Advertisement

Patrick Voices Concerns Over Big Dig Light Communication

The office of state Transportation Secretary Jeffrey Mullan is in hot water with the governor over a delay in reporting a light fixture collapse in a Big Dig tunnel early last month.

Gov. Deval Patrick on Thursday voiced concern over a month-long delay in reporting the issue to his office and the public — a lapse that Mullan now says was caused by his own staff not immediately informing him about the fallen light. Mullan had previously accepted responsibility for the delay in making the information public.

But Patrick stopped short of saying that anyone should lose their jobs.

"[Mullan] has some, or his team has some explaining to do," the governor said. "And he's gonna bring a full account to me and to the public."

Patrick says his first priority is making sure that all the light fixtures in state tunnels are safe.

On Feb. 8, a 110-pound corroded light fell onto the roadway in the Interstate 93 Northbound tunnel. There were no injuries.

Earlier Coverage:

This program aired on March 24, 2011. The audio for this program is not available.

Advertisement

More from WBUR

Listen Live
Close