Tunnel excavation begins Sept 17 with a public event

Yeah, let's all get out there and cheer and give thanks for the oversized mess and overextended delay, unnecessary scale of coastal land destruction, waste of hundreds of millions of dollars, and setup for a four-lane highway from Montara to Pacifica.

Carl May

Think "lemonade". At least the more destructive inland bypass won't be built. And I don't treat cheering the tunnel as approval of the damage they're doing while building the oversized twin tunnels, but rather it's a cheer for the fact that they're actually starting!

What was the original completion date for the tunnel? 2004?

Agree with Leonard's sentiments. It kicks off a significant portion of a large project that many ppl tried hard to get going, and assumed will impact our livelihood in a positive way, safety and passage being paramount. The article is about an event, not a propsoal meeting... but yet again another opportunity to tie in dissapproval of many areas of the project. For those that haven't let it go... don't go. Period.

I'm sure the "armchair engineers" that we commonly hear from, will lambast every facet of the project... cheaper, cleaner, better, correct, nicer, efficient, etc...

Guessing we'll mark those RSVPs at the ribbon cutting ceremony as "not attending"... but still be subject to significant "Parade Raining" on how it shoulda been done, and how CalTrans purposely underpromised in order to meet/exceed expectations.

On the bright side, the visual design of the bridge span on the Pacifica side of the tunnel is beginning to take shape and is rather pleasing. It reminds me of some of the better designed concrete spans in Switzerland and Northern Italy.

No question, the well-meaning urban mindset can work something like this into a positive rather than recognize it for the slower-growing (vs. the unlamented bypass) environmental and economic cancer it really is.

Carl May

Thanks Carl always with the negative waves.& the Swiss tunnel didn't it have a fire? Love living on the Coast can always depend on some one to gloom & doom anything thats done on the coast.

You're right, Sam. Tomorrow morning I'll check my eyes, ears, and brains on the way out the door and let my nose take me to the last surviving wild rose on the midcoast so I can have a good sniff. By then it might be late enough to head over to Redwood city without getting clogged in Half Moon Bay traffic, where I'll initiate the procedure to change my middle name to "Pollyanna."

Carl May

Carl there's a time/place (nee subject) for "feedback" like yours. For instance, take the Coastside Eco-Energy Expo comin up. It's merely a posting and description for ppl that are interested in attending. It's not a forum for anti-enviromentalism to say.... challenge the true long-term footprint a Prius brings into perpetuity, nor lambasting the Sierra Club, nor making a statement like "I'll leave reality, science, and subjectiveness at home before I head over to the Expo".

Take your dissapproval to the Town Hall, or submit an editorial, or react when the particular subjects warrant it (i.e. a piece on construction delays, budget considerations, and/or future expansion policies).

Thank you so much for informing me on where and when I should comment on highway scams, Kevin. Clever idea that I should use an alternative energy fair as a metaphor for highway matters. Could it be that you are trying to get us all to think of the overall energy usage involved in large highway construction projects, both in the building and eventual use of the projects versus the same energy costs of alternative projects? How stupid of me not to think of net energy costs and consequences.

The "notables" showing up, once again for a self-congratulating twin-tunnels photo op while happily ignoring any disturbing thoughts of the blatant, unnecessary damage being done or the hundreds of millions of public dollars being wasted or the big increment of the overdevelopment-inducing multi-lane coastal highway that the tunnels represent might also be able to use your services as arbiter of appropriate behavior.

Carl May