As Ontario considers building a tunnel underneath Highway 401, some say the provincial government can learn from a similar highway megaproject south of the border.
The Boston Central Artery Tunnel project, better known as the Big Dig, involved replacing a six-lane elevated expressway that ran through that city’s downtown core with an underground highway directly beneath the existing one. The elevated highway stayed open throughout construction until the underground one opened to traffic. The project also extended an interstate highway to Logan International Airport.
“What we did was the equivalent of open heart surgery while the patient continues to go to work and play tennis,” said Peter Zuk, a transportation consultant who was project director from 1991 to 1999.
“We held up the existing highway at the same time as we built the same level of highway capacity underground.”
Premier Doug Ford says an underground expressway beneath the 401 would ease gridlock on the congested Greater Toronto Area …