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Boston's Big Dig Finally Open

techiemac writes "I just saw a news story on yahoo about Boston's Big Dig finally opening. The Big Dig is considered by many to be the largest modern urban construction project ever!"

19 of 588 comments (clear)

  1. WOW by TheDarkener · · Score: 4, Funny

    I was gonna make a joke about it, but it actually returned results!

    $ dig bostonbigdig.com

    ; <<>> DiG 9.2.3 <<>> bostonbigdig.com
    ;; global options: printcmd
    ;; Got answer:
    ;; ->>HEADER<<- opcode: QUERY, status: NOERROR, id: 1417
    ;; flags: qr aa rd ra; QUERY: 1, ANSWER: 6, AUTHORITY: 0, ADDITIONAL: 0

    ;; QUESTION SECTION:
    ;bostonbigdig.com. IN A

    ;; ANSWER SECTION:
    bostonbigdig.com. 3600 IN A 64.15.205.180
    bostonbigdig.com. 3600 IN A 64.15.205.202
    bostonbigdig.com. 3600 IN A 64.15.205.182
    bostonbigdig.com. 3600 IN A 64.15.205.183
    bostonbigdig.com. 3600 IN A 64.15.205.155
    bostonbigdig.com. 3600 IN A 64.15.205.132

    ;; Query time: 110 msec
    ;; SERVER: 192.168.1.10#53(192.168.1.10)
    ;; WHEN: Sat Dec 20 13:11:46 2003
    ;; MSG SIZE rcvd: 130

    Too bad it's about New Jersey...

    --
    It is pitch black. You are likely to be eaten by a grue.
  2. I hope Ted Kennedy manages to stay... by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    inside the lanes.

    1. Re:I hope Ted Kennedy manages to stay... by DAldredge · · Score: 4, Funny

      He just has trouble with bridges.

  3. Modern ever? by fm6 · · Score: 4, Funny
    ... largest modern urban construction project ever!
    Maybe the largest modern project in modern times? But before that, who knows?
  4. Route 3 by PDG · · Score: 3, Funny

    Now if they could just finish the Widen3.com project.

    Its runs under the same budget as the BigDig and is a simple project to widen Route 3, a 15-20 mile 4 lane (2 each direction) to 5 lanes (3 each direction).

    Well, its been over 3 years now and not a single inch of extra lane has been opened (yet they have almost the entire thing paved and still blocked off).

    In closing, Massachussetts sucks. If I could get a job elsewhere which could pay my bills, I'd leave in a heartbeat

    --
    "Where is my mind?"
    1. Re:Route 3 by Kymermosst · · Score: 2, Funny

      Its runs under the same budget as the BigDig and is a simple project to widen Route 3, a 15-20 mile 4 lane (2 each direction) to 5 lanes (3 each direction).

      3 lanes one way + 3 lanes the other way = 5 lanes?

      Interesting math you have in Massachussetts. Perhaps that's why the Big Dig ran over budget.

      Your Route 3 will end up the same way. "We budgeted for five lanes, but there's really six! The cost of that sixth lane was huge!"

      On a side note... I spent a lot of time in Boston when I was in the military... I love visiting there. Last time I was there the Big Dig was not completed. I'd like to get back and see it, and show my wife around town, and maybe catch a Red Sox game.

      --
      "Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives" should be a convenience store, not a government agency.
  5. Re:Most Expensive For Sure by 1lus10n · · Score: 3, Funny

    Well you know they are trying really hard to keep up with bush and his military expenses, and his oil .... err country rebuilding. gotta love them there right wingers aye sonny ?

    --
    "Two things are infinite: the universe and human stupidity; and I'm not sure about the the universe." --Albert Einstein
  6. Re:Big Dig = Giant Boondoggle for Special Interest by nathanh · · Score: 5, Funny
    Most of this $16 billion came from out of state, i.e., from your pocket. Do you think Boston residents who already command huge rents and appraisals should now be able to look out the window at a grassy knoll instead of elevated steel girders and command even higher rents and appraisals, and at your cost?

    Yeah. Damn this whole "federation" thing to hell. What has it done for me, lately! My taxes should only benefit me. Mine Mine Mine. Gimme Gimme Gimme. Selfish Bostonian bastards, taking my tax dollars. I fought and died in the war for this country! All I want is a little respect... plus all my tax dollars paying for ME ME ME. I'll be damned to hell if my tax dollars are going to fund some evil democrats in Boston!

