“Caldecott Tunnel fourth section”
Problem here is that the two original bores were opened in 1937 (as the Broadway Low Level Tunnel) are so narrrow that with today’s cars they are exceedingly slow. So traffic at afternoon commute times is still very much impeded since these two tunnels now handle only eastbound traffic. They are probably seismic issues with them as well.
“...the two original bores were opened in 1937 (as the Broadway Low Level Tunnel) are so narrow that with today’s cars they are exceedingly slow.”
Huh. Compared to the Fourth Bore, yeah, but — really now — truck traffic uses them just fine, and I’ve gone through side-by side with a semi more than once. FEELS tight, but it’s not THAT bad; no worse than 880 coming through Oakland down around Fruitvale or High Street. Not as if there’s all THAT much skill involved; it’s all in the mind.
If there’s no phobic creature in front of me undergoing psychic trauma over the size of the nearing portal, I shoot right on through without so much as a blip on the brake. I’ve withered the mind of more than one shrinking Berkeleyan piloting my 15-passenger van through those holes at 65mph. Honestly, the tunnels proper aren’t that tight; what’s a bit iffy is the exit at the east end where you crest the grade, two sets of two lanes become one brace of four, again; and you sweep through an easy s-curve all at the same time. That’s where I always see the brake lights blossoming.
I drove through the eastbound Caldecott Tunnel on a Sunday. Pretty gloomy looking inside. But since the tube I used was built in 1937, no wonder.
As far as traffic goes, I whizzed through the tunnel with no problem.