Here's why Boston's beloved Zakim Bridge was the most controversial part of the Big Dig
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- Опубликовано: 10 окт 2023
- It’s amazing how quickly the Zakim Bridge has become a symbol of Boston. The irony is that this beloved icon was the most controversial piece of the Big Dig, and it very nearly sank the whole project back in the 1990’s.
The story of the Zakim Bridge captures an important change in the way we build infrastructure - giving everyday citizens the opportunity to bring lawsuits challenging the project.
This is the fourth in a nine-part podcast series about history and politics of the Big Dig - one of the most notoriously troubled infrastructure projects in American history. It was created as an audio experience. This presentation includes archival images - and some contemporary videography, including a shot of podcaster Ian Coss driving a Duck Boat tour.
Episode 1: • The Big Dig began with...
Episode 2: • How two competing tunn...
Episode 3: • How Boston's Big Dig s...
Episode 5: • It took a feat of engi...
Episode 6: • Here's how billions of...
Episode 7: • How a power struggle o...
Episode 8: • Boston's Big Dig tunne...
Episode 9: • The Big Dig transforme...
You can find more about The Big Dig podcast at www.wgbh.org/podcasts/the-big...
And you can hear more about Tip O'Neill in this GBH News radio interview with The Big Dig host Ian Coss: www.wgbh.org/news/local/2023-...
GBH News is a premier source for in-depth local news and original story telling based in Boston, Massachusetts.
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What do you think about the story of the Zakim Bridge, and how it serves the city today?
Why do we always need to name things after dead politicians? instead of place names that would fix in an actual place. Taking it from Route One is just as bad as it was 30 years ago, only now the transit is even worse; or stagnant in its development, failing to keep pace with roadway expansion, thus exacerbating suburban sprawl.
You mean like the Ted Williams tunnel?
Love the series - but the elephant in the room, which continues to be ignored by our leaders to this very day, is the completion of Rt95 into the city - that missing element means that the full potential of those billions and billons of dollars will never be fully realized - the city is in nearly constant choke off and that's regardless of the fantastic achievement of the tunnel & the Zakim - the misunderstanding that only Boston proper suffers from the effects of an uncompleted Rt95 is extremely short sighted. And, let's not forget that the 3 lane improvement of the southern end of Rt128 took over a decade to complete, ultimately to little or no improvement, again, all thanks to our spineless governor of that time who stopped 95 - he should have been impeached - terrible blunder - the state and it's drivers are still paying the price for that decision regardless of the tunnel, the Zakim and the upgrade to Rt128 and the countless billions of dollars spent.
@@skip1835 "The state and its drivers" are thankfully not roaring through Jamaica Plain, Roxbury, and the South End, all respect and thanks to the citizens who stood up and prevented that terrible fate. Instead we get to enjoy our parks, and we ride the subway instead of sitting in gross car traffic. Perhaps you should join us by riding a bus or train to work instead of polluting the air with your car (the noise from your car is really awful, too).
I appreciate the visual of the original bridge setup. I was born in '88, and have very early memories of the Central Artery. In particular, I remember the double-decker section, and I remember the crummy area under the highway near Quincy Market and the Aquarium. What I'd forgotten, was that the double-decker section of highway didn't continue all the way through the city (I thought that part was ONLY in the city as a way of reducing the footprint of the highway, but I was obviously mistaken).
I've gotta say, despite the framing of this story from the perspective of Salvucci, and his trials and frustrations in the efforts to get his project accomplished, I have to appreciate and agree with the CLF, that rather than merely relocating highways, replacing highways with effective public transportation needs to be a key effort in urban infrastructure planning.
As someone who was born in the 90s, I only knew of the Big Dig as an ice cream flavor - this provided me with so much history and context - can't wait for the next episode
late 90s? I was born in 94 and still remember the big dig as my earliest consistent local news story
The beauty of the Zakim Bridge is a brilliant piece of civil engineering visual magic in its ability to distract attention away from the nearby tangle of unsightly roadways.
This documentary is one of the best things I've seen in RUclips for a long time! Thanks!
We love to hear that!! Thanks for listening.
