The first stop on our trip takes us to Boston, Massachusetts. With the city of Boston being an important cornerstone of the dawn of our nation, one could imagine the history pulsating throughout the city. The small 9-mile long city was walkable by nature of its size, with a pleasant and visually intrigueing mix of old and new architecture. The brownstones of South End quickly charmed our group. Unfortunately, due to its vast history of haphazard regulation, many of the streets throughout Boston can be difficult to navigate, with streets going in diagonals that would stop at dead ends. These winding streets often lead to unbearable city traffic, which lead the city to reroute its main highway (called the Central Artery) from above ground to below, costing a whopping $14.6 billion dollars. With usage of public transit as our main mode of transportation, we mainly observed how the streets of the city and the commuter rail stations were integrated throughout.
The Big Dig
Opened in 1959, a six-lane highway called the Central Artery ran through the center of downtown Boston. When it first opened it comfortably carried about 75,000 vehicles a day, however in the early 1990s that number rose to upwards of 200,000 making the Central Artery one of the most congested highways in the United Stated. And traffic was not the only problem. The highway cut off Boston's North End and Waterfront neighborhoods from the downtown, limiting these areas' ablility to participate in the city's economic life.
The solution was a plan called the Central Artery/Tunnel Project, but nicknamed the Big Dig. The major component of the project was replacing the six-lane elevated highway with an eight-to-ten-lane underground expressway directly beneath the existing road. To put these highway improvements in the ground in a city like Boston proved to be one of the largest, most technically difficult and environmently challenging infrastructure projects ever taken on by the United States. In the end though, the benefits of the Big Dig outweighed the challeneges.
Boston
photos on eft page by renae
Photo 3: The historical headhouse of South Station peeking from behind new glass development
Photo 4: Construction in Boston's Seaport District.
Photo 5: The Old State House nestled among skyscapers.
Photo 1: Skyscrapers in Boston
Photo 2: Charles River Esplanade
15 Station Area Analyis