It’s not easy or cheap putting a positive spin on 13 million cubic yards
of dirt responsible for commuter angst in downtown Boston.
The Massachusetts Turnpike Authority — which owns and manages the
Central Artery/Tunnel Project — not only has a full-time employee to
maintain a Web site at www.bigdig.com.
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It’s paid Boston advertising
agency Hill Holliday Connors Cosmopolus Inc. $2 million at the height of
construction to execute a print campaign touting the softer side of
what’s being called the largest highway project in American history,
according to Ann Davis, public information specialist for the Big Dig.
The Central Artery/Tunnel Project is expected to cost $10.8 billion.
That figure includes publicity, Davis said. The federal government is
footing about 70 percent of the bill and the Commonwealth of
Massachusetts is paying for the rest.
The agency has fielded its share of complaints about the high cost of
billboards and newspaper ads aimed at placating the public, Davis said.
However, the authority sees no way around it.
“People think it’s ridiculous for us to spend so much money” on a
publicity campaign, Davis said. “But we see it from a different angle.
We have a commitment to inform people. And, short of shouting from the
roof tops, that’s how you have to get it done.”
The authority’s one-year contract with Hill Holliday runs through May
and includes an option to renew, Davis said. With construction scheduled
to last through 2004, public relations efforts will continue in one form
or another, she said.
The project got under way in late 1991. As of September, final design
was about 98 percent complete and construction about 43 percent
complete. The next milestone — a bridge across the Charles River
connecting Interstate 93 in Charlestown with Leverett Circle and Storrow
Drive — is scheduled to be finished sometime next year.
The Central Artery/Tunnel project will build a tunnel under Boston
Harbor, a 14-lane crossing of the Charles River, and an eight-to-ten-
lane underground expressway to replace the Central Artery — a six-lane
elevated highway dating back to 1959. All of that will require
excavating enough dirt to fill Foxboro Stadium 13 times to the rim,
according to the Big Dig Web site.
The site, launched two years ago, was the authority’s choice over a
more complicated and expensive option, Davis said: “mailing everyone on
the planet a press package.”
During September alone, the site received 30,350 hits, Davis said,
adding “it’s one of the most popular Web pages in the state.”
Besides construction updates, the site includes facts and figures about
the project, traffic news with suggestions for alternative routes and a
listing of jobs created and new employment opportunities as a result of
the project, among other things.
The authority’s staff takes turns responding to daily e-mails about the
project and/or the site, Davis said.
