The process of the Boston tunnel

The largest highway "big tunnel" in American history was born in the mind of a staunch highway opponent.

/kloc-one night in 0/970, two MIT alumni met in a cafe in Boston. Frederick Selvos, a transportation consultant in Boston, has just lost a big business-Interstate 95 crossing Boston and the construction of a city loop connecting several existing highways in Boston. Because of his firm opposition,

The city of Selworth has a tradition of opposing highways, because highways have brought disasters to the city.

From 65438 to 0950, in order to provide more employment opportunities and realize the national rapid transportation system, the "Expressway Master Plan" was rolled out throughout the country. The federal government and the state government provide funds for the construction of expressway networks in various places at the ratio of 9 ∶/kloc-0 ∶, and all kinds of expressway projects are carried out at high speed in the United States, which is full of loopholes.

In Boston, the terrible impact of bad highways is concentrated on the "central trunk line" This is a viaduct expressway running through East Boston from south to north: there is no emergency parking area, too many entrances and exits and sharp turns, and traffic accidents are frequent. The road surface with a designed daily flow of 75,000 vehicles will have 200,000 vehicles passing through it every day in the future. Noise, exhaust, fidgety drivers and slow-moving motor vehicles are stored on this two-way six-lane viaduct for more than 10 hours every day. /kloc-the 0/00-foot-wide pavement casts a huge shadow from a height of 40 feet. In the shadows, there are parking lots, underpasses and places where homeless people live. It is easy for people to be reluctant to pass under this highway painted green. They call it "Green Monster" and "Berlin Wall" because it surrounds the seaside community where we used to live and separates it from the city center.

Selvos is a third-generation Italian immigrant born in a seaside community. His father is a mason and his grandmother can't speak English. In order to repair the Green Monster, Selworth's grandmother was moved out in 10 days. Her house is one of 20,000 houses razed to the ground by the "green monster". The scene of the shovel destroying the house has been clearly imprinted on Selworth's mind.

196 1, Selworth graduated from MIT with a master's degree in municipal engineering. Shortly after leaving school, he joined the government's traffic management department. Young people in that era generally believed that the expressway passing through the city divided the city, brought noise and pollution, and was a tool to create poverty and social prejudice. In the1970s, after the news of the opening of Interstate 95 and the city ring road came, at the invitation of the community pastor, Selworth and other Harvard-born lawyers, economists and social activists served as the "think tank" of the community anti-highway organization. Together with residents from all walks of life in the community, they successfully moved the proposed Interstate 95 to 8 miles west of Boston. In the1960s, when the unemployment rate was high, there was considerable political risk, and the success was inseparable from the opposition of the chief executives of Boston and Massachusetts to further expand the expressway. But the "green monster" still exists as an unchangeable mistake. Selworth's disgust for it is beyond words, calling it "ugly and leading to the decline of the community."

Rehd understands the mood and situation of alumni. But he still hopes to find new business opportunities in Boston. He doodled on the back of a napkin and joked that you Bostonians should bury the "central trunk line" underground according to how much you hate highways. A few days later, Selworth was walking in the shadow of the "green monster", and Rehd's words shone in his mind like matches: if the "green monster" could be buried underground, it would not only solve the traffic problem, but also sew the divided city together again without moving residents.

At that time, Selworth was attending a transportation research group convened by Frank Sager, CEO of Massachusetts. This group has 60 members from various professional backgrounds, such as engineers, economists, lawyers and environmentalists. One of the topics is how to solve all kinds of thorny problems brought by the "green monster". In this regard, the team members put forward suggestions such as rebuilding the entrance of the "Green Monster" and setting up bus lanes. However, these suggestions are minor repairs and cannot fundamentally solve the problem. At a group meeting, Selworth put forward the idea of burying the "Green Monster" underground and building a cross-harbour tunnel through Boston Bay to ease the traffic pressure to Logan International Airport.

This bold idea made the players shine. This idea can also raise the real estate price near the "Central Trunk Line", attract more tourists, solve the employment problem, make the city get more business tax, and link today's Boston with its glorious coastal years ... It seems that this is naturally a "politically correct" project, which may win the favor of all stakeholders.

Selworth returned to the community to lobby the people. During his days of opposing Interstate 95 and serving as the mayor of East Boston, he accumulated many contacts and allies in the community.

After winning the popular support, Selworth successfully persuaded Senator Thomas Phillips O 'Neill, who represents Boston voters. His support is the key to the federal financial support for the "Green Monster" transformation project.

