The Big Dig
The Big Dig is a nine-episode series from GBH News and PRX that explores the infamous Boston highway tunneling project. It examines how the massive infrastructure effort became a symbol of cynicism about America's ability to build big things, and what lessons it offers for future ambitious projects.
Episodes
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 SiegelRecorded live at the KUT Festival in Austin, TX.
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 MayerRecorded live at the WXXI studios in Rochester, NY.
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 DriscollRecorded live in partnership with WRVO and the Syracuse Museum of Science and Technology.
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 NessenRecorded live at WNYC’s Greenspace.Archival audio courtesy of Municipal Archives, City of New York.
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.
BONUS: A note from the team
Just dropping in to share some news about the show, and what's coming next.
The Big Dig | 9. Hearts and Minds
Part 9: 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 – and the final twist is: the project has largely delivered on its promises. How do we reconcile that reality with the scandal and outrage we’ve heard so much about?Credits:Host and scriptwriter: Ian CossExecutive Producer: Devin Maveri
The Big Dig | 8. I Want Justice for What Happened
Part 8: Just as the project turns the corner towards completion, its entire legacy becomes clouded. The tunnels are leaking, concrete suppliers are being arrested, and everyday drivers are forced to wonder: are these tunnels safe?Credits:Host and scriptwriter: Ian CossExecutive Producer: Devin Maverick RobinsProducers: Isabel Hibbard and Ian CossEditor: Lacy RobertsEditorial Advisor: Step
The Big Dig | 7. The Turnpike Revolt
Part 7: By the year 2000, the Big Dig has passed through many hands, but in its final years a power struggle spills into public view – over who will determine the project’s fate, and who will take responsibility for its mistakes.Credits:Host and scriptwriter: Ian CossExecutive Producer: Devin Maverick RobinsProducers: Isabel Hibbard and Ian CossEditor: Lacy RobertsEditorial Advisor: Steph
The Big Dig | 6. The Up Down Charts
Part 6: As work progresses through the 1990s and the tunnels take shape, the true cost of the Big Dig remains unknown to the public, until a series of revelations pulls down the curtain and shakes confidence in the whole project.Credits:Host and scriptwriter: Ian CossExecutive Producer: Devin Maverick RobinsProducers: Isabel Hibbard and Ian CossEditor: Lacy RobertsEditorial Advisor: Steph
The Big Dig | 5. Hatchet Man vs. the 800 Pound Gorilla
Part 5: In 1991, the Big Dig is handed off to a new leader – the brash, aggressive, hatchet-toting Jim Kerasiotes – who makes it clear he plans to shake things up. The one thing he can’t shake is the equally aggressive private company managing the project. Now they have to work together.Credits:Host and scriptwriter: Ian CossExecutive Producer: Devin Maverick RobinsProducers: Isabel Hibba
The Big Dig | 4. The Double Cross
Part 4: The project faces an unexpected challenge on the home front: resistance from local environmentalists and residents – the very people the Big Dig was intended to please. Now, they say that Fred Salvucci has lost his way.Credits:Host and scriptwriter: Ian CossExecutive Producer: Devin Maverick RobinsProducers: Isabel Hibbard and Ian CossEditor: Lacy RobertsEditorial Advisor: Stephan
The Big Dig | 3. All Politics is Local
Part 3: The Big Dig needs federal funding. House Speaker Tip O’Neill is determined to get it; President Ronald Reagan is determined to stop it – setting up a final showdown in one of the great political rivalries of the 20th century.Credits:Host and scriptwriter: Ian CossExecutive Producer: Devin Maverick RobinsProducers: Isabel Hibbard and Ian CossEditor: Lacy RobertsEditorial Advisor: S
The Big Dig | 2. Unholy Alliance
Part 2: In the early 1970s a radical idea took shape: tearing down Boston’s elevated downtown highway, and rebuilding it underground. But making it happen will require a grand bargain between two competing tunnel projects, and between bitter enemies.Credits:Host and scriptwriter: Ian CossExecutive Producer: Devin Maverick RobinsProducers: Isabel Hibbard and Ian CossEditor: Lacy RobertsEdi
The Big Dig | 1. We Were Wrong
Part 1: There is a strange irony behind the Big Dig: the most expensive highway project ever built in America began with a man who hated highways. This is the story of Fred Salvucci’s journey into activism, during what is perhaps the most transformative anti-highway movement in the nation’s history.Credits:Host and scriptwriter: Ian CossExecutive Producer: Devin Maverick RobinsProducers:
Introducing Season One: The Big Dig
Can America still do big things? Can we build the ambitious projects we will need to survive climate change and improve our cities? This 9-part series looks for clues in the story of the Big Dig – one of the most notoriously troubled infrastructure projects in American history.The nine episode series is produced by GBH News.Credits:Host and scriptwriter: Ian CossExecutive Producer: Devin
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