Irvine-Corona Tunnel Through Cleveland National Forest Is Possible: As In Possibly Stupid

Do they think we, the public who will pay for this engineering fantasy, are that gullible?

Laguna Beach is packed already, the new tunnel would direct tens of thousands more into the beach cities. Photo: farm4.static.flickr.com

(LAGUNA BEACH) - The tunnel that a major engineering firm deemed feasible recently is actually a two-tunnel project. The engineers were paid to justify and rubber stamp it by the combined transportation agencies of Riverside and Orange Counties, and this insanity should be abandoned, NOW.

The first phase is estimated at $8.6 billion, the second phase dependent upon funds generated by the first if you read the fine print. So who wants to write a blank check that doesn't guarantee a finished product? Would the proponents of this fiasco in progress buy a car without a set final price and warranty? I don't think so.

Whether the funds come from local County, state and/or federal coffers, taxpayers need to stop these people from spending even more hundreds of millions in preliminary studies, throwing good money after bad. This is unconscionable in our new reality, our new economy.

First, as they found out back in Boston at the Big Dig, once the hole is dug there's no turning back, no exit strategy, and costs start soaring exponentially. That Big Dig project went from the original $2.8 billion estimate to around $22 billion, and it still isn't safely completed. So these things are really "Guestimates." It it were a car, the public (including federal taxpayers) is being coerced, convinced by government to purchase a possible lemon on trust. Boring a few holes in an 11.5 mile mountain isn't adequate to assure us, and unless the engineers have Superman with his X-ray vision on their staff, this is a leap into the unknowable.

Second, just because engineers believe that it CAN be done, that doesn't mean it should. Monolithic structures experience monumentally catastrophic failures. The 7.5 mile long Mont Blanc Tunnel (between France and Italy) had a fire that took 39 lives back in 1997 due to a failed ventilation system. In the case of our tunnel, earthquake seems a more likely scenario.

There are numerous major and minor fault lines in the vicinity, so loss of electrical power could leave motorists or transit passengers in a pitch black panic. Seismologists project that every day which passes puts us closer to major seismic events in the area. One is tempted to ask the engineers and public officials if they'll agree to go there to help dig out the dead and maimed bodies from the rubble with their bare hands a-la-Haiti, go to the homes of the unnecessary victims and tell their loved ones of the tragic news.

Third, these people from the OCTA have short, convenient memories. Just as the 241 Toll Road became a Pac-Man, gobbling up millions in its failed attempt, this tunnel will get the same type of eco-scrutiny and legal challenges by coalition groups with staff attorneys themselves.

The environmental disruption for Environmentally Sensitive Habitat, for threatened and endangered species while under construction, the long term eventual impacts to the same list when completed will protract the permitting process. That scenario could become interminable thus also driving up costs for attorneys in federal courtrooms.

Press-Enterprise photo of a work crew drilling the test holes.

The sheer complexity of the enviro-impacts will become its own cottage industry for consultants and lawyers. Costs will soar higher than any indigenous flying raptors above the forest.

Fourth, it's basically a bureaucratic Ponzi scheme: Projected funds from the first phase will purportedly fund the second. If the first phase costs climb significantly, if it doesn't generate the projected revenue profit after opened, or if the first tunnel fails either during or after construction, then the second becomes science fiction.

Gambling with taxpayer money is what caused our bankruptcy in the first place, don't these officials learn from their mistakes? Using a "Field of Dreams" ( Build it and they will come) logic is fiscally irresponsible and myopic.

Last, if in the process of tunneling funding becomes jeopardized (dries up), unpredicted physical features create problems that require additional studies and stalls the project, or that seismic cataclysm occurs, leaving taxpayers with a pile of worthless, useless rocks and dirt, what is the contingency plan, the fall back point financially? What insurance underwriter is nuts enough to protect our funds?

This really isn't much different than our OC bankruptcy back in 1994. This is fiscally very risky, potentially another black hole or money pit using the public's money. Yes, it MAY be possible, but what they aren't admitting is that it probably will take forever, cost indeterminate amounts of money, and could cause incredible loss of life if it fails during peak rush hour traffic. Do they think we, the public who will pay for this engineering fantasy, are that gullible?

What part of "Stupid" don't these people who are pushing it get?

Resource links:

OC Register: Irvine-Corona tunnel feasible but pricey, study says

LA Times: With Traffic at a Crawl, Planners Talk of Tunnels

OC Register: Cost of Irvine-Corona tunnel likely too high

The Press Enterprise: Tunnel-idea test drills begin in Riverside County

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Odd Man Out is the creation of Roger von Bütow, a professional environmental consultant. Written exclusively for the Salem-News, it's intended as the next evolutionary step on the path of an eco-warrior. Roger is a Southern California native who spent his formative years as a racial minority: A blonde-haired, blue-eyed surfer on the mean streets of the LA Harbor area. Running from gangs eventually trained him for his high school and collegiate track and cross-country career. Going to college part-time, disqualified for a student deferment, when his draft notice arrived, in a fit of machisimo he joined the USMC in 1965, eventually attached to the 3rd Marine Air Wing. Once honorably discharged, he resumed his college studies, majoring in philosophy. He dropped out in early 1972 when an opportunity to travel in Europe inexpensively for 6 months was too good to pass up. Upon returning, he and his former wife ended up in Laguna Beach, and though the marriage didn’t last, his love of the place is in its 38th year. Disgusted by chronic sewage spills and toxic urban runoff pollution that triggered constant beach closures in his area, he formed “Clean Water Now!” in 1998. Local surfers, skimmers and divers were pissed off, but there wasn’t a cohesive, unified and aggressive group response, zero leadership or activism facilitated by the Surfrider Foundation or Sierra Club regarding water quality impairment issues. You can write to Roger at: rogerbutow@mac.com SEE STAFF LINK FOR THE REMAINDER OF ROGER'S BIOGRAPHY