California Big Dig

Planners are considering an 11 mile tunnel under the Santa Ana mountains to connect Riverside and Orange counties in southern California. Most bloggers (like this one) are commenting on the apparent stupidity of drilling tunnels 700 feet below ground in an earthquake zone. Here's the part of the news article that really jumped out at me, though.

Howard Gottesman, 44, can spend 1 1/2 hours on Highway 91 to travel just six miles from his job as a property manager in Orange County to his home in Corona, just inside Riverside County.

"I call it the longest six miles in the world. It's wear and tear on the car and it's wear and tear on me," said Gottesman. "They need to do something, whether it's double-decking the freeway or tunneling under the mountains. We need relief."

1 1/2 hours to go six miles, and the solution is to build another freeway.

Tags: traffic transportation california riverside corona