Been listening on Spotify but thought I'd add a comment here. As an aspiring transportation planning student from the West Coast, I've been inspired and enthralled by both the story and the storyline of this series. It is a truly touching piece on the importance - and difficulty - of local activism. Thanks for your work, guys!
Wonderful series. Thanks for all the incredible color behind a story that spanned most of my lifetime. Around 2000 I got a tour of the then under construction tunnel and got to walk out on the Zakim bridge before any traffic would cross it. I was blown away by how lovely the bridge framed the Boston skyline. Thanks to all who fought for the best possible answer to this challenge. Too bad the MBTA which was supposed to benefit from the scheme Z compromise ended up in its current state of underfunding by being raided for funds to finish the Big Dig. I suppose we will eventually hear about that part!
Thanks for listening and sharing these memories! Very cool you got a tour 😎
I remember when the Big Dig finally opened. I thought it was the coolest thing ever and made me want to be an engineer.
I love this podcast. In true Well There's Your Problem fashion, we don't get to the construction stage until over 3 hours in (and I'd have it no other way).
I also appreciate that this series at least recognizes that the People Before Highways protests were often naturally related in the Housing/Rent protests in Boston of the 1960s.
There story telling was as good as a award winning movie script. For a documentary chanced being boring , and yet came out quite entertaining.
Backtracking events , enhanced the narrative. And the real life participants on their voice overs was just the icing on the cake.
The footage seemed a bit worn, but again, back then there was no 4K cameras and enhanced editing software unless you paid through the nose to get AVID stuff.
Please keep on churning stuff out of your library, nowithstabding the low click counts. It matters a lot, specially with such compromised quality editorial.
This was a podcast that they added old archival footage to, not a documentary
This is such an awesome podcast series. Great job and thanks for the effort! I can’t think of the last time I stayed so invested in something four hours in! I’m gonna be sad when I finish it all!
If only they had actually stuck to their green line plans on the E Branch, blue line extensions, and red-blue connector
the way you describe scheme Z as a clover intersection all packed into one corner makes a lot more sense now. Boy i tell ya. You miss your exit and you are screwed in this monster.
Also, having made it to episode 4 here, I never realised how *new* this, zakim, and frankly even the tunnels. I just thought they had been all built in the 1960s. I was born the year the ted williams tunnel was opened so not much frame of reference here. super interesting learning about this. How to build highways in colonial cities built for cattle carts is not ever so cut and dry
Such an excellent series so far! It has pulled so many pieces into place, insightful, well researched, and most of all, interesting.
At the end of the day Boston shine brighter and more beautiful after that massive project. It was well worth it Massachusetts is an economic leader we should have the opportunity to have more projects to beautify the state the way the big dig did for Boston.
This is really cool history of a project i heard my parents endlessly complaining about when I was growing up. Great stuff!
I enjoyed the video, but I think it would have benefited from more specificity as to why Fred Salvucci was so insistent on Scheme Z over the alternatives.
What I’d be curious about, is whether he was insistent on project Z because it checked all the boxes and resulted in the least destruction of property?
The fact the actual solution wasn’t far from project Z, makes me wonder about what it was about project Z over the alternatives that made him so insistent about it.
Really enjoying this video enhanced presentation of the podcast! Having pictures of the proposed bridge & ramp layout was incredibly helpful to show just how complex it was. The political cartoons were a nice bonus!
I lived in Boston (well, Brighton) from the summer of '85 through '88 and frankly I was pretty oblivious about all of this. Living in Los Angeles, I've been hearing a great deal about the ongoing construction of the high speed rail and experiencing the building of the city's light rail Metro lines. Hearing the behind the scenes perspectives on the efforts just to set up such large projects is so informative!
This has been interesting !
Looking forward to Episodes 5 thru 9 of your Big Dig Podcasts !
That Zakim Bridge is Beautiful ! ❤
Great series, been following it with interest
Absolutely loving this series
Excellent stuff. Thank you!
Outstanding documentary here. Bravo GBH !!!!!!
This is a great series
the 1812 overture comes before the fireworks. the Artillery fires their 105 pack howitzers during the song.
Yay loving the inclusion of more images and visual media!!!!
I've never been to Boston but that Central Arerty looks SOOOO much like the one that is still in San Francisco. The elevated 101/80 freeway structure. It's turquoise, has those same curbs, narrow lanes and was built in 1957. Wonder when THAT's going to go?
