Tunneling under Miami to help traffic problems despite rising seas is crazy. Or is it? | Editorial

On its face, the proposal sounds nuts: Dig big tunnels under Miami-Dade County for electric vehicles to use so we can alleviate traffic problems — even as we elevate properties and roads, install pumps and consider massive sea walls to handle our increasing flood risks.

Underground tunnels in a flood-prone place facing some of the worst impacts of climate change?

It’s an Elon Musk special, this tunneling idea, and Miami Mayor Francis Suarez is interested. (The crypto mayor has been talking to Musk about tunnels since last year.) Fort Lauderdale’s leaders are interested, too, deciding to take a “baby step” to see if tunnels are feasible. North Miami Beach is reviewing yet another tunnel proposal from Musk’s Boring Company, as the Miami Herald reported.

But with sea rise, is it possible? And even if it is, is it smart? Or the dumbest thing ever? And by the way, didn’t we just suffer through flooding downtown that turned streets into rivers? Surely we need to work harder at fixing our sorely inadequate public-transportation system before tunneling under the city.

The city is also floating the idea that it might pursue its own underground roadway system, with a partner, to run electric vehicles 40 feet below ground. What could go wrong?

Dig a little more

We want to keep our minds open, though, and we think governments can do more than one thing at a time. So we’re not opposed to finding out if tunnels are a possibility. But we don’t want to spend any public money to answer the question — or questions, actually, because we have a lot of them.

There are already a couple of tunnels in South Florida — the tunnel to the Port of Miami is an example — so waterproofing isn’t a problem. But would any issues with South Florida’s geology or flooding drive up the price? Or slow down the project? There’s a Musk tunnel under the Las Vegas Convention Center, but this climate is mighty soggy, and getting soggier, compared to Nevada.

One of the main attractions to Musk’s approach is that it’s supposed to be cheaper and finished faster than other tunnel proposals. In 2021, he made a pitch to Suarez to build about two miles of tunnel under the Miami River for around $30 million in six months — far less than a $900 million estimate from 2018 that would take four years to build.

Cost, as always

There’s no price tag yet on this latest, very vague idea. But costs have a way of skyrocketing in this town, even though memories are short. Miami monorail anyone? For those who can’t recall, it’s a four-mile elevated train to link the Beach to the mainland. At last check, the cost had come close to doubling, reaching an astronomic $1 billion.

It’s hard to trust any cost estimates on a futuristic tunnel project when we have that glaring example in front of us.

And would it actually help congestion enough to be worth the expense and disruption? That also remains to be seen.

So, sure, take a look at the latest big idea. Kick its tires. But before anyone comes to taxpayers asking for money, you’re going to have to convince us why, in a town battling an existential threat of rising seas, digging tunnels under the city to handle traffic isn’t just plain bonkers.

This story was originally published June 28, 2022 at 4:30 AM.