The Big Dig Cost $24 Billion -- Worth It?
The "true cost" of the project of the highway project is estimated at $24 billion, according to the Boston Globe.
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Boston's "Big Dig" project took decades to complete, and now estimates peg its cost at $24 billion, according to the Boston Globe.
The project moved the city's central highway artery underground, helping to alleviate traffic and create the Rose Kennedy Greenway. But digging the tunnel cost over $14 billion, plus another $7 billion in interest on the project's bond, which expires in 2038, according to the Globe.
Add in supplemental transportation projects, including the implementation of the Silver Line rapid transit service, upgrades to the MBTA's blue line and the in-progress Green Line Extension project, and the Big Dig's true cost equals $24 billion.
(Read the full Globe Report: True cost of Big Dig exceeds $24 billion with interest).
That number could increase slightly, depending on the final cost of the Green Line Extension. The project, which will extend the green line northbound through Somerville with a final station in Medford, has been prevously estimated to cost about $1 billion. But its still in its relative infancy -- it isn't expected to be completed until 2020.
ForestDale
8:21 am on Friday, July 13, 2012
Quick, somebody show me a link to a news story about a federal project where the price tag in the headline includes future interest payments.
Bonus points if it is a defense project.
Chris Caesar
8:25 am on Friday, July 13, 2012
Forestdale, not sure if you are being sarcastic but the headline for the story we're linking to here is "True cost of Big Dig exceeds $24 billion with interest, officials determine". Are you looking for something different?
Phe
8:22 am on Friday, July 13, 2012
The bulk of this project, the tunnel, was featured in "Modern Marvels: Engineering Disasters" some years ago on the History Channel. While the Rose Kennedy Greenway space is nice, it has done nothing to alleviate traffic. Issues with the tunnel itself actually make me less happy about driving through it (on the few occasions I do); the expensive tiles used in the construction to "alleviate cleaning and maintenance costs" are already shot and disgusting.
As for the T projects, the MBTA would have been better served by expanding or re-vamping their Silver Line idea to include more areas of the service community. For instance, we live a 10 minute drive (without traffic) from Boston Logan airport where my husband works. He takes the T to work since we only have one car, but he has to go all the way into Boston, then back out to Eastie to get to work. Why? That's ridiculous.
I dunno. I feel like the price tag is not at all worth the end result.
ForestDale
8:59 am on Friday, July 13, 2012
Chris, it wasn't a shot at Patch so much as a a complaint about the media's handling of the Big Dig in general. For some reason it is held to a different standard than other (often more expensive) federal projects.
Phe
9:22 am on Friday, July 13, 2012
Could it be the enormously huge budget overruns, the craftsmanship so shoddy that it's killed at least one person, the promises made and never kept, the shortsighted engineers who never planned for the population growth the city saw (or adjusted accordingly once it became a little more self-evident)? Or the fact that even Modern Marvels has categorized this an "Engineering Disaster" due to the cost differential between projected and actual, the engineering flaws, and the continued extensions in deadline?
What similar federal projects are you thinking of that are in this league that aren't equally castigated by national media? This is a local project that has cost state and federal taxpayers billions. Why shouldn't it be held to the standard that it is?
Phe
9:24 am on Friday, July 13, 2012
I should amend that last statement that this is a LOCAL project that only benefits one city in the state of MA - yet it has cost taxpayers across the state and country billions of dollars...taxpayers who will never, ever likely benefit from the end result.
Federal projects however, are usually undertaken with more than one city in the country in mind. Right there should be a huge indicator as to why local media focuses on the Big Dig rather than federal projects.
Mike G.
9:28 am on Friday, July 13, 2012
"this is a LOCAL project that only benefits one city in the state of MA - yet it has cost taxpayers across the state and country billions of dollars...taxpayers who will never, ever likely benefit from the end result."
Not that I completely disagree, but that's kind of a slippery slope. I'm sure there are lots of programs and projects that cost millions of dollars, footed by the state, that I'm paying for which benefits places like, say, Springfield, or Worcester.
Phe
9:35 am on Friday, July 13, 2012
Michael G - Fair point, but the OP I was responding to was comparing this to other federal projects...
And realistically, I'd have less of an issue if the pricetag for this resembled the original budget and projected cost (and timeline) in any way, shape, or form. I do think that people have more of a right to be angry about this project than a smaller scale undertaking in other parts of the state. At the very least, it's far more worthy of media scrutiny.
Mike G.
9:39 am on Friday, July 13, 2012
Oh, I totally agree!
A $10+B overrun is just unacceptable. There really aren't many words for how embarrassing it is.
Phe
9:47 am on Friday, July 13, 2012
Michael - I remember watching that episode of "Engineering Disasters" in like, 2003 or 2004 and thinking about how embarassed I was then. Because now it was basically being adopted as one of the penultimate FAIL projects of the era. Now? *sigh* Yeah. You hit the nail on the head.
Gene Pinkham
9:06 am on Friday, July 13, 2012
"This tunnel will be a bargain" - John Forbes Kerry
ForestDale
9:39 am on Friday, July 13, 2012
I don't think it is being held to too high a standard, but other projects (particularly defense projects) are not being held to the same high standard. If you can prove me wrong, go for it.
Phe
9:45 am on Friday, July 13, 2012
Well if you can show me what defense projects you're thinking about, I'd definitely be interested to see whether or not the national media has provided similar coverage. What defense projects are you referring to that benefitted only one city in the nation, had a 10 billion dollar cost overrun and took well over 20 years past their initial projected completion date to wrap up?
howard mcgowan
10:29 am on Saturday, July 14, 2012
The deficiT of the MBTA CHARGED WITH PAYING THE DEBT of the Big dig on the "backs" of the elderly and disabled with 125% increase on the RIDE
Frank Mulligan
3:10 pm on Sunday, July 15, 2012
I remember when they started. It was BIG MONEY. Now it's the BILLION $$$$$. The BIG DIG we will be paying for this On & On. It"s made things better now than BEFORE. Today we have to many sars and trucks on the road. We need to get rid of the Politicions that have been there to Long..