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Delays Push Back Big Dig Completion Date

Cameras, Sensors Slow To Be Installed

POSTED: 6:25 pm EDT October 10, 2002

Although the Leonard P. Zakim-Bunker Hill Bridge was dedicated last week, new delays will push its opening back to January.

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NewsCenter 5's Jack Harper reported that the delays are elsewhere on the project, in the "smart" technology that lines the new tunnels.

"The tough part for us now is the intelligent transportation system, the control system for the roadway," Massachusetts Turnpike Chairman Matt Amorello said. "And that's really where the hang-up is on our schedule. The cameras, the sensors, the whole smart technology."

The sensors and cameras allow Turnpike workers to monitor the 3.8 miles of tunnels for accidents or fires. Honeywell, the contractor hired to build and test the system, is experiencing delays in getting it up and running.

"The critical components right now are actually pulling the actual cable, installing and testing all the camera systems, making sure that the loop detectors are being placed," Big Dig spokesman Sean O'Neil said. "Connecting the central nervous system of the project to the brains of the project, which is the operation control center."

The delays will push the opening of the Interstate 90 connection to Logan International Airport back into December. Interstate 93 North will open four weeks later.

"It is critical that people understand the actual date and the target date," O'Neil said. "The target date is what you drive the horses toward. The actual date is when we get there, when can we open it. The great news is on a project that broke ground in 1991, we're talking about six-week variables here."

O'Neill said that there are possibilities of more delays, but because it is so close to the end of the project, there are fewer opportunities for delays.

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