What to do with the BQE? It’s a one of a kind highway in desperate need of repair, but no one can agree how to fix it. Guests: Polly Trottenberg, Lara Birnback, Stephen NessenRecorded live at WNYC’s Greenspace.Archival audio courtesy of Municipal Archives, City of New York.

What to do with the BQE? It’s a one of a kind highway in desperate need of repair, but no one can agree how to fix it. Guests: Polly Trottenberg, Lara Birnback, Stephen Nessen Recorded live at WNYC’s Greenspace. Archival audio courtesy of Municipal Archives, City of New York.

What to do with the BQE? It’s a one of a kind highway in desperate need of repair, but no one can agree how to fix it.&nbsp;Guests: Polly Trottenberg, Lara Birnback, Stephen NessenRecorded live at WNYC’s Greenspace.Archival audio courtesy of Municipal Archives, City of New York.

Highway Teardown Tour | 1. New York, NY

There is a cynicism that hangs over the topic of American infrastructure – whether it’s high-speed rail or off-shore wind – it feels like this country can’t build big things anymore. No one project embodies that cynicism quite like what Bostonians call ‘The Big Dig.’ Infamous for its ever-increasing price tag, this massive highway tunneling effort was once ridiculed as the Big Mess, the Big Hole, the Big Pig, the Big Lie. But now, decades later the story looks more complicated. So how did the narrative around this project go so horribly wrong? And what lessons can it offer for the ambitious projects of today? The nine episode series is produced by GBH News in partnership with PRX.

History

There is a cynicism that hangs over the topic of American infrastructure – whether it’s high-speed rail or off-shore wind – it feels like this country can’t build big things anymore. No one project embodies that cynicism quite like what Bostonians call ‘The Big Dig.’ Infamous for its ever-increasing price tag, this massive highway tunneling effort was once ridiculed as the Big Mess, the Big Hole, the Big Pig, the Big Lie. But now, decades later the story looks more complicated. So how did the narrative around this project go so horribly wrong? And what lessons can it offer for the ambitious projects of today? The nine episode series is produced by GBH News in partnership with PRX.

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Highway Teardown Tour | 1. New York, NY

Highway Teardown Tour | 1. New York, NY

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