him for ruining roads.

Roads are ruined?

Meaning Cancelled.