At the same time, a major technical problem that plagued the renovation project has also been solved. 1982, the mature "mortar wall" technology developed in Italy was introduced to the United States. This is a technology to push prefabricated components into the ground and avoid large-scale opening on the surface.

However, when the technology chain developed, the political chain went wrong. Both the Federal Highway Administration and President Ronald Reagan opposed the renovation project on the grounds that the cost was too high. However, politicians in Massachusetts and Boston finally used the leverage of votes to gain the support of Congress, thus overturning the president's veto.

From 65438 to 0987, the Central Artery/Tunnel Project received financial support from the federal government. According to the plan, engineers will spend 65,438+00 years and 2.6 billion dollars to turn the 7.8-mile-long "green monster" into a two-way eight-lane underground expressway. Because the Panama Canal is called a "big ditch", people call this underground expressway to be built a "big dig"-the last project took 26 years and cost 654.38+0.5 billion US dollars. "When 1950 built the Green Monster, we didn't resist because we felt that we couldn't change the government's decision. When it comes to building a' big tunnel', they advocate what benefits this project will bring to us. What we want to know more is: what we will endure for it. " The excavation was carried out at 100 yards underground, 50 yards from Nancy caruso's home. In order to reduce the vibration caused by construction, the builder installed special springs on her mattress.

Caruso is the founder of the community organization "Central Trunk Line Committee of Northern Seaside Community". The "Committee" requires the construction party to set up a full-time environmental monitor and open a 24-hour hotline to deal with the troubles caused by the construction.

"We are reasonable people and don't mention impossible conditions." The "reasonable" conditions in caruso are protected by the federal environmental law promulgated by 1969. This law stipulates that any public project that wants to get federal financial support must submit an "Environmental Impact Assessment Report (EIS)" before it starts: analyze the possible negative impact of a project on the environment from ten aspects, such as traffic, air quality, noise and vibration, energy, economic impact, vision, historical sites, water quality, wetlands and waterways, plants and wildlife, and the countermeasures to reduce the negative impact. From 1983 to 199 1, the supervisor and constructor of the "Big Tunnel" project submitted three versions of the "Environmental Impact Assessment Report".

Each version of the report is printed into a book and placed in public libraries, supermarkets and post offices for public reference and feedback. This was followed by a one-day hearing and a month-long public re-comment.

1990, the final environmental impact assessment report published by "Big Tunnel" contained 500 pages of supplementary materials, which attracted 175 oral opinions and 99 written opinions. Various groups participated in the review, such as Friends of Massachusetts, American Motor Vehicle Federation, Central Trunk District Commercial Committee, Hamhill Civic Club, Boston Institute of Architects and Non-spontaneous Combustion Cycling Club. Well-funded groups will hire architects to propose alternatives for their dissatisfied entrances and ventilation buildings. People with poor financial resources go to public libraries to browse municipal archives for decades to find arguments for their claims.

"Instead of sending the' green monster' underground, it is better to make Boston higher and cheaper." In the long design stage, the opponent of the "Big Tunnel", Massachusetts Rep. Barney Frank, said such a sharp one-liner. Selworth was once the object of cynicism by columnists and talk shows.

"Demonstrating the possibility of such a project is like demonstrating the possibility of a war." A local Boston official said that such public participation was "tantamount to throwing an elephant meat into the jungle of the jungle".

However, Selworth insists that public participation is the essence of public works. In order to prevent the results of public participation from being destroyed by the general election of city and state chief executives, Selworth wrote several most constructive suggestions into the project planning, because the planning book is protected by law. What Selworth didn't expect was that he would be planted in public participation in the future.

As the north gate of the city, the bridge over the Charles River has Boston City on the south bank and Cambridge Town where Harvard and MIT are located on the north bank. In order to meet the demand of traffic flow, the aesthetic standards of communities on both sides of the river and the requirements of the federal environmental bill for environmental protection indicators, the design scheme of this bridge has been uncertain for a long time.

When Dancel Voss put forward the 26th plan-Plan Z (named Z because the planners want it to be the last plan), if the bridge is to be completed according to the construction period and budget, the links of public participation will be greatly reduced. Otherwise, the federal government, already dissatisfied with the high investment, may reduce its financial support for the "big tunnel".

