turnpike
State Sen. Marian Walsh wants another Ward Commission to keep the Big Dig debacle from ever happening again (for you whippersnappers, the Ward Commission exposed endless corruption and greed after UMass buildings started crumbling).
Great idea, Sco writes:
... I can't see how DiMasi could object unless he's afraid of what such a commission might uncover or whose feathers it might ruffle. The best way for Beacon Hill to regain any of its credibility is to haul everyone and anyone who was ever involved in the Big Dig in front of a camera and microphone to answer tough questions under oath. If that means some current and former politicians have to sweat it out, even better. ...
Ah, but who should be forced to testify? Charlie on the MTA has a list, starting with:
Jim Kerasiotes: Head of the Big Dig from 1991-2000. Dictator. Had hard drives sand-blasted so data couldn't be recovered by investigators. The biggest villain. ...
Kimberly Atkins has the details of Romney's formal effort to remove Matt Amorello from office - which also includes a suit by three Romney appointees to the turnpike board against Amorello.
Spatch: Romney to Amorello: It's on, bitch:
... Too bad A. Romney's looking right into the eyes of 2008 when he bares his teeth, and B. someone had to die for the shakeup (shakedown?) to happen.
But don't worry about Matt. The turnpike authority will be paying his legal bills - starting with $92,000 for one legal brief.
Massachusetts GOP News posts three Amorello limericks - and none involve "Nantucket."
What would the Big Dig debacle be without a Big Dig Debacle blog?
Universal Hub's own Big Dig page.
Jason Butler lives in MetroWest, works on Congress Street. He reports:
Boy, it sucks to work on Congress Street and drive in from the west these days.
They've closed another section of the Big Dig this morning, and all the traffic on from the Mass Pike is flowing onto the surface streets all around us. I'm not looking forward to trying to find a way onto the Pike this afternoon when I have to go home. ...
Ed. question: Imagine if all this were happening when everybody was at work, like March? Or during a snowstorm? Oh, wait, what was that Romney said about the tunnels possibly being closed for months?
Perhaps one of those diverted motorists was the tractor-trailer driver who apparently became so exhausted by the ordeal this morning that he just stopped his 18-wheeler right in the middle of Devonshire Place and took a nap.
On Boston Crazy Driving, Tim outlines some suggestions for relieving the current traffic woes that, being sensible, will of course never be done, such as temporarily opening HOV lanes to all motorists.
Harold M. Clemons casts a Roxbury eye on the Big Dig scandal:
... They compare it to the Hoover Dam and the Panama Canal. I compare it to the New Deal because, on its account, good, decent, hardworking white boys that aren't highly educated can still make honest wages sufficient to provide for their families, while darkies of similar education and rearing fill the unemployment rolls and watch the prosperity from afar. On my word I ain't seen a nigga workin' the 'Dig' yet and it's been goin' on since I was like 10! ...
Jay Fitzgerald wouldn't be surprised if the scandal takes down Reilly, Healey and Romney in the 2006 and 2008 elections:
... [Romney] may try to spin this in campaign commercials as another Salt Lake City take-charge moment. But it's not going to work. The Big Dig is now a national joke. Mitt's going to get hammered for it by rivals in debates and in commercials, whether he deserves it or not. Can't you picture a future GOP or Dem rival, ala George Bush's bold 1988 Boston Harbor gambit, coming to Boston and posing for shots outside the mouth of a Big Dig tunnel? ...
Elias notes how Romney rushed up to NH for his vacation:
... You now see just what Governor Romeny really thinks of the whole matter...fodder for fear-mongering and posturing nothing more. A crisis sufficiently trivial that it can be left to his staff to sort out with "Lt. Governor Barbie" to act as an acceptable and decorous cut out at the press briefings. ...
Blue Mass. Group notes the similarities between Amorello's "I am not incompetent" interview and a certain former president's "I am not a crook" speech and pages Jim Kerasiotes:
Sure, there's lots of blame to go around, as many of you pointed out in response to my rant from yesterday. But it wasn't the legislature that was sand-blasting hard drives in the Big Dig's offices.
