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State Official: Big Dig Costs Pegged At $24.3B

Boston's Central Artery, in 1991, before the Big Dig put it underground (AP)
Boston's Central Artery, in 1991, before the Big Dig put it underground (AP)

Massachusetts transportation officials are out with a new estimate of the complete cost of the Big Dig: $24.3 billion.

As State House News Service notes: "The project's costs for years have been widely reported at about $15 billion."

The Associated Press reports:

The chief financial officer for the Massachusetts Department of Transportation, Dana Levenson, said the state still owes approximately $9.3 billion in principal and interest on the Big Dig — though the project was formally completed years ago — with payments scheduled to continue through 2038.

Levenson, who detailed the new estimate while testifying at a House oversight hearing on Beacon Hill on Tuesday, also said the debt service on the nation's costliest highway project is strangling the state's ability to fund other critical transportation projects, the AP reports.

This program aired on July 10, 2012. The audio for this program is not available.

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