You gotta wrestle to win wrestlin matches

Mass Turnpike chairman James Kerasiotes on how they got the Central Artery built, speaking at a briefing to reporters: “Every year as I prepare for this briefing, I look back to 1991 for a reference point. This time, I pulled out a January 1991 Boston Globe story titled, ‘Will Artery Suffer Fate of New York’s Westway?’ It was about all of the controversies and disputes around the project, particularly Scheme Z. And it quoted the local head of federal highway as saying, ‘We’ve gotten damned close’ to a Westway conclusion. [Westway was a depressed urban motorway project close to the bank of the Hudson River on the lower westside of Manhattan, abandoned by the state in the 1980s.] I’d like to think that we are here today and we didn’t end up with a Westway conclusion because we took a business-like approach to getting the project permitted and built. First, we aggressively defended the project against its critics. I’ve never subscribed to the notion that you should say nothing or say thank you when you’re being attacked by someone with a platform or an axe to grind. Second, we have said “no” to those who view the project as an endless opportunity (to take money from the state). We said “no” to $500 million worth of river tunnels under the Charles. We were taken to court and we won. We said “no” to a $90 million taking of the Spaulding Rehabilitation Hospital. We went to court and we won. We said “no” to a scheme that would have delayed construction of the 1A interchange and relocation of the airport station in East Boston, adding hundreds of millions to project cost. We went to court and we won. Keeping in mind all of the Westways that never were, we have always tried to be realistic about what’s possible and what isn’t. This approach has gotten us into a few wrestling matches. But it has kept the project in balance. That is our job. And we don’t apologize for it.”