Hub Politics, however, detects raving hypocrisy in Demmie leaders handing over the investigation to a Republican governor while blasting the GOP:
... So, if Travaglini and DiMasi are meaning to imply that it's not Democratic leadership failures in the state legislature, but rather the "16 years of Republican control" in the governor's office that is more to blame, why on earth would they give control over the inspections to, that's right, a Republican governor?
Andy at Mass. Revolution Now doesn't like the investigation handover:
This is patently a mistake and another example of how the state legislature utterly fails to accept its responsibility to prevent further problems with the CA/T project.
Mitt Romney has had 3 years to address the problems at the Big Dig. Last year we learned of leaking walls. Why didn't he ask for this oversight authority then? ...
The Outraged Liberal, though, says all the outrage is misplaced:
... Where is the outrage at Bechtel/Parsons Brinckerhoff, the mammoth organization that "managed" this project. Or Modern Continental, which has a very checkered, but unchecked history in constructing this mess. Not to mention a history of ignoring the rules.
None of these logical targets have in the sights of our (former) governor as he has professed anger over the Big Dig and focused instead on ousting Matt Amorello. Only now, sensing a potential threat to his sham image as a great manager, Mitt has "grabbed the reins" by seeking to head up the investigation. The Legislature, wanting to avoid the obstructionist tag, went along. ...
Mass. GOP News actually credits two of the three Democratic candidates for governor: Deval Patrick, Chris Gabrieli and Kerry Healey Brilliantly Quiet on Big Dig.
Tim Lavallee notes that the state has a Big Dig fraud hotline(1-888-TIP-BGDG) and suggests: Let's all call and say that a fraud has been perpetrated on the public trust.
Dan Kennedy has more links.
Because nobody died on Lay's watch, Christine argues, suggesting that instead of a payment to make Amorello go away, the state should exile him to some remote Boston Harbor island.
Joe Dwinell tallies up the number of problem bolts - it's grown from 60 to 242.
One Boston visitor reports his anxiety in driving through the Ted Williams Tunnel today: Read more
This morning, Dan Kennedy predicted more bad Big Dig news before we're through.
This just in: The westbound side of the tunnel is in worse shape than the one where the ceiling fell in.
Kennedy also wonders why the ancient Sumner and Callahan tunnels and the Blue Line tunnel under the harbor, just work. What makes them different?
Matt Amorello says a world without him as chairman is not a world any of us would want to be part of. Read more
On Blue Mass. Group, Charlie explains why the Big Dig is the biggest issue in the 2006 elections:
... The Big Dig is a black hole that by its indictment of government incompetence, sucks all issues into its maw. Take taxes: depending on how you slice it, Massachusetts tax burden is not particularly high; if you've ever lived in Chicago or New York you know that's the case. And yet, in light of this colossal failure of accountability, how can any politician in Massachusetts credibly claim that tax money won't be wasted? All of the candidates promise new spending initiatives, in health care, education, potholes, law enforcement, whatever. In the public's mind, the Big Dig calls into question every single government spending initiative, however well-intended and well-designed, because it calls into question the ability of our government to deliver on its promises, and its willingness to put the public interest first. ...
Follow the money, John Daley suggests: Specifically, the money flowing from Big Dig contractors to our best and brightest on Beacon Hill, including newly outraged Tom Reilly.
Tim Lavallee listens to an audio book about Bechtel's practices in Third World countries (you remember Bechtel, as in Bechtel Parsons Brinherhoff, the joint venture that oversaw the Big Dig?) and learns some lessons:
... What I came away from the book thinking was that the same type of scheme that was perpetrated on Third World countries was perpetrated right here in Boston. In the end we drivers got better highways. I truly believe that. But ultimately, the coffers of a couple of corporations got much bigger. ...
