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oreosfly t1_j9uvqx7 wrote

WA 99 is a brand new tunnel that was built when the existing WA 99 elevated structure was still in use. When the tunnel was ready, the old highway closed and traffic was seamlessly redirected to the new tunnel.

The BQE has no existing alternate roadway to reroute traffic during construction. That probably adds immense complexity to this project compared to Seattle’s

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TeamMisha t1_j9wd6rd wrote

> The BQE has no existing alternate roadway to reroute traffic during construction

Indeed, this is why the original plan was going to spend multiple billions of dollars to literally build a massive temporary highway lol. That was deemed, obviously, as insanity, and thankfully we did not go through with it. This is all known as "MPT" or maintenance and protection of traffic, and is usually one of the most complex pieces of any large traffic engineering project. A great example is the construction at LaGuardia (and soon JFK), how roadway access was maintained through each construction phase with a myriad of temporary roadways and structures.

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WorthPrudent3028 t1_j9xh47r wrote

Couldn't you force trucks onto Furman street and cars through the tunnel to the FDR? Maybe pause toll collection to encourage that route.

Furman may have to close too. So build a new temporary trucks only road through the park. That park is going to be nearly inaccessible during construction anyway.

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TeamMisha t1_j9z0ay4 wrote

> Couldn't you force trucks onto Furman street

Potentially, but the turn at Old Fulton may be problematic for trucks, it would need to be studied. Any truck diversion route would of course get pushback from local communities as well, complicating the problem. Trucks going northbound on Furman can't re-enter the BQE until Sands Street, which again could be problematic but may be the best option.

> So build a new temporary trucks only road through the park.

Definitely not possible, Parks dept would absolutely not allow destruction of park property for such a use case, nor is park land suitable for trucks. It may also be impossible given the terrain and geography of the park, as well as multiple buildings in the way. I think 'environmental disaster' would be the headlines used for such a proposal lol. Much of the park includes piers and water front activities that should remain accessible regardless of construction, so it's not as if the park will be vacated.

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ctindel t1_j9wna1c wrote

Because they were idiots and didn't take the time during March and April of 2020 when almost nobody was driving to just close the BQE entirely and bang it out 24x7 nonstop like a Vegas casino project.

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fuchsdh t1_ja47qf8 wrote

Hindsight is 20/20. Not going to blame the city in the middle of a massive pandemic for not fast-tracking road fixes (especially since you'd need workers in a time before vaccines and high Covid lethality to do it.)

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ctindel t1_ja4lmn5 wrote

It’s not a “road” is a massive arterial highway that is falling down. They should have ready to go plans on the shelf like Moses did so when an opportunity arises they can jump on it quickly. Construction work was one of the necessary jobs like grocery stores and first responders IIRC and it was outdoors so it was pretty safe.

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WikiSummarizerBot t1_j9uqbxj wrote

State Route 99 tunnel

>The State Route 99 tunnel, also known as the Alaskan Way Viaduct replacement tunnel, is a bored highway tunnel in the city of Seattle, Washington, United States. The 2-mile (3. 2 km), double-decker tunnel carries a section of State Route 99 (SR 99) under Downtown Seattle from SoDo in the south to South Lake Union in the north. Since the 2001 Nisqually earthquake, the replacement of the Alaskan Way Viaduct had been the source of much political controversy demonstrating the Seattle process.

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