Houston: Engineer proposes I-45 tunnel

[citykid09]

Houston: Engineer proposes I-45 tunnel
June 8, 2005, 10:12PM
Engineer proposes I-45 tunnel
Heights resident says expansion alternative less harmful to area
By TOM MANNING
Chronicle Correspondent

A Heights engineer believes a tunnel under Interstate 45 would alleviate problems associated with widening the freeway.

Gonzalo Camacho, a public engineer and member of the citizen group called the I-45 Coalition, has spent the last three months presenting a plan to local civic groups, city officials and the Texas Department of Transportation that would turn I-45 between Beltway 8 and downtown into a tunnel.

The proposal, Camacho said, would have significantly less negative environmental impact and would create far less disruption for both commuters and neighborhood residents than proposals by TxDOT that call for the creation of four "managed lanes" in the center of I-45.
To read the article click here: http://forum.skyscraperpage.com/showthread.php?threadid=78335

[The Great Hizzy!]

Unless he's talking about tunneling the section from just north of White Oak Bayou to just past the I-45/US 59 interchange, I don't think the idea is:

1) Feasible
2) Necessary.

The 45 from the North Loop to White Oak is trenched and is the most asthetically pleasing of any stretch of the I-45 inside the Beltway. Moreover, TxDOT's cheap asses aren't going to be looking to spend too much on new freeway projects here given the amount of money that they've spent on the Katy, the West Loop and some of the other freeways around the state such as in San Antonio and DFW.

I could be wrong, though, and would certainly welcome a tunneled 45 around downtown. Otherwise, I'm not sure of the purpose.

[citykid09]

I think the article said that a tunnel would be cheaper than an both an elevated freeway and trenced freeway. The only the cheaper is ground level, and all of the others besides the tunnel are bad for pollution.

[citykid09]

I'm guessing it will look something like this:
http://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/thumb/8/88/800px-Tunnel-large.jpg