Meanwhile, Aaron Margolis keeps track of the rising number of troublesome ceiling slabs:
... This is an issue of public safety, and somebody has been gambling with our lives. 60 or more defects in that one tunnel? That's 60 or more husbands, wives, sons, daughters, brother and sisters who may have been hurt or killed. When one death is one too many, how many defects will it take for someone to declare these tunnels a disaster area? ...
Amy reports that even before Monday's ceiling collapse, her grandmother refused to visit her cousin who lives in Revere because it would have meant driving through the tunnels:
... Now, with the news that inspectors have found SIXTY additional structural problems in that one part of the tunnel? Like, six-zero, six groups of ten sixty? Holy shit. My grandmother should be running the Turnpike Authority. My grandfather could probably build a better tunnel with his knowledge of weatherstripping than the super-educated engineers made with millions of dollars. ...
Yes
81% (87 votes)
No
13% (14 votes)
Don't know
4% (4 votes)
No idea who he is, but can't resist online polls
3% (3 votes)
Total votes: 108
Tim Lavallee took a deep breath then drove home via the Big Dig last night:
left work tonight expecting the longest commute home ever. Instead, the Big Dig was empty like a Sunday morning. Traffic on the southbound side was very, very light. Even the usual slow down areas, such as the tunnel exit to the South Bay mall, was a speed limit breeze. ...
At least some of those missing motorists must have been people commuting from MetroWest to the North Shore, all of whom jammed up the 128/turnpike interchange last night.
John Daley wonders:
Did 2 ton, CONCRETE hanging tiles cost more than a conventional tunnel ceiling? Was it simply a way to present a higher bill to the Turnpike Authority? How else can one explain such a ridiculous design?
I suspected they were cheating us, but I thought, at least, that someone was watching to see that the overpriced construction met basic safety design standards. That 'someone' would have been the Turnpike Authority. ...
Matt Margolis notes a story that says the ceiling slabs (why do they keep calling them "panels"?) weren't even necessary:
... So, if it is true that it is safe without the ventilation passage, then it wasn't neccessary to begin with, and a gratuitous expense to the taxpayers that has now resulted in loss of life.
Perhaps the investigation into the accident should start with the people who profited from the Big Dig. ...
Dan Kennedy digs up and comments on 2003 and 2004 Globe articles on Big Dig malfeasance.
Blue Mass. Group does the media roundup, with a special Assclown of the Day award for the Herald's Joe Fitzgerald, who manages to blame the tunnel collapse on gay-marriage supporters in the Legislature.
"Charles Foster Kane" wonders why Gerry Callahan feels qualified to comment on the problem on WEEI:
... Listening to him try to discuss the engineering of the project is like watching a dog look at someone riding a bike. The dog can snap at the heels of the rider but it is never, ever, going to get up and ride that thing. ...
Melvin Dubnick also reads the papers and worries that the real cause of the accident will be lost in the urge to scapegoat somebody:
... It would make us all feel safer, I suspect, if we could just instantaneously find the specific individual or event or thing that led to this tragic death, and ironically we would feel better if we could zero in on some single individual to blame for committing this "criminal" act. But as much as we wish to revert to such medieval witchhunting, I hope wiser and cooler heads will prevail and a more careful and thorough investigation is conducted. ...
EnuhCorK is no longer a Big Dig fan:
... Like an old friend told me once: "Things have to get a lot worse before they get any better." Well, I think it's a lot worse now.
Charles Laquidara Is this for real?
I must be having a nightmare...)Holy sh_ Someone pinch me- quick.
Train Mon expresses sympathy for the family of Milena DelValle and says the time it took to deal with problems on Acela and Green Line trains shows how long fixing the tunnel could take.
Tory: The State owes this family solutions so this never happens again:
... It's time the MTA care more about our citizens driving on and within its projects than about shielding themselves from responsibility.
Adam Reilly wonders what motoring tips the turnpike Web site might have for drivers affected by the collapse. The answer probably won't surprise you.
They're marveling at our stupidity and corruption out in the Midwest. Up in Canada, as well.
