The Rose Kennedy Greenway is located in downtown Boston, Massachusetts. The Greenway, a series of parks and public spaces named in honor of Kennedy family matriarch Rose Fitzgerald Kennedy, is the final part of the massive Central Artery/Tunnel (Big Dig) project that put Interstate 93 underground and removed the obsolete elevated freeway that served as the main highway through downtown for more than 40 years.

In the 1950s, the Central Artery was constructed through Boston's business district and some of its oldest neighborhoods. As a result, the waterfront and North End section of town (where Rose Kennedy was born) was cut off from the rest of the city. Plus, traffic on the elevated roadway was so congested because of its poor design with six total travel lanes, numerous on- and off-ramps, and no breakdown lanes. This prompted city and state civil engineers, led by Fred Salvucci, to investigate the idea of building a larger Artery underground during the 1970s.

After many years of planning and getting the necessary permits, the Central Artery/Tunnel project was approved by Congress as part of an onmibus transportation bill in 1987, but President Ronald Reagan vetoed it on funding grounds, calling it a "pork" project. Congress subsequently overrode the veto.

Plans called for the tunnel to be built as the elevated Artery continued to be in service, then the Artery would be torn down and surface streets would be restored. It was decided that substantial portions of the Artery footprint become green space, as the historic waterfront, the North End, and the rest of the city become reconnected.

In 1991, construction began on the Big Dig. By 2004, the new I-93 tunnels were completed enough to close the old elevated artery. Demolition of the hulking superstructure began in earnest shortly thereafter. The Rose Kennedy Greenway was officially dedicated on July 26, 2004. Greenway park construction and street restoration are expected to be completed in early 2006.