Myles under Ground

Via Associated Press

I have mentioned in an earlier post (Aug. 8) a plan to put a large swath of the BQE underground. Advantages: a quicker passage for drivers and diminution of noise, pollution, etc. for residents. According to today's Times, Seattle may beat us to it: "On Tuesday, voters here gave what amounts to a final blessing to a $2 billion, 1.7-mile, 56-foot-wide, deep-bore highway tunnel that will run below downtown skyscrapers and behind a sea wall that holds back Puget Sound," The project is modestly called the "Alaskan Way Viaduct and Seawall Replacement Program."

It comes as no surprise to me that Flann O’Brien long ago commented on the wisdom of such plans: “I notice that the current issue of Irish Travel is adorned with the Irish supertitle Cuaird Faoi Éirinn. So far as my knowledge goes, this means nothing more or less than ‘Travel Under Ireland’. The suggestion seems to be that the Irish Tourist Authority is taking note of the times we live in and is arranging underground tours for scared visitors. Such enterprise deserves (and gets herewith) unqualified commendation." (From At War, a collection of pieces from the “Cruiskeen Lawn” column in the Irish Times.)