Also out in the Midwest, Diane Moyer was watching a St. Louis newscast that mentioned that Big Dig officials have been advising the state on reconstruction of a St. Louis-area highway:
... I laughed so hard I couldn't fall asleep.
Somebody must have been wondering what an Onion story on the tragedy would look like.
Earlier:
Best Big Dig analogy of the day, plus: More anger
Why did the slabs give way?
Big Dig afternoon edition: Tragedy, awful commute and Matt Amorello.
Big Collapse.
Out there on the Other Coast, SFWillie manages to find a connection between the Big Dig tragedy and Barry Bonds's home-run record: Both involve cheating.
Ben Ostrander drove through a Big Dig tunnel today: Read more
Friday18 and her husband used to work for a materials testing company - hired to test construction material on certain very large public-works projects in the Boston, many involving the same company responsible for the part of the Big Dig tunnel with the collapsing concrete slabs. And she explains why this makes her completely unsurprised by the collapse.
Bruce, who has written before about Big Dig construction deficiencies, today is left wondering what happened?
... Now, you've got to ask yourself, which is more likely? That this was a fluke occurrence, and that all the other suspended panels in that section of tunnel are just fine? Or, that this failure was just the proverbial tip of the iceberg, and the whole ceiling could likely give way anytime now? If it's proven to be the former, good luck convincing all the people who used to drive through this tunnel of that fact. ...
He wonders if maybe somebody cut corners and never properly bolted the panels in place. Channel 4 is reporting the panels might only have been held in place by glue.
The tragic story of the car being crushed last night in one of the Big Dig tunnels got me thinking...
I am not sure that I believe in a God, certainly not one that most organized religions feel the need to pray to, and worse, fear. But, I know that I believe in something, some force (no Star Wars jokes, please...)out there stronger than you and I that is playing a part in our lives, maybe keeping a balance between good and bad, right and wrong. Maybe something like Karma... Read more
Breaking news: Mitt Romney to try to oust Matt Amorello; says nobody can feel safe in the tunnel system right now: "I don't have any confidence in this individual."
Jennifer reports it took her three hours to get to the airport this morning and then to work.
EnuhCorK took an alternate route:
... Many drivers cut into my lane without any acknowledgement throughout my trip...I just let it go. Today is a bad day for the city. It marks another realization that this project cost way too much money for the job to be finished cheaply. ...
Saying the ceiling collapse happened in "the oldest" part of a ten-year-old tunnel doesn't fill us with much confidence, Mr. Amorello, so please stop saying that.
Your comments after the photo of the turnpike/Ted Williams Tunnel connector (collapsed ceiling-tile tunnel on the left) - photo via MassGIS OLIVER:
Read more
Carpundit is not surprised that the turnpike authority will be increasing tolls and wants to extend the tollbooths to I-93:
... Amorello and the Pike Authority cannot manage anything well, except their Patronage Placement system that serves as the feeding trough for every high-school dropout nephew of a state rep. Now he wants more of our money. If he had more power, he'd make it harder to get into Boston. He doesn't have that power, but he has that desire, which is enough to demonstrate that the Pike is never going to get those bonds paid off and remove the tolls.
I hope Governor Empty Suit manages to get Amorello ousted. I think Amorello's a crook, and I hope someone proves it soon.
Would you please get out of the way so those of us heading south on 128 don't have to wait 20 minutes to get through the tolls and that stupid little ramp past the tolls because you northbound people just can't handle the snow, rain, wind, gum wrappers, whatever it is that is always slowing you to a crawl and jamming up the entire 128 interchange?
Oh, and Turnpike Authority? You suck, too. Sure, good for me that of the eight lanes open, five were manned, which means I was able to get through quicker than all the people with transponders, but now that most commuters have the things, don't you think it's time to devote more lanes to them?
Finally, a shout out to my friend doing the traffic on WBZ - you're up there in suckage, too. You said the Pike eastbound jammed to a stop at the Rte. 30 exit in Natick. It didn't, so I kept going (at the speed limit), instead of getting off onto Rte. 9, figuring you were wrong again, as usual (turns out you were only half wrong).
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