Drivers Face Dangerous Monotony In Long Tunnels

Sydney motorists will be driving along some of the longest urban road tunnels  in the world, raising questions about how drivers will cope with the long  stretches underground and about what happens when accidents occur.

 

The concerns  emerge as new details come to light about the process of  planning the 33 kilometre WestConnex motorway. At least 13 kilometres  are  expected to be in a continuous tunnel, from Strathfield to St Peters.

 

At nine kilometres, the NorthConnex motorway to be built between the M1 and  M2 in northern Sydney will also be more than twice as long as any other in  Sydney.

 

''These are at the top table,'' said Arnold Dix, a leading tunnel safety  expert who is consulting on both projects.

''This is not Australia building some tunnel like everybody else builds. This  is the frontier. This is as challenging and as technically demanding as any of  the main projects in the world at the moment.''

 

Even the NRMA, which is a strong supporter of the motorway projects, is  arguing that the new tunnels need to be designed differently.

 

In a presentation to a road safety conference last month, the NRMA's senior  policy adviser on roads, Mark Wolstenholme, said  tunnels were monotonous for  drivers and ''fatigue or tiredness in drivers in tunnels is more prevalent''.   The insides of tunnels needed to be made interesting for drivers to look at, he  said.

 

Mr Wolstenholme said  the surface connections of the tunnels needed to be  better planned because, if  there was a big accident,  the entire tunnel would  need to be closed.

 

This meant that, for the WestConnex project, traffic would need to return to  the road surface and  planned bus lanes on Parramatta Road would need to be  opened up to car traffic, Mr Wolstenholme said.

 

The question of the tunnel length emerged for WestConnex officials relatively  late in the piece. The project director for the motorway, Paul Goldsmith,  emailed advisers in May to request a position paper about long tunnels.

 

''We've assumed to a large extent that existing Sydney tunnels provide  precedents to follow,'' he wrote.

He was told by a consultant, Steve Messenger, that there was in fact no  precedent in the world.

 

 

Read more: Here

 

Geez I shudder to think what the toll would be to use that sort of tunnel!

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Drivers Face Dangerous Monotony In Long Tunnels

The advertising space available on the walls ...........that could divert drivers' attention from the monotony and it would pay for the toll on behalf of the drivers.

 

Or alternately, competitions for graffiti artsts to show their talent.

 

Or a  "scenic length of screen" applied to the walls (a country drive without the wildlife crossings and with a spritz of eucalyptus).

 

These alternatives could give "perspective"  of distance and space.

 

DEB

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Drivers Face Dangerous Monotony In Long Tunnels

Anonymous
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I hate looong tunnels. 13 kilometres.. I would be freaking out the entire way and having to talk myself through it. lol

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Drivers Face Dangerous Monotony In Long Tunnels


@lloydslights wrote:

The advertising space available on the walls ...........that could divert drivers' attention from the monotony and it would pay for the toll on behalf of the drivers.

 

Or alternately, competitions for graffiti artsts to show their talent.

 

Or a  "scenic length of screen" applied to the walls (a country drive without the wildlife crossings and with a spritz of eucalyptus).

 

These alternatives could give "perspective"  of distance and space.

 

DEB


I think the graffiti artists would be good

 

all of the above actually.

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Drivers Face Dangerous Monotony In Long Tunnels

I 'm glad I don't live there. I hate long tunnels, even the Domain tunnel that goes under the Yarra here gives me the creeps. Especially when I see leaks in the walls lol
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Drivers Face Dangerous Monotony In Long Tunnels

I think graffiti vandals in the tunnel would be a great idea , those that survive the carbon monoxide poisoning would probably have brain damage which would then excuse their mindless vandalism
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Drivers Face Dangerous Monotony In Long Tunnels

why is a tunnel different to a normal road?

can't you new south welshmen drive?

 

it is bitumen with white lines painted on it

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Drivers Face Dangerous Monotony In Long Tunnels

Has anyone considered the event of  a ventilation system failure?

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Drivers Face Dangerous Monotony In Long Tunnels

i'd rather other drivers sharing the tunnel with me concentrate on the road and what other traffic is doing rather than whats on the walls, but i'm just fussy like that.

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Drivers Face Dangerous Monotony In Long Tunnels

drove my a9x thru the northbridge tunnel soon after it opened and mates muscles cars since, sounds alright

 


Signatures suck.
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