Posted on 07/27/2006 12:50:50 AM PDT by raccoonradio
Exclusive
An ambulance racing to get a heart attack victim to the hospital was snagged in Big Dig tunnel gridlock, turning what should have been a four-minute trip into a desperate 24-minute ordeal that ended with the man’s death, public safety and transportation sources said.
(snip) A police escort led the ambulance through the westbound Ted Williams Tunnel and onto surface streets through South Boston, a transportation source said.
A public safety source said, however, that due to gridlock in the westbound side, the ambulance was led through the eastbound side of the I-90 Seaport connector tunnel, which was closed due to failing ceiling bolts. That source said they continued through the section where Milena Del Valle was killed by collapsing ceiling panels two weeks ago.
The ambulance arrived at Boston Medical Center at 4:50 p.m., after a 24-minute ride from the tunnel entrance, Hooley said.
The victim was dead in the back of the ambulance, two sources said.
The incident began just as rush hour was beginning, in some of the worst traffic conditions in the city’s recent history. Because of closures caused by the fatal Big Dig collapse, both the Sumner and Ted Williams tunnels are experiencing severe backups.
Jon Carlisle, a spokesman for the Executive Office of Transportation, said the only quick means of travel available to paramedics is the dedicated Silver Line lane, which requires weaving through orange cones that currently block civilian vehicles.
One more item for the agenda of today's meeting between
Gov. Romney and Fat Matt Amorello; Fat Matt's chance to
explain himself as Romney seeks to remove him. Will Amorello
do his Chip Diller (from Animal House) impression again?
Remain calm!!! All is well!!! The tunnels are safe!!!
Heck, we live in the boonies - 24 minute trip to the ER would be fantastic. Usually, it is much longer.
I'm so glad we put all this money into this sucker, it sure has kept its promise of speeding up travel time!
Might as well tear it down and put the scrap up on eBay - use the money to pay the lawsuits..
I understand that when they planned the Big Dig they didn't allow for any increased traffic capacity over what already existed--the environmentalists were afraid it would encourage people to drive.
Prepare for more backups, as the Lawyers jam the tunnel, chasing the ambulance, to sue the State for the problem and the "negligence" in this one.........multi-million dollars of more taxpayer money will be appropriated to pay the lawyers' fees........
Outrageous. May he rest in peace.
Someone in the Federal Gov't should sue to get refunded on my portion (85%? 90%) of the cost of this failed vanity project.
Fat Matt, doesn't have to explain anything, he and his cronies are gloating about the 1999 memo leaked to the Globe.
Was Amorello even running the project in '99? Hmmm, I don't think so.
Actually 4 if you count the 2 deaths in construction, an amazingly low number given the size of the project.
LOL! More clueless talk!
Actually, the Ringling bridge could be considered far more of a failure than this on a percentage basis.
As an emergency medical person, do you think (i know, it's just a guess) he would have had much chance surviving even if it was only a 4 minute trip?
It definitely has sped up travel time. The delays in the old sumner & callahan were a good hour. and it often took a half hour to go from the north end to south station on the elevated 93.
You can certainly go from zero to the afterlife much quicker.
A guy has a heart atack that kills him and you blame a construction project that cut an hour ride to 24 minutes, even with a traffic delay? C'mon, I know you are more intelligent than that.
Don't get too worked up. I only blame the construction project for one death so far.
I do however blame "The Big Dig" for being a $14.6 billion taxpayer ripoff regardless of whether it actually reduces commute times by 30 minutes or not.
It can't be deined it was expensive. So was the much needed Deer Island project.
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