After more than a decade  and more than US$15 billion spent provided the Boston night skyline view from North Station. Before this, there were monstrous decaying green steel , of multiple overpasses and underpasses in the North Station area to connect the busy corridor from Northeastern Massaschusetts and the rest of Northern New England to the rest of the United States.

It was a busy corridor passing through the very heart of the city -- that created traffic for even the simplest reasons -- all over Boston. This green steel of montrosity, though actually very short, about a mile or so, I think and a few hundred acres effectively isolated the North End (the Italian enclave in Boston) and Charlestown from the rest of the Boston area.

For this reason, someone thought of placing the entire thing underground (well partially) to deal with the traffic that was paralyzing not only Boston but the Northern New England corridor. Initially, it was considered a billion dollar, or so project but like any US federally sponsored "public works" project, the cost estimate grew -- even before it was even approved -- $2B then $4, etc., etc., etc. Thus, living to its name as the "Big Dig".

When it was finally officially inaugurated early last year (or was it the year before???), the total cost estimate was more than US$15 billion with more to be done. This cost estimate did not even include the money to create a "parkway", called the Rose Kennedy Greenway to create a park from the newly vacant aboveground surface.