The end of 2007 also brings an end to the project informally known as the Big Dig. At $14.8 billion , the reconfiguration of a central corridor through Boston has ended up nearly 5 times its original cost estimate.

On the bright side, it has done a marvelous job at speeding up traffic. What had been a trip of 19.5 minutes, on average, was shaved to 2.8 minutes. One reason: road capacity was significantly increased, with 6 lanes having been expanded to 8 to 10.