What replaced the central artery in Boston?

The Boston's Big Dig project replaced the elevated deteriorating six-lane elevated Central Artery (I-93) with an underground expressway beneath the existing road, extended the I-90 tollway underground to the South Boston Seaport and Logan International Airport, built a new 10-lane bridge over the Charles River, and ...



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The original estimated cost was $2.8 billion. The final project cost was $14.6 billion. The Boston Globe estimates the Big Dig will ultimately cost $22 billion (with interest) and that it won't be paid for until 2038.

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The project replaced Boston's deteriorating six-lane elevated Central Artery (I-93). It did so with an underground highway that is state of the art and two new bridges over the Charles River. It also extended I-90 to Boston's Logan International Airport, and Route 1A.

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The Ted Williams Tunnel interface in East Boston between the land-based approach and the underwater section is 90 feet below the surface of Boston Harbor, the deepest such connection in North America. The project's seven-building ventilation system is one of the largest highway tunnel ventilation systems in the world.

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However, the project was completed in December 2007 at a cost of over $8.08 billion (in 1982 dollars, $21.5 billion adjusted for inflation, meaning a cost overrun of about 190%) as of 2020.

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Perhaps ironically, the Blue Line takes several points of pride from its proximity to water, which gives it its name. Local historians claim the tunnel that runs under the harbor as the first underwater subway tunnel in the United States.

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