The Big Dig's Big Start w/ Ian Coss [Archive Favorite]

This Day

Jody Avirgan & Radiotopia

History

4.6 • 982 Ratings

🗓️ 7 July 2024

⏱️ 29 minutes

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Summary

[[It's the heart of the summer, which means that our crew is taking some breaks here and there. In the meantime, we'll bring you some favorite episodes from the vaults -- and we'll be back with new episodes very soon!]]

It’s September 26th. This day in 1983, Massachusetts Senator Michael Dukakis held a press conference to announce an enormous and ambitious infrastructure project to take a roadway that cut through the center of Boston and move it underground.

Jody, Niki, and Kellie are joined by reporter Ian Coss to discuss the initial plans for what would come to be known as “The Big Dig,” and why the project ended up taking decades, and billions of dollars, more than expected — and what it says about ambitious infrastructure projects in America.

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Transcript

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0:13.7	Hey everyone Jody here just letting you know that it is the heart of the summer which means that the members of the this day crew are taking some little trips getting some family time in some downtime hopefully you are as well anyway that means that here is a favorite episode from the vaults, but rest assured, we will be back with brand new episodes real soon.
0:18.4	See you then.
0:20.4	Hello and welcome to this day in esoteric political history from Radiotopia.
0:25.0	My name is Jody Avergan.
0:29.0	This day, it's September 27th, 1983. Michael Dukakis, then the Governor of Massachusetts, holds a press
0:36.7	conference to announce an ambitious and unprecedented project that would ultimately
0:41.1	become the most expensive public works project in American history, the Big Dig.
0:46.0	What was the Big Dig? Well, it was basically a plan to take the major roadway that cut through downtown Boston and put it underground.
0:53.4	It would be the country's first underground and underwater urban expressway,
0:58.0	cutting down on commuting times, unclogging the city streets,
1:01.5	a real vision for the future of car transportation the vibe
1:05.1	that day was optimistic the talk was all about speed speed the big dig in
1:10.4	reality was slow slow, unfathomably slow.
1:15.0	Construction didn't start for another five years.
1:16.8	The damn thing didn't open for another 15, kind of 20 years before it was actually finished.
1:21.5	All sorts of fios along the way, not to mention a
1:23.7	price tag that just kept growing and growing and growing.
1:27.4	All of this is chronicled in a new podcast series from GBH News in Boston, which looks at the big dig but also larger questions
1:35.0	about why we seem to be so bad at building things in this country or at least
1:38.7	building them efficiently it is hosted and produced by Ian Koss a good friend of PRX and Radiotopia and lots more and Ian as our special guest today.
1:47.0	Thank you for joining us. How was your commute into the studio today?
1:52.0	Well, my commute is about five steps down the hallway from my bedroom so I'm one of those.
	...

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