James J. Kerasiotes (born 1953 or 1954) is an American polician who served as the director of the

Massachusetts Turnpike Authority Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode Island to it ...

and the project manager of the

Big Dig The Big Dig was a megaproject in Boston that rerouted the then elevated Central Artery of Interstate 93 that cut across Boston into the O'Neill Tunnel and built the Ted Williams Tunnel to extend Massachusetts Turnpike, Interstate 90 to Logan I ...

Boston Boston is the capital and most populous city in the Commonwealth (U.S. state), Commonwealth of Massachusetts in the United States. The city serves as the cultural and Financial centre, financial center of New England, a region of the Northeas ...

during the 1990s. After serving as Secretary of Transportation in the Cabinets of Governors

William Weld William is a masculine given name of Germanic origin. It became popular in England after the Norman conquest in 1066,All Things William"Meaning & Origin of the Name"/ref> and remained so throughout the Middle Ages and into the modern era. It is ...

and Paul Celluci from 1992 to 1998, Kerasiotis was appointed to the Turnpike Authority, and quickly established a reputation as a hard-nosed manager who often fired people. As the cost of the megaproject spiraled out of control, Kerasiotis publicly reassured the public that the project was on track, though he privately quarreled with the project's construction firm,

Bechtel Bechtel Corporation () is an American engineering, procurement, construction, and project management company founded in San Francisco, California in 1898, and headquartered in Reston, Virginia in the Washington metropolitan area. , the '' E ...

. He was asked to resign by Massachusetts governor Paul Celucci on April 11, 2000. The Big Dig was officially completed in December 2007 at a cost of $8.08 billion. Before entering state government, Kerasiotes was publisher of ''NewsWest'', a

suburb A suburb (more broadly suburban area) is an area within a metropolitan area. They are oftentimes where most of a metropolitan areas jobs are located with some being predominantly residential. They can either be denser or less densely populated ...

an newspaper in eastern

Massachusetts Massachusetts ( ; ), officially the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, is a U.S. state, state in the New England region of the Northeastern United States. It borders the Atlantic Ocean and the Gulf of Maine to its east, Connecticut and Rhode ...

, and later a

director Director may refer to: Literature * ''Director'' (magazine), a British magazine * ''The Director'' (novel), a 1971 novel by Henry Denker * ''The Director'' (play), a 2000 play by Nancy Hasty Music * Director (band), an Irish rock band * ''D ...

of Tab Communications, a chain of

weekly newspaper Weekly newspaper is a general-news or Current affairs (news format), current affairs publication that is issued once or twice a week in a wide variety broadsheet, magazine, and electronic publishing, digital formats. Similarly, a biweekly newspap ...

s west of Boston. He also was involved in the creation of the monster board. In July 2014, Kerasiotes was charged in federal court with filing false personal income tax returns. He pleaded guilty on September 11, 2014, before Judge

William G. Young William Glover Young (born September 23, 1940) is an American lawyer and jurist serving as a senior U.S. district judge of the United States District Court for the District of Massachusetts. He was appointed in 1985 by President Ronald Reagan, ...

and was sentenced to 6 months in prison.

References

{{DEFAULTSORT:Kerasiotes, James Massachusetts secretaries of transportation Transportation in Massachusetts Year of birth missing (living people) Living people