Dewey Square Tunnel

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The Dewey Square Tunnel in Boston, Massachusetts, is part of Interstate 93 (concurrent with US 1 and Route 3), running under the heart of the city's financial district, including Dewey Square. Constructed in 1959, it was part of the original Central Artery project of the 1950s.

Known to locals as the South Station Tunnel (due to its proximity to the city's main train station), the Dewey Square Tunnel is of cut-and-cover design, and originally was six lanes wide (three in each direction), with no breakdown lanes. The Central Artery, elevated for most of its length, was so reviled because it cut off views of and access to Boston's historic waterfront. It was derisively called "the other Green Monster" after the famous left-field wall at Fenway Park with the same nickname. Because of public outcry, it was decided that the final section of the artery was to be put underground from just south of Congress Street to Kneeland Street near Boston's Chinatown section.

At one time, a bus terminal serving Peter Pan, Bonanza, and other regional bus lines sat atop the tunnel near its northern portal. That bus station has since been relocated to South Station.

The Dewey Square Tunnel received new life as part of the massive Central Artery/Tunnel (Big Dig) project of the late 1990s and early 2000s. The tunnel was rehabilitated and now serves as exclusive southbound lanes of Interstate 93, complete with a new ventilation system and gently banked corners (like on the corners of a race track). Its old northern portal connects with the underground southbound lanes of the new artery. A long-closed off-ramp to Chinatown was reopened as an on-ramp from Surface Road. The refurbished tunnel, with 6 travel lanes at its widest point, was fully opened on March 5, 2005.