If a New Highway is Built, Will They Come? (Chapter 3)

So far we have had a good look at the issues being debated with respect to a radical change to the highway transportation systems in and around Mount Pleasant.

Quantitative research indicates that a proposed highway route circumventing Mount Pleasant will have mostly positive economic results. Prospering business will not suffer, floundering businesses will continue to fail, and inner city traffic congestion will be substantially reduced.

The by-passing highway itself is another matter. Expectations for economic benefits run high, usually without substantive research either before or after  construction. Business development officers always rely on quality transportation networks to attract investment. New infrastructure never leaves their vocabulary.  To be sure we witness businesses of all descriptions springing up along new road ways.  Based on historical results, we expect net benefits.

A greater reach also indicates substantial positive financial out comes. The new transportation system contributes to prosperity over a large area, perhaps on a national sale as goods are shipped widely. Convenience, accessibility rapid shipping and low cost are all contributors. If economic benefits are the sole measuring sticks, then by-passes seem to be very beneficial. The dislocation and land usage negatives take a back seat.

Roads around and through Boston are successful mega projects. The building of Route 128 around the city was a bold move in the 1950s. When the same issues contributing to its construction re- emerged decades later, another by-pass was impossible.  Land acquisition, residential, commercial and business dislocation were insurmountable barriers.  An unlikely choice was to tunnel under the metropolitan area of greater Boston.

After years of construction and billions of dollars this alternative became a reality. The Big Dig as the project became known transcends anything imagined fifty years earlier. This was the largest highway project in US history when competed in 2007 at a cost of 14.6 billion dollars.

While small by comparison, the Mount Pleasant project is a reminder of some of the consequences of economic growth.