At least it's been cut back to like half its original length.
I thought it would after the last quake
Can't believe they got Tony V. Love that dude
wow! i love bridges!!
This is the best thing on the internet now and it's not even close.
Too bad they never built that bloody North Station-South Station connection. That would have been a game changer.
The one odd thing about the bridge is the fact that the two towers mimic the design of the Bunker Hill monument, which sort of takes away from the specialness of the monument.
fantastic podcast
I'm so glad we got the Zakim Bridge instead of "Scheme Z"
🤔 Well, from what I recall, Batman DID tell the Riddler that Batman would give the answer, but Batman went back on his word, sooo... 😏
When you stated... if anybody's ever watched a Red Sox or a Celtics game......why wouldn't you say a Bruins game too?
I’m driving through the tunnel now. Surreal🙃
Size of Boston Common is 45 acres. A lot of area for the city but not really a huge area.
The most controversial thing about the bridge is that it was named after the wrong person. It should have been named the Bill Russell Bridge.
In Boston …. 😂
It was supposed to be named the Bunker Hill Bridge,
I wonder if his models of scheme z is on display somewhere ?
The first one is the best option to be able to make sure you are doing a great job in the world 🌏 to be able
Omg so good
My gut is telling me Goldberg's airport parking lot was making a LOT more money than he was probably reporting to the IRS.
How ironic, that you see, the Zakim, as iconic. This exact design is built all over the world.. Cookie Cutter..!
"I'm gonna go get the papers, get the papers."
The cost overruns of California's slow train to nowhere will make the Big Dig's costs seem like pocket change.
48:24 18 million dollars inflation per MONTH? that don't make sense to me. Did you maybe mean year instead of month? Edit: 18 million inflation in one year don't make sense either. Did you mean interest? Apparently, I'm missing something. Can someone help me understand?
Loving this series.
The only way to improve this series would have been to have less screen time of endless Boston traffic.
ETA by Damon and Naomi
Those route 1 ramps that were causing such a stir, they loop over train tracks and a concrete company. Nowhere near any houses or even offices at the time. I"m not sure why they were making such a sink about it.
It sounds like you've never been to the East Cambridge waterfront as it is today. Or maybe you've only flown through on your car with the windows up...
@@NewBunny-vc2pm I'm not sure where exactly you are referring to or what your point is here.
Get in touch with me. I worked on 7 Water Tunnels in Taxachusetts,I was on my first Job On the Central Artery Tunnel.
It was said you would destroy the Sith, not join them!
"Beloved"?!
It is interesting to contrast scheme Z with the 3rd tunnel. The tunnel threatened a neighborhood so had actual grassroot opposition. Scheme Z is on top of an industrial zone, train yard and gravel pit that was never anything but ugly with no housing nearby. You can clearly see that is the case even if you look at the area today. That opposition was politically manufactured in comparison.
It sounds like you've never been to the East Cambridge waterfront as it is today. Or maybe you've only flown through on your car with the windows up...
⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️⭐️
The Zakim Bridge is a sham IT IS THE BUNKER HILL BRIDGE!!!!!!
All sounds like a disaster.
It's a monolithic post modern crappy decision taken by small committee & foisted on the many. Boston is a historic city so it's entrances should introduce visitors w/as old a style architecture as practical. Anyone will tell you the Government service building is butt ugly when informed of it's price tag (or at 1st glimpse for that matter.) A child can make brutal style w/beach sand. It takes real artisans to master stone, copper & wrought iron. Which is what the Zakim should've reflected. "Sails" indeed. Support wires that look like support wires
It’s all superfluous, since it was planned to be a regular highway bridge, the suspension parts aren’t doing anything. Look at the spacing of the supports and you’ll see it.
There are other bridges that do that well enough -- Longfellow Bridge, for instance
This bridge is terrible because it is a HIGHWAY
Maybe this right wing Supreme Court has a few redeeming qualities
Citizens voice is a JOKE
I may not be conservative BUT the republicans are right about NEPA
BoutTime2TearDownOldNetworkBuildNewOneGottaMakeNewArtificialGasTaxPayingJobsMakeGovernmentRichAgain?