Collapse of the roof panels in the Big Dig tunnel is such a sad, tragic, horrifying story. Such heartbreak for the bereaved family.

For everyone in the Boston area, simple commuting or getting around must be tougher than usual. Which leads to my questions for local experts.

We were planning to bring our 7-year old grandson to Boston for the day on Saturday (7/22), to do a Duck tour and go to Museum of Science (we live in CT). Hard to predict, I realize -- but any recommendations for best way to get to MoS? Or should we postpone till things are more settled and traffic is back to a normal level of difficulty? (Our daughter used to live in Boston, so we have some experience!) Maybe use the T instead, parking somewhere like Riverside?

Also, we will be flying out of Logan in August. It doesn't look like the tunnel will reopen any time soon, so any recommendations for best way to get there (from Mass Pike eastbound), and how long should we expect the drive to take from, say, the junction with 95?

To my surprise, the Massport website had NO udpates about this...
http://www.massport.com/logan/getti.html

I just posted a lengthy explanation on another Big Dig thread.

Driving from Connecticut - Riverside and then MBTA seems a good option. Duck tours are still going, but they are also sometimes stuck in traffic. I drove into Boston Sunday mid-afternoon from the north and there were no delays. However, traffic going outbound towards airport was jammed on Storrow Drive to beyond Longfellow Bridge (if you are familiar with area).

MassPike eastbound to airport will not be fun if tunnels are not open. I would get off at Allston/Brighton tolls, take Soldiers Field Road and then Storrow Drive to tunnels - but there may be delays. From where you are coming I don't think I would mess with trying to get on Route 1 and going south that way. Just leave lots of time.

Another option would be to take Logan Express bus from Framingham. While it will not get you there faster than driving, it would be less aggravating to have someone else drive.

Depending on what route you take from CT, Braintree might be easier than Riverside. It's far from the best way to the airport, but I have parked at the Braintree T terminus and taken the red line to the blue line to the airport... (My family lives on the South Shore, so Route 24 or I-95 up from the Fall River or Providence area puts you closer to Braintree than Riverside.)

I just found this link on MBTA.com:
I-90 Tunnel Closure Plan
http://tinyurl.com/gohpj

Hope it helps!

Thanks so much for the quick responses -- very helpful. Gail, I did search here for info, but for some reason the Big Dig post didn't come up (I searched on Boston.)

I will continue to track as updates come in. What a nightmare for everyone in the Boston area.

SB, here's the link to the other thread:
"Bostonites - What's up with the Big Dig?"
http://www.fodors.com/forums/threads...1&tid=34835262

To find other post search on "Bostonites" - that is what OP used in title.

Yes, it is a nightmare for commuters. Fortunately since it is summer traffic is usually lighter except on Friday PM. Gov. Romney wsa just on TV demonstrating some new bolting system they will put in as redundancy to the old one. Seems for $14.1 billion they might have gotten it right the first time.

I hear you, Gail. My DH is an engineer -- seems that the forensic engineers will have much work ahead studying this failure. For us amateurs, it's hard to understand how anyone can spend so much money to come up with a tunnel lining system that, even to a non-engineer, would seem like a bad idea. Hang 6-ton panels from bolts? What was the supposed benefit from that instead of what they used in the Williams tunnel?

I feel for the frustration of everyone who lives in Boston, and had to put up with years of Big Digging, only to have this happen.

SB, thanks for your sympathies. But the native Bostonians are not surprised at all. If you could see the conditions of other highway structures around here, including bridges and pavement of fairly recent vintage, you'd realize that none of it is ever done right the first time. I can look out my study window right now at a foot-deep pothole in a street that was completely repaved earlier this summer.

I love hot glue and glue guns - it is a family joke that there is nothing I will not try to fix with a glue gun.

That said, it seems to me that the engineers of the Big Dig tried to hang tons of material using hot glue - even I would not go that far.

Now, if they had tried duct tape - my second favorite adhesive...