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It's July of 2023, the hottest month humans have ever recorded on planet Earth.

But at 8 a.m., the heat is still more or less tolerable.

How's it going?

So that is when I meet up with Fred Salvucci one last time. You want to take a little walk?

Yeah, sure.

And he takes me on a tour of the project he set in motion,

tearing down the elevated central artery and restoring downtown Boston.

This horrible garage who was trying to block,

putting the central lottery underground,

because he was afraid...

For Salvucci, this whole area is dense with memories

of long ago battles and small victories.

We figured out a different way to do it,

but they're doing their best to mess it up.

I try to imagine what it must be like to walk these blocks and know them like they were a giant chessboard

on which you spent the better part of 20 years arranging and rearranging the same pieces, seeking that one path forward.

You went to lunch in the north end. Is this your walk?

Yeah, this was my walk, except I'd have to divert over the Salem Street because Hanover was blocked.

We traced the walk he used to take under the elevated structure,

back when a lunch of macaroni and beans cost half a buck.

...