7.11.2006

The Big Dig is safe. Well, from now on

It's time to close the whole tunnel system down for a day or more, and if Turnpike Chairman Matt Amorello doesn't have the stones to do it, then the Federal Highway Administration should.

Amorello told Channel 7 that the Pike's first priority is the safety of the motoring public. Well, from now on, at least. If safety were the Pike's first priority, it would have managed the project much better to make sure it didn't leak a million gallons of water, or that ceiling tiles would fall and kill someone.

So, shut the whole Big Dig system down, with enough warning to the public, and inspect every bit of it. Inspect every trickle of water (I still have drops of water fall on my car from the roof in the Route 93 South tunnel), inspect every fastener of every kind, inspect the wall panels to make sure they're hung correctly, inspect the drainage system to make sure it flows properly. Then, fix every damn thing that's wrong with it before reopening it. Because if the safety of the motoring public is the Pike's first priority, drivers like me will understand. We know the tunnels weren't built well at all, and now they need Band-Aid fixes. But rather than put the rest of the motoring public at risk while repairs are made, make the tunnels safe. I don't know why it seems so simple only to me.

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