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Why is the Devil's Slide tunnel like a boat?
Lord knows, most of the folks who pushed so hard for a Devil's Slide tunnel
were sincere. And they were persuasive. So persuasive that about three out
of every four voters in this county back in the mid-nineties voted for a
Devil's Slide tunnel and buried the idea of a Devil's Slide bypass quite
deep. Certainly it was buried deep enough so no intelligent person would
try and dig it up. In 1995 we already had all the money we needed for a
bypass. I think it was about $150,000,000.
The money had been set aside, and it would have built the bypass very
nicely. Long before 2002 we would have been enjoying the great benefits of
the bypass. We would have a safer, and far more secure road. We would not
have to be concerned every storm, as we should be now, that the highway
might collapse and be out of action for months at a time. The tunnel was
originally predicted to cost about the same as a bypass, that is, about
$150,000,000. What the tunnel advocates failed to tell us, in all
likelihood because it hadn't occurred to them, was that by the time the
tunnel was on its way to being built, costs would multiply. Now we hear
that costs will be closer to $275,000,000. That isn't just Monopoly money.
It averages substantially more than one thousand dollars in United States
currency from each and every family in San Mateo County. That's a lot of
money for a hole in the ground. If we'd built the bypass for the budgeted
$150 million, and Pacifica had been given the other $125 million for its
own needs, we could have paved every street in town, gold plated the new
sewer plant, and built three new libraries, each 30,000 square feet and
open 24/7. I'm joking, of course. Pacifica doesn't have that much political
clout.
In the early sixties I spent almost five years working for a daily
newspaper which specialized in the construction industry. After regularly
reading what building and heavy construction contractors were doing at that
time, I became vividly aware that very few if any constructions jobs come
in on time or on budget. If the tunnel comes in at or below the $275
million budget, and/or is completed in the next ten years, the look of
surprise you see on my face will be genuine.
That I probably won't survive to see the ribbon cutting is not a shocking
comment. I've been waiting impatiently for a permanent solution to the
Devil's Slide mess since the early sixties. But I think it's unlikely most
of you folks now fifty or older will be around for the ribbon cutting. Only
the tiny but energetic minority whose real goal is to make Pacifica a cul
de sac will be happy about that. Some want us to believe that all we need
do is permanently de-water the hillside. Don't get me wrong. I think we
should have been de-watering for the past forty years, and should be doing
so now. Even after the tunnel is built and open, we ought to continue to
de-water. I just don't think it's the main answer.
Oh, yeah. I was going to tell you why the Devil's Slide tunnel is like a
boat. As you may have heard, a boat is a hole in the water into which you
pour money. The DS tunnel is a hole in the mountain into whichŠ
Paul@thereactor.netis one way to get in touch with Paul Azevedo. His opinions are his own, and are not necessarily those of this
newspaper. Check his website at http://www.thereactor.net.
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