Therefore, within one year after the Z scheme was put forward, Selworth and his planning team did not publish a three-dimensional design model that is easy for the public to understand. 1 year later, when the project is about to start, the three-dimensional model diagram will be published. This is a six-story bridge with entrances and exits on each floor. In order to match these intricate entrances and exits, huge slopes need to be piled up on both sides of the river.

The Boston Globe has made a long story about Plan Z.. Opponents say that plan Z is "built on a left slope and a right slope", "huge", "lifeless" and "disorderly line composed of expressways". Once Plan Z comes true, there will be another Great Wall on the Charles River, and the ugliest buildings in New England will also join it.

Selworth explained that the Z scheme is the best scheme under the scheduled construction period and budget. But the voice of opposition is still flooding in.

Peter Howe, a reporter from the Boston Globe, interviewed several residents on both sides of the Charles River. Danieldae kim said that Plan Z would be an ugly monument behind their community. Richard Goldbold, the owner of the parking lot, complained that Plan Z would expropriate one of his properties.

The public's opposition to the Z plan has expanded into opposition to the "big tunnel" project. Deng Kiefeld, chairman of the Regional Transportation Committee, wrote in the Boston Globe that the "big tunnel" is like drilling Boston's stomach with an electric drill, pulling out the arteries, blood vessels, muscles and internal organs together, and in the process, Boston will fall into a coma.

Plan Z sank to the bottom because of the opposition's opinions, at the cost of delaying the project and increasing the budget. Until 1994, people finally found a satisfactory scheme, and the loss caused by the delay in construction period has reached 23 million US dollars.

During this period, with the departure of Democratic Governor Michael Kass who shared his political views, Selvos also left his position as a transportation consultant in Massachusetts-from 1978 to 1982. Because of Michael Ducas's departure, Selvos also bid farewell to the "Big Tunnel" and his consulting position. However, Selworth did not come back after leaving office this time.

Faced with such huge investment in public projects, politicians are far less patient than planners. Almost every CEO change in Boston or Massachusetts will bring doubt and review to the "big tunnel", which will lead to the suspension of the project. Of course, it will also give the project a chance to correct its defects.

"If you want' public participation', it will definitely take time and money. For this bridge over the Charles River, the cost is worthwhile. Because what we get is a beautiful city landmark bridge, not decades of regret. " 165438+1October 8, Matthew Amorelle, the new chairman of the Massachusetts Highway Administration, said in an interview with this reporter. In the1980s, Selworth was worried that the relatively weak public building sector in Massachusetts was not strong enough to undertake the construction of "big tunnels".

Selvos contracted the whole project to private construction contractor Bethel and Parson Borgerhoff.

These two private construction companies are time-honored brands with a history of more than 100 years, and have experience in restoring the Hoover Reservoir and building an industrial city with a population of 260,000 in Saudi Arabia. Because of the long-term undertaking of large-scale projects, the two companies have a very close relationship with government departments. There are many senior managers in the two companies, who freely shuttle between the revolving doors of politics and business. Reagan's cabinet even appointed Bethel's top managers as officials of the Department of Defense. Observers believe that using these two companies as designers and builders of the "big tunnel" will help the "Big Mac" project to obtain continuous federal funding.

Massachusetts Governor William Wilder Bisell Voss trusts private companies more. During his tenure, the supervision of the railway bureau on the project was greatly weakened. Directly led to various quality problems after the project.

199 1 year, after Selvos left office, the new * * * and the governor of the party appointed their own transportation consultant, Jim Keroset. Jim Croset is famous for his obstinacy, bullying contractors and contempt for federal officials. The Wall Street Journal investigated its "unique management style" and found that the "Big Tunnel" project led by Jim concealed billions of dollars in expenses.

At that time, it was Clinton's term of office, and Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater said: "The financial scandal of the Great Tunnel is a shameless betrayal of the federal and state highway projects with an innocent history of 85 years." Jim Croset was suspended. As a punishment, the federal government's financial support for the "big tunnel" was reduced to $8.5 billion, and according to the previous agreement, the federal government would bear 90% of the construction costs.

At the same time, the federal government issued a decree to cancel the regulation of the Federal Highway Administration to conduct regular cost analysis on large-scale public transport projects. Under the protection of this law, although Massachusetts auditors found a waste of $23 million two years after the start of the "Big Tunnel" project, the builder has been exempted from any responsibility.

