California Infrastructure Watch: 91 Freeway Tunnel

Early morning commuters stack up along the 91 freeway headed in to Orange County Nov. 1, 2005, in Anaheim, Calif. Traffic has gotten so bad along the eastern rim of Los Angeles’ ever-expanding suburban ring that regional planners are seriously considering the once unthinkable _ an 11-mile tunnel under a mountain range in earthquake country.

The ASSociated Press has Calif. May Build Tunnel in Quake Region

Traffic is so bad along the eastern rim of Los Angeles’ suburban ring that regional planners are considering the once unthinkable – an 11-mile tunnel through a mountain range in earthquake country.

Critics question the logic of building a multibillion-dollar project in a region so prone to earthquakes that an alternate proposal for a double-decker highway was deemed too dangerous. The tunnel would begin barely a mile from a fault that produced a 6.0-magnitude earthquake about a century ago.

“It’s absolutely absurd to have a tunnel 700 feet below ground in earthquake country,” said Cathryn DeYoung, mayor of Laguna Niguel and a vocal opponent. “I mean, would you want to be in that tunnel?”

Planners are due to make a decision in mid November on whether to pursue the project.

Flap would NOT reject this project out of hand.

Traffic is horrid in southern California, particularly along the 91 Freeway corridor between Orange and Riverside counties. What would happen to all of those folks if they are stuck on the freeway with NO free evacuation path if an earthquake or fire hits in an adjacent area?

California voters need to hold their elected official accountable for the many many years of infrastructure neglect.

Californians must vote THEIR interests and NOT the interests of the California trial lawyers and public employee unions who control Sacramento.

Let’s hear what the planners have to say………

Update #1

Jubal over at the OC Blog, a fellow Bear Flag League member has AP Tunnel Story Provides Glimpse of Irvine Co.’s Hidden Hand

I join El Pistolero in seeing the hidden hand of California Strategies acting on behalf of the Irvine Company — which actively opposes the tunnel — in this story. The AP suddenly runs a story on the Santa Ana Mountains tunnel on the national wire, conveniently timed to run just a few days before the MIS committee makes a decision on it’s version of the tunnel project, and which introduces the “earthquake fear factor” angle to the media mix. I wonder who put that suggestion into the reporter’s ear?

It reminds me of the odd column this September by Hoover Institution fellow Bill Whalen attacking the tunnel idea. I say “odd” because it came from a Northern Californian slamming a SoCal infrastructure project in the pages of a national conservative opinion magazine, The American Spectator — well outside the topic parameters of the columns Whalen writes for national publications.

However, it’s not so odd when you consider Bill Whalen was director of public affairs for Gov. Pete Wilson from 1994 to 1999, where he worked with California Strategies principals Bob White (then Wilson’s long-time chief of staff) and Gary Hunt (then second-in-command of the Irvine Co. and long-time Wilson fund-raiser and advisor).

As for Cassie DeYoung, the ‘earthquake fear factor” wasn’t previously an arrow in her anti-tunnel quiver, although its unsurprising she is enthusiastically embracing this new bloody shirt. After all, her consultants, Forde and Mollrich, also work for tunnel opponent The Irvine Co. Cassie DeYoung previously based her campaign on fixing the county pension crisis, but has chucked that theme in favor of staking her candidacy on opposition to any Santa Ana Mountain tunnel. No doubt the suits at the Irvine Company are pleased to have their PR company directing Cassie DeYoung’s personal fortune in the service of their public policy objectives.

Now, a question and a point regarding Cassie DeYoung’s hysterical quote in the AP story:

1) Why is it “absolutely absurd to build a tunnel 700 feet below ground in earthquake country.”? After all, what major Southern California infrastructure project is NOT built in earthquake country? Citing the possibility of destructive seismic events as a reason not to build is an argument for not building anything at all.

2) “I mean, would you want to be in that tunnel?” No — but neither would I want to be on a freeway overpass or underpass, nor living near a dam, in the vicinity of a gas line, or underneath a powerline. Does DeYoung think we should stop building all of those because we might be near one during an earthquake?

It’s becoming increasingly difficult to think of DeYoung as a serious, thoughtful candidate.

Finally, I noticed a glaring omission in Ms. Flaccus’ story. Given that it was written about the potential dangers of building a tunnel in “earthquake country,” why didn’t she include quotes from a seismologist? She found the column inches for a quote from the Green Party Mayor of Aliso Viejo, Karl Warkomski — the man who voted to outlaw water — but apparently there no room room for the observations of a scientist who studies earthquakes for a living.

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