Skip to content
Sign in
Artwork for The Big Dig
History

The Big Dig

GBH News

There is a cynicism that hangs over the topic of American infrastructure – whether it’s high-speed rail or off-shore wind – it feels like this country can’t build big things anymore. No one project embodies that cynicism quite like what Bostonians call ‘The Big Dig.’ Infamous for its ever-increasing price tag, this massive highway tunneling effort was once ridiculed as the Big Mess, the Big Hole, the Big Pig, the Big Lie. But now, decades later the story looks more complicated. So how did the narrative around this project go so horribly wrong? And what lessons can it offer for the ambitious projects of today?


The nine episode series is produced by GBH News in partnership with PRX.

Play
Open in
  • 20 episodes
  • Avg 41 min
  • English

Episodes 20

NewestOldestLongest
All20Unplayed20In progress0Played0
  • S1 · E21
    July 22 · 40 min

    Highway Teardown Tour | 11. Boston, MA

    The final chapter of the Big Dig story is what happened to the land after the highway was gone. Like the rest of the project, it was messy, and other cities would be wise to learn from it. Guests: Stephanie Pollack, Chris Cook Recorded live at the MIT Museum

  • S1 · E20
    July 22 · 37 min

    Highway Teardown Tour | 10. Providence, RI

    The Big Dig in Boston was a fluke, a unicorn, something we may never see again. But there are simpler and cheaper ways to rethink our urban highways – Providence, RI tried one. Guests: Edward Fitzpatrick, Zack Cunha, Mike Lewis Recorded live with Globe Rhode Island at CIC Providence Hear the full Washington Bridge Blues playlist here

  • S1 · E19
    July 15 · 42 min

    Highway Teardown Tour | 9. Philadelphia, PA

    Even as cities try to heal the damage of the interstate era, we are also continuing to expand our urban highways, continuing to turn parks and neighborhoods into new lanes and new off-ramps. So why is it so hard to stop? Guests: Inga Saffron, Daniel Pearson, Leslie Richards Recorded at The Pen & Pencil Club with support from Miles Bryan and Tom Grahsler

  • S1 · E18
    July 8 · 43 min

    Highway Teardown Tour | 8. Baltimore, MD

    This episode is about a very different kind of teardown – one that came suddenly, tragically, and without warning. But within this utterly unique story there are some universal questions about how we build for the present and the future. Guests: Johnny Olszewski, Samantha Biddle, Wambui Kamau, Arkia Wade, Klaus Philipsen Recorded live with WYPR at the Baltimore Museum of Industry.

  • S1 · E17
    July 1 · 31 min

    Highway Teardown Tour | 7. Louisville, KY

    In the stories we tell about public works, there is a constant bias towards the projects that actually happened, but it’s the apparently ‘failed’ projects that can often teach us the most. Guests: Marcus Green, Tyler Allen, Ken Herndon Recorded live with LPM at the LPM Performance Studio.

  • S1 · E16
    June 24 · 44 min

    Highway Teardown Tour | 6. Portland, OR

    The anti-highway movement, like any movement, has always been a coalition. Different people with different backgrounds and different interests finding a common cause. But sometimes the coalition cracks. Guests: Lillian Karabaic, Shawn Granton, Sharon Gary-Smith, Chris Smith Recorded live with Oregon Public Broadcasting at Literary Arts in East Portland.

  • S1 · E15
    June 17 · 34 min

    Highway Teardown Tour | 5. Seattle, WA

    There is exactly one other American city crazy enough to attempt anything like what Boston did with The Big Dig. That city is Seattle, and they are not done tearing down highways. Guests: Joshua McNichols, Greg Nickels, Cayce James, José Manuel Vasquez Recorded live with KUOW at the Seattle Public Library. Archival audio courtesy of the Seattle Municipal Archives

  • S1 · E14
    June 10 · 33 min

    Highway Teardown Tour | 4. Austin, TX

    How did the Austin City Council find themselves locked in a ‘death match’ over what to do about Interstate 35? Two councilors and two journalists talk through the fraught politics of so-called highway caps. Guests: Megan Kimble, Nathan Bernier, José “Chito” Vela, Mike Siegel Recorded live at the KUT Festival in Austin, TX.

  • S1 · E13
    June 3 · 41 min

    Highway Teardown Tour | 3. Rochester, NY

    Once the highway is gone, can the divisions these structures created actually be healed? Can the people on either side become neighbors again? Rochester, NY is trying to answer that question. Guests: Erik Frisch, Brian Sharp, Shawn Dunwoody, Suzanne Mayer Recorded live at the WXXI studios in Rochester, NY.

  • S1 · E12
    May 27 · 47 min

    Highway Teardown Tour | 2. Syracuse, NY

    Is it possible to re-write the Interstate map and send highways around cities instead of through them? Syracuse, NY is doing just that. Guests: Marie Therese Dominguez, Lanessa Owens-Chaplin, Joe Driscoll Recorded live in partnership with WRVO and the Syracuse Museum of Science and Technology.

  • S1 · E11
    May 20 · 51 min

    Highway Teardown Tour | 1. New York, NY

    What to do with the BQE? It’s a one of a kind highway in desperate need of repair, but no one can agree how to fix it. Guests: Polly Trottenberg, Lara Birnback, Stephen Nessen Recorded live at WNYC’s Greenspace. Archival audio courtesy of Municipal Archives, City of New York.

  • S1 · E10
    May 20 · 7 min

    Highway Teardown Tour | Enter Here

    Every American city is divided by crumbling old highways. Every city is trying to figure out what to do with them. But even if the problems with these structures are obvious, the solutions are not – often they are contentious. Welcome to The Big Dig Highway Teardown Tour.

  • S1 · E9
    Nov 15, 2023 · 37 min

    The Big Dig | 9. Hearts and Minds

    It’s been fifty years since the Big Dig was first conceived, thirty years since construction began, more than a dozen years since it was completed.

  • S1 · E7
    Nov 1, 2023 · 56 min

    The Big Dig | 7. The Turnpike Revolt

    By the year 2000, the Big Dig has passed through many hands, but in its final years a power struggle spills into public view.

  • S1 · E6
    Oct 25, 2023 · 50 min

    The Big Dig | 6. The Up Down Charts

    As work progresses through the 1990s and the tunnels take shape, the true cost of the Big Dig remains unknown to the public.

  • S1 · E4
    Oct 11, 2023 · 56 min

    The Big Dig | 4. The Double Cross

    The project faces an unexpected challenge on the home front: resistance from local environmentalists and residents.

  • S1 · E3
    Oct 4, 2023 · 53 min

    The Big Dig | 3. All Politics is Local

    The Big Dig needs federal funding. House Speaker Tip O’Neill is determined to get it; President Ronald Reagan is determined to stop it.

Showing 1–20 of 20 episodes