A Nostalgic Visit to Boston's Old Expressway on 6/18/1996

[sharkfin1234]

What time of day was this video taken? the afternoon?

[PKingman]

@sharkfin1234 Long time ago. Must have been afternoon.

[Adam19822000]

nice

[visor109]

I feel bad for the Logan Express bus drivers during this time. What a PITA it must have been!!

[WhopBobbaLuBop]

What's nostalgic about bumper - to - bumper highway travel?

[ashland1977]

Memories!



[PKingman]

@ashland1977 Sweet memories. I miss the camaraderie and the carbon monoxide

[ashland1977]

@PKingman I second that!

[redsoxguy617]

what was that guy saying?

[PKingman]

@redsoxguy617 I think he was saying something to the other guy regarding sex with sheep and his being the offspring of a goat. Something pleasant for an afternoon drive.

[adrianroam95]

looks like something you'd see in china lol

[robskyle]

14 billion and they couldn't even build the tunnel in a straight line! I remember when I first got my license and my friends and I would drive like assholes through this stretch of road. You could see Faneuil Hall, now its all gardens and "surface road." Good times.

[nflabc123]

HAHAHA!!!! 0:17 A Vermont Transit bus enters the screen in the far left lane. You don't see those buses any more.

[ElmerCat]

That original "Dewey Square Tunnel was modified slightly and incorporated into the new road. It carries all of the I-93 southbound traffic, C/D lanes southbound for exit-20 (I-90), and a northbound entrance ramp from Essex St. A new, deeper tunnel was built for northbound I-93 traffic through the area. Though now more than fifty years old, the original tunnel was much better constructed; it is smoother and in better condition than any of the new tunnels which are already quickly deteriorating.

[integgy95]

I'm surprised the dude in the Blazer behind the Mustang didn't get out and start screaming or at least get on the horn.. I wouldve gotten on the horn so hard haha.. Gotta love drivers around here..

[IRONSEAN7]

Wow ,, i rember this lil foot bridge heading south in to the s Station tunnel,, HAHAH,, MAss holes have the Most Pissah Road rage,, im so glad i live here

[bos78]

I hate people like that... just get back in your stupid Celica and get out of the way.

[sellingon]

i thought it was up in the air about 30 feet though? it looked like its down in a canyon to me there?? I just took my first ever trip to boston and had a GREAT time. you should be very proud of your beautiful city.

[PKingman]

This road, as you probably know, is underground now. The old road did go thru a fairly short tunnel under Dewey Square in front of South Station. In the video you see the ramp going south towards that tunnel. I'm glad that you had a good time here.

[judgedred88]

little road rage mixed in!

[PKingman]

Just another happy day on the road in Boston. That road is gone but drivers here are still idiots.

[StOnEz617]

petah

[HelmutVillam]

Oh and lol at the little scrap going on between those 2 drivers!

[PKingman]

People got very friendly driving on that old road. Something about the frustration.

[HelmutVillam]

I'm not American, but I think that's 15 billion dollars well spent! In the UK we can only dream of such public infrastructure projects.

[PKingman]

It was supposed to have cost about 4 billion. Now we are trying to figure out how to pay for the thing. And it has water leaking into it. Otherwise, it is a very good thing. The old expressway was a blight on the city.

[iloveroads]

That highway was an epic fail

[dannyc9997]

I love when people fight in the middle of the highway lol

[ncola03]

aww i remember that ugly thing. haha.

[Blaza47]

i remember that highway, don't miss it

[heels2479]

The greatest parking lot ever built.

[ssdphoto]

How about coming up the Storrow Drive Exit Ramp, past the Boston Garden to get on 93 North? If you were going to the Tobin Bridge you then had to cross 3 lanes of traffic in order to get to the Tobin Exit ramp. Try that in rush hour traffic....!

[PKingman]

I sometimes wonder if these messes were designed by highway engineers that were hired with their only qualification being that they were friends or relatives of someone doing the hiring.

[smialek316]

No, those delays on the old artery were caused by the same thing that causes today's delays on the Expressway, and 93 North from Boston to Stoneham, and that is thousands of people leaving downtown Boston at the same time. It is not rocket science.

[PKingman]

We always had great highway engineering around here. I have always suspected that these guys were hired because they were somebody powerful's relatives rather than that thye had any intelligence or skill. And the rest of us have to pay for this. Lots of people payed with their lives for the incredibly stupid way things have been designed.

[peacesignmoose]

I believe Bill Bryson said it best when he wrote that "Boston's expressway system was clearly designed by people who enjoyed crashing toy trains as a child" or something along those lines

[raginrajan]

...it would be easier, cause you don't have to risk your life as other cars come flyin at ya at 75+...

not that anythings changed, look at the moves one must make if they go from the pike to the expressway to the mass ave exit...i nearly had a heartattack, and im a good driver with a very in shape heart!

and not to mention, the congestion hasn't improved one iota. i mean, i see bumper to bumper at 2:45 in the afternoon (or later) every time i'm in the area

[iloveroads]

Hard to believe it ain't New York

[PKingman]

Gotham's baby brother.

[backlashLFE]

I grew up as a kid going down the old expressway and I sure do miss it. Although I probably wouldn't be saying that had I had my license during those times.

[PKingman]

It wasn't fun to drive on.

[dopexile]

Wow thats a nightmare for commuters but it looks like a fun ride... lots of views and plows right through downtown

[PKingman]

All gone now. Underground.

[hockplayer15]

i know.. i live in the area

[Aforementioned]

Oh yeah, looking up at all the skyscrapers surrounding you was def fun. Of course, part of the reason the view was so good is b/c you tended not to be moving all that fast...;)

[hockplayer15]

man....what a mess

[PKingman]

It was horrible.

[permanetmarker2004]

memories ...

[Freewayjim]

1950's freeway building at it's finest!

[boston02124]

Maybe they honored her because the John F Kennedy expressway is no more,I agree though nothing should be named after people,I was fine with CharlesRiver Bridge instead of the Zakim/bunkerhill,the liberty Tunnel instead of the Tip Oneil Tunnel ect,ect

[boston02124]

I could,nt agree more!,it was a great way to show off Boston on the quick,ocean views on one side historic senery on the other and tower,s all around!How ever I must say that getting thru Boston or to the airport is a lot faster! How ever I do miss that ride,and am not impressed with new surface parks so far,they look very cheap!

[PKingman]

The thing that bugs me the most is Ted Kennedy sneaking something in somewhere so that the greenway gets named after his mother. I'm sure that she may have been a fine lady even if she was married to a crook and a bootlegger, but we payed for this project. Ted didn't. We didn't have any say whatsoever on the naming. Why couldn't they name this greenway after MY mother?

[boston02124]

Great video,I was hopeing someone had some footage,people new to this city don,t have a clue what it was like,I hope someone has a clip of driveing the whole lenght of the old artery,that would be great also,thanks for the memories I kinda miss that highway in the sky!

[PKingman]

To think that America spent 15 billion to obliterate this beautiful scenic highway.

[davidbenson1142]

who was the idoit that got out of his car?

[PKingman]

He was pretty pissed about something.