Today we look at all the ways our cities attempt to bury traffic: Tesla Tunnels, Big Digs, boring machines, and repurposed underground flood control systems! We've spent time in previous videos talking about cities that manage to prosper with a minimal number of linear miles of freeways, but what about cities that put them underground? Is putting urban highways in tunnels a solution, or just burying the problem out of sight?
We explore old tunnels in Guanajuato, Mexico, recently built tunnels in Boston (Interstate 93 and Interstate 90), Seattle (State Route 99 / The Alaskan Way Viaduct), and Madrid (the M-30 inner ring freeway), and the newest craze: purpose-built, closed-loop tunnels conveying Tesla electric vehicles exclusive. Is this latest innovation an improvement on underground transit technologies that have largely been unimproved upon since the London Underground was initiated over 150 years ago? Or a business idea aimed at people who are willing to pay for the solitude of a taxi but hate sitting in traffic?
I'm told the Guanajuato tunnels feature in the new Forza Horizon game. Come along for the ride and see them IRL!
Other CityNerd vides referenced in this video:
- North America's Workhorse Streets: https://youtu.be/JE-cyJypmMY
- Freeway-Light North American Cities: https://youtu.be/5F3lZwG-BWk
- The USA's Busiest Bridges and Tunnels: https://youtu.be/HbZXtSnabWc
- North America's Best Airport/Transit Connections: https://youtu.be/EYQdA2-eJ6g
Resources referenced in video:
- Las Olas Loop diagram (including link to redacted, unsolicited proposal): https://www.sun-sentinel.com/local/broward/fort-lauderdale/fl-ne-tunnel-beach-fort-lauderdale-details-20211031-5gcg7miffbgttkp3wcdnnyek5u-story.html
- Las Vegas Convention Center website (with Las Vegas CC Loop information): https://www.lvcva.com/lvcc-loop/
- "The Boring Company Vegas Loop gets approval from Commissioners", Maria Merano for Teslarati: https://www.teslarati.com/the-boring-company-vegas-loop-gets-approval-from-commissioners/
- "The Boring Company Las Olas Loop proposal moves forward after favorable votes from Fort Lauderdale", Maria Merano for Teslarati: https://www.teslarati.com/elon-musk-boring-company-fort-lauderdale-loop-update/
- Wikipedia entry on the most expensive infrastructure projects: https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_most_expensive_U.S._public_works_projects
- Anthony Downs' Principle of Triple Convergence, from "Why Traffic Congestion Is Here To Stay…And Will Get Worse", the University of California Transportation Center and the University of California Center on Economic Competitiveness publication ACCESS 25, Fall 2004: https://www.accessmagazine.org/fall-2004/traffic-congestion-stay-will-get-worse/
Photo/Video Credits:
- Tunnel boring machine on thumbnail: Cooper.ch 16:58, 19 September 2006 (UTC), CC BY-SA 2.5 https://creativecommons.org/licenses/by-sa/2.5, via Wikimedia Commons
Roadway tunnel Video by Luis Quintero from Pexels
- Big Dig GIF animation By MrJARichard - Own work, CC BY 4.0, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=45184872
- Alaskan Way Viaduct By Waqcku at English Wikipedia - Transferred from en.wikipedia to Commons by Cptnono using CommonsHelper., Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=14616475
- Cheonggyecheon construction: Public Domain, https://commons.wikimedia.org/w/index.php?curid=199142
- Traffic dynamics: Video by Daniel Carlton from Pixabay
Music:
CityNerd background: Caipirinha in Hawaii by Carmen María and Edu Espinal (YouTube music library)
Twitter: @nerd4cities
Contact: nerd4cities@gmail.com
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