As our roads are covered with ice, the Interstate Bridge Replacement program has presented three dangerous I-5 Bridge options. All three options will have a steep 4 percent bridge grade, plus a 7 percent offramp grade to state Highway 14. These will be extremely dangerous when coated with ice. The Interstate Bridge Replacement program has repeatedly promised “data-driven” analysis. The Interstate Bridge Replacement must employ highway safety experts and insurance actuaries to calculate the number of deaths and injuries over the 100-year-life of their bridge options.
We can’t change the weather, but we can choose a safer crossing option. An immersed tunnel is protected from the weather and would also be many times safer when the Cascadia earthquakes hits. Gothenburg, Sweden, is the world’s most sustainable city and has long, snowy winters. Gothenburg completed its second immersed tunnel in 2020 and its two tunnels have 180,000 weather-protected daily crossings.
