I never actually thought any of the Big Dig would ever open to traffic. I know the residents of Massachusetts and the rest of the country are contributing nearly $16 billion (that's more than 50 bucks per American) to complete this massive highway project, but something in my gut told me this was the most expensive toilet seat the government had ever purchased. Beginning Friday evening, however, motorists headed toward Logan Airport and East Boston actually got to drive through a portion of the Big Dig, and apparently everything worked out just fine.Politicians promised it and now they have delivered at least part of the most expensive public works project in American history. It is now possible to drive on the Massachusetts Turnpike all the way to Logan Airport, thus saving a short trip on the traffic-ridden Central Artery, which often added up to 45 minutes to the journey. Now, with the new connector to the Ted Williams Tunnel, there are three tunnels connecting downtown Boston with East Boston and the airport. I for one would just like to say wow.

If the politicians have told the truth about the rest of the project also, soon the elevated Central Artery, plagued by too many ramps (without room for acceleration or deceleration), no shoulders and poor access roads will be replaced by an underground tunnel, which will be able to accommodate upwards of 245,000 cars per day without a jam-up, according to the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority. The current road usually jams up for six to eight hours every weekday with an average of 190,000 cars. Soon, the elevated highway will be demolished, local streets will be reconnected and disjointed neighborhoods will be reunited. This is certainly a happy time for urban revitalization.

The only question I still have -- since all of my conspiracy theories have proven flat -- regards what will happen the day 245,001 cars flood the expressway. Some may say this will never happen, but we must remember that the Central Artery was designed to carry 75,000 cars. No one could have guessed it would one day carry more than twice that number. We can forever expand highways, but doing so will only lead to greater use of the automobile. One day, even the new underground expressway will be spoken of, as its predecessor is today, as a disaster -- a $16 billion disaster.

The only way to solve highway congestion and efficiently move people from where they live to where they work is to expand and better-integrate local and regional public transportation systems. With $16 billion, Boston could have improved its commuter rail and subway lines enough to convince the entire region to sell their cars. And, instead of boasting about a 12 percent reduction in air pollution, politicians could have boasted about a 100 percent reduction.

The sense of human ambition in me is proud of the Big Dig and all its engineers and workers have accomplished, but the more important sense of human pioneering within me remains unfulfilled. As long as we continue to embrace the automobile, our homes will be constructed farther and farther away from centers of commerce, on former farmland and forest, until there is no more open space. Highways will continue to be expanded and rebuilt to reach our new homes and provide access for us to reach our jobs. There will be no escape anywhere from the choking pollution this building-to-excess will create. Groundwater will be covered by asphalt and reservoirs will be unprotected by any natural harbor. Wildlife will become homeless before they become extinct. We must consider all this when we debate how our government spends money.

In observing the completion of the Big Dig, we should all be in awe of what humanity can accomplish. But, we should also be very aware that we could accomplish even the destruction of our own planet. If we care about the health and well being, and even perhaps the very existence of future generations, we should consider carefully our love of the automobile. There are certainly other decent modes of transportation out there.

-- Matthew Bettinger '05 submits a column to the Justice