    Sorry, for a second there you sounded like a 90-year old ingrate. At what point in your life did selfish greed overwhelm your sense of civic and national pride?

    Hint: you could have simply said that the tunnel was overpriced without making a reference to the funding coming out of "your pocket".

    Once this thing got started, no one in power was going to say, "STOP! It's costing too much!", both because it seemed irreversible and because the Dems in power in Boston

    It's those damn democrats in power! Lousy democrats. Stealing my tax dollars and probably killing babies too. That's what democrats do.

    Giggle. You sound just like a crank. I bet you ring up talkback radio and complain about those "damn young kids with their Rock And/Or Roll music".

  7. Start of the Morlocks? by 192939495969798999 · · Score: 2, Funny

    An underground highway can only lead to underground McDonalds's, and underground apartments for the McD workers... is this the start of the Morlocks? Also, since when does every bridge have to be some kinda new-fangled contraption that looks like the next contender for a Maxell Audio commercial (bridge falls down)? They put up one of those at OSU, and it's cool, "i guess", but i think more thoroughly tested designs would be better solutions.

    --
    stuff |
  8. hindsight is 20/20 by jab · · Score: 4, Funny

    A few years and a several billion dollars into the Big Dig, transportation planners discovered a cheaper and easier alternative that would do an even better job easing traffic congestion in Boston and improving the scenic quality of the city. Instead of the "big dig" approach of burying a 8 miles of highway, the state would instead construct a large brick or concrete barrier right across I-93, strong enough to withstand the steady stream of cars crashing into it as they try to get into the city. The section of highway beyond this barrier is then demolished. This approach avoids the "if you build it they will come" increase of cars that quickly negates the effectiveness of most road and highway improvements. Unfortunately, by the time this was realized, enough money had been spent that it was too difficult to change course.

  9. Maybe in honor of its opening... by gkuz · · Score: 1, Funny

    ...Bostonians can learn how to drive.

  10. Re:tearing down the elevated expressway by miracle69 · · Score: 3, Funny

    Yeah - when Amtrak starts advertising its new trains as SUVs.

    --
    Linux - Because Mommy taught me to Share.
  11. Re: by Anonymous Coward · · Score: 3, Funny

    It would have been cheaper to rebuild the city elsewhere.

  12. Re:Big Dig = Giant Boondoggle for Special Interest by Guppy06 · · Score: 2, Funny

    "It costs more to drive on the NYS Thruway than it does for the MS Turnpike."

    Mississippi has a turnpike?

  13. Re:Wonderful example... by tchdab1 · · Score: 2, Funny

    Yes, and due to the magically wonderful efficiencies of business, every one of the projects I've ever had knowledge of in the many corporations I've been exposed to have been completed on time, under budget, and with maximized results.

    Why do we do it any other way? .sarcasm off

  14. For 15 Billion... by Wag · · Score: 3, Funny

    You'ld think they could afford better roadsigns.

    But that's Boston driving for ya- where only the intersecting streets are labeled, Speed Lane is called "EZ Pass" (WTF?) and rotaries are common.

    I was over there the other day and got lost, and I've been living here for 15 years!

  15. My Favorite Project Summary by richg74 · · Score: 4, Funny
    I lived in Boston for a total of about ten years, and I will entirely concur with those people who have said that the old Central Artery (the elevated highway the Big Dig will replace) was truly a nightmare.

    Still, my favorite response to the project came from Rep. Barney Frank. After hearing about the projected cost of the Big Dig, he remarked that, instead of putting the highway underground, it might be cheaper to raise the city. :-)

  16. Re:Drove through this morning. by njchick · · Score: 4, Funny
    But in any case, it's a waste of your money and mine - with that kind of money you could get a new nuclear sub, a B2 bomber, AND an aircraft carrier
    As stange as it sounds, my friends who live in Boston prefer to commute by car, not by a nuclear sub, a B2 bomber and not even by an aircraft carrier.
  17. Best sign yet... by dloyer · · Score: 2, Funny
    Don't forget the sign "REVERSE CURVE" on one of the main roads in Boston.

    After living here six years, I still don't know what it means.