I didn’t need to see this story to imagine what could happen.
There’s just something about the idea of being stuck while fire approaches, or even able to move, and running from the fire and wondering if the ventilation will be enough to allow you keep breathing.
I will say, I’m glad I’m no longer living in either the NYC or the Tidewater, VA areas.
God bless them all.
(So how many other Dopers hate the Chesapeake Bay-Bridge Tunnel?)
Not to take anything away from your OP, but I used to love the Chesapeake Bay-Bridge tunnel. Especially when there was only one bridge and a passing zone throughout. I did entertain the occasional thought of a firey head on collision.
I grew up in the Tidewater area and still love that bridge.
SSG Schwartz
I’ve been through that tunnel uncounted times. It’s not very long.
I admit it’s a pretty impressive engineering feat. And on that level I did like it. And there’s absolutely nothing like seeing it after several months out to sea!
But, while I was willing to drive on it (when going North on leave, I’d gladly pay the toll there, and the fare for the Cape May-Lewes Ferry just to avoid having to drive around DC) I was always nervous about the fact that there were only two lanes.
Of course, if I were still in the Tidewater area, I’d think it would be a great place for a Dopefest at one island rest stops along the route. 
On preview: Johnny L.A., that’s it?!?!?!
Well, that does explain the relatively low casualty count, then.
That’s also where the interchange (the 5 and the 14) fell down during the Northridge quake.
Does this mean one more and it’s going to be sentenced under the “Three Strikes” law?
According to MSNBC, the tunnel is 550 feet long – about 1/10th of a mile.
My last few years in the trucking business, I ran the I-5/99 corridor on a regular basis. I’ve been through that tunnel hundreds of times. There’s often a line of rigs, closely spaced and moving at cruising speed. I’m not particularly surprised by this accident, just like the multi vehicle pile ups in the tulle fog.
I close my eyes all the way through tunnels – not when I’m driving, of course.
And while it’s not technically a tunnel, I always hated driving southbound on the Alaskan Way viaduct in Seattle. The lower level is southbound, isn’t it? It’s been awhile.
Here’s a twist. One of the local HD channels is playing tonight - Daylight
It really should be. That interchange is always a mess even at the best of times. I-5 is basically the ONLY route connecting northern Los Angeles with the rest of California.
We really need to build an alternate route connecting the Santa Clarita & San Fernando valleys. Unfortunately, the terrain is so rugged (it’s basically a 6000’ mountain range) that you’d have to tear down several mountains and bulldoze a bunch of homes owned by rich white people…and that just ain’t gonna happen. :mad:
[Skinner’s mother]
I don’t want you driving through tunnels. You know what that symbolizes.
[/SM]
Not a tunnel-related comment, but I just wanted to comment that my wife and I were driving home from South Pasadena last night (this morning – whatever) about 1:30am and we kept hearing about that on the local news radio station. Meanwhile, we came across not one, but TWO freeway closures during our journey because of some other really nasty accidents. Took us an hour to cover the approximately 15-miles home. I’ve lived here all my life, and it’s true what they say: people in LA CANNOT drive in the rain.
Ironically, I was driving around with the top off the last couple of days. 
(BTW: People in Seattle don’t know how to drive in the rain either.)
It does get high further north, but I used to fly through the Newhall Pass all the time at 2,500 feet. That height was sufficient to hop over the ridge from where the 5 is, over the landfill, and into the Valley. The alternate route was to hop over from the Simi Valley (the ‘practice area’ was the Santa Clarita river wash southeast of Lake Piru/southwest of Magic Mountain). ISTR that 2,500 was good for that ridge too, but the mountains started getting higher north of there. You’re right though. 6,000 feet or 2,500 feet, there’s just no where to easily build another road.
As for an alternate route, one might be able to take either the 14 or Sierra Highway to San Fernando Rd to get over to Lyons or McBean.
EDIT: Here’s where we practiced patterns, take-offs and landings.
I haven’t been through the Chesapeake Bay tunnel, only on the bridge. However, the Ft. McHenry Tunnel and the Harbor Tunnel are 1.7 miles long. I use both of them frequently. I didn’t like them at first, but I got used to them.
There’s a tunnel up in Pennsylvania that I’ve been through a couple of times that I don’t like. I don’t know which it is, as a Google search turns up 60 tunnels. I can tell you I sure as hell wouldn’t want to be stuck under a mountain if there was a collapse, but in the underwater tunnels at least you’d die quickly.
I have used the Ft. McHenry Tunnel once or twice a year for about a decade now. Am I incredibly dense that I didn’t realize what the “Upgrade Maintain Speed” signs in the latter part of the tunnel meant until a couple years back?
“Upgrade? Huh? Upgrade what”
Last time I flew into Burbank the plane crossed over that mountain range just a few hundred feet off the ground. (It was probably higher than that, but it felt VERY close!) Then the mountains suddenly dropped away as we entered the Valley and made a rather steep descent towards the airport.
Latest update: At least 29 (!!) vehicles involved, with 3 confirmed dead…including a child. 
The San Gabriels are fairly high (most of the peaks between 7,000 and 10,000 feet high) and like just to the north of BUR. If you were coming in from the north, they’d be in your path.
BTW: Nice illustration of the San Andreas fault.
We could build a long tunnel instead.