How much is the current construction of whatever it's called* going to effect Boston's streets?

It is (unofficially) called "The Big Dig," and it will have a major effect on the city, one way or the other. The most obvious effect will be the removal of the big, green, ugly, elevated Central Artery. The highway will be underground, with simplified exits to the surface streets. The resulting vacant strip will be left open mostly for parks and other public buildings (I think I heard something about a botanical garden a while back). Many claim that this will forever ease the horrendou traffic problems of the city, but more thoughtful observers worry about the project's effect on parking and public transportation. If you are telling everyone that it is now so much easier to get into Boston by car, that makes them less likely to take the excellent public transportation system, and makes them need parking spaces, which already run in the neighborhood of $20/hour in some places.

Check out http://www.bigdig.com for the official party line, and I will Google for some dissenting opinion to post later.

EDIT: I expected to find some strong opposition to the Big Dig online, but this is a bit much: http://www.geocities.com/Athens/Oracle/2360/bigdig.html.