Jim's dismissal doesn't change all the problems. In 2002, the American Planning Association released a research report, and nine times out of ten, large-scale public infrastructure exceeded the budget, but on average it exceeded the budget by 28%, and the "big tunnel" exceeded the budget by 300%. "The' big tunnel' is a project in the third world, because such an outrageous over-budget can only appear in the third world." This research report says.

In 2002, Matthew Amauri, a student majoring in public administration, became the supervisor of "Big Tunnel" and the chairman of Massachusetts Road Administration. During his term of office, this "big tunnel", which started construction 1 1 years ago, is experiencing many public trust crises such as finance, collapse and leakage.

For the reason of exceeding the budget, Amauri Le gave an explanation that might be too easy: "The time span of the' big tunnel' is very long, and the inflation factor was not taken into account when budgeting." In fact, there are at least three reasons for the serious over-budget of the project: the rising cost caused by technical challenges; The decision-making process brought by "public participation" is slow; The administration failed to supervise the project. The "big tunnel" is a huge project. From 1985, the whole project design time lasted 12 years. In this 12 year, ordinary people without professional background want to imagine the whole picture of this project, which is tantamount to the blind touching the elephant.

Compared with the embarrassment of the underground "big tunnel", Amauri Le seems more willing to introduce the situation on the ground to others. According to the environmental impact assessment report, after the completion of the "big tunnel", 75% of the surface will be covered by open green space and community activity places, so as to realize the original intention of returning the land occupied by traffic garbage to the citizens and stitching up the divided city. In 2002, when Amauri Le took office, the underground project of the "Big Tunnel" was nearly completed. It will be a good way to solve the crisis of public trust to increase the proportion of public participation in surface engineering again.

On the planning map, this 7.8-mile project is divided into 23 small blocks along the route. The use of each work in the planning is made public on the portal website in Boston.

In order to broaden people's horizons, the Urban Planning Department of MIT and Channel 5 of Boston TV formed a reporting team to collect successful urban planning cases of Barcelona, San Francisco, Manchester and other cities near water and introduce them to the public. Different groups have different views on how to use each piece of land.

"Boston Green Alliance" advocates as much green space as possible; Architects prefer to really sew up the cities on both sides of the "central trunk line" with buildings. In their view, maintaining the green belt is equivalent to constantly reminding people of the existence of separation; The "Main Line Business Committee" composed of owners along the "Central Main Line" hopes to introduce museums, libraries and other cultural institutions in this area; The community gardening association wants to build a glass greenhouse, but they don't have enough funds.

"At that time, there was a lot of debate. Should this land be operated by an organization without sufficient funds, or should it become a profitable business land? Finally, we decided to give this land to the Horticultural Association, because we do have a plan to build a' winter garden' and hope to hand it over to agriculture or plant organizations for management. Of course, it is unrealistic for a non-profit organization to raise a large sum of money in a short time. But if we give them 10 years and 15 years, they may be able to raise money. During this period, the community has always had a clean and unoccupied land for them to use, where they can do some seasonal exhibitions until they raise enough money to build a glass greenhouse. In the end, our city has the winter garden it wants. " Amauri Le told this reporter in an interview.

Amauri Le has participated in many "community creative dialogues" held by Boston English School and other places, and listened to the suggestions of community residents.

"There is an abandoned train and locomotive repair shop in eastern Boston. Some real estate developers want to turn it into a gallery, but residents prefer to use it as a community activity center. We listened to the opinions of the residents. " Amauri Le said that they * * adopted hundreds of such suggestions, many of which added entrances and exits for "big tunnels" in some sections, which increased the project cost by millions of dollars.

In fact, the cost of "public participation" accounts for a quarter of the total project cost-$3.75 billion. Among them, the cost of new projects to listen to public opinions and mitigate various adverse effects brought by the project is 3 billion US dollars. Other expenses for public participation include: holding hearings and conducting investigations.

While people were arguing endlessly, on July 26th, 2004, Massachusetts signed a secret agreement with Senator Edward Kennedy and his family, naming a series of public green spaces above the "Big Tunnel" as "Ross Kennedy Garden Road" to commemorate Ross Kennedy, the matriarch of the Kennedy family who was born in Boston's North Harbor. Edward Kennedy had privately discussed with his cousin who designed the exhibition how to design this garden road.

This makes Robert Chambert, a reporter from Boston Globe, worry that Rose Kennedy Garden Road, which is covered with green plants and lacks necessary contact with surrounding communities, will become a new "green monster" for homeless people and drug addicts. But after all, it is not the shadow of the past.