| Debate over connecting North and South stations has been lately reignited, with Banker & Tradesman’s own Scott Van Voorhis adding fuel to fire by christening the proposal his “turkey project” of 2017.
Readers responded to Van Voorhis’ column; one urged the city’s residents and leadership to “dream big,” saying “every time Boston has dreamed big, the pay-off has been dramatic.” That may be, but it has also been painful and expensive.
No doubt the Big Dig transformed the city, but first it ripped it apart. Legacy debt from that project is part of why the MBTA is unable to keep up with repairs, let alone replacements. Oh yes, and lest we forget, a woman died when the ceiling of a Big Dig connector tunnel collapsed on her car.
Digging yet another tunnel under the city’s streets may have been the best solution when the idea was first floated decades ago, but time marches on. A tunnel connecting the stations isn’t dreaming big, it’s doing what we’ve always done.
Proponents say tunnel-digging technology has greatly improved in recent years, citing projects in Zurich and London created with tunnel boring machines. They don’t mention Seattle’s Big Dig, where a machine nicknamed Bertha almost immediately required extensive repairs. Crews dug access tunnels to reach it, causing cost overruns and significant project delays. The project was stalled for two years and began again in 2015.
The world is rapidly changing. A few years could make a huge difference in transportation options in the city and the metro area. Why not dream bigger than a decades-old proposal?
Autonomous vehicles are close to viability; why not wait a couple of years and put electric autonomous buses on an endless loop between the stations? Adding to the congestion on the city’s streets is admittedly not the best solution, although hopefully that congestion will be alleviated when many of the vehicles on the road are autonomous.
A zipline between the stations probably isn’t feasible, although it would be fun. But what about gondolas, or individual pods, or hitching a ride on a drone?
Technological advancements aside, do public officials – and the general public – have any idea how dangerous our current transportation system could be? Climate change is real, people. A coastal city riddled with tunnels can turn into a death trap in a New York minute (or a Boston minute, which is only slightly longer).
And remember, big dreams come with big price tags. Regardless of the final design, the connector should be at least partially funded by the big companies moving to town that will have an outsize effect on our transportation system. If they want hundreds of workers from Central and Western Massachusetts to get to Suffolk Downs, they can damn well help pay for it.
Big Digs and big dreams aside, if ever the stations are connected, it will most likely be with a train tunnel. It will be late and over budget. And two decades after its completion, we’ll be debating the next big thing.
