On June 22, 2022, Laura Paddison wrote an article about the possibility of moving all roads underground for BBC Future’s Planet section. Her article discussed the possible environmental and economic benefits of the action.
Today, there are over 64 million kilometers of roads on Earth and that number is expected to rise by an estimated 3 to 4.7 million more kilometers by 2050. Removing roads on the ground would save space across the world that would otherwise be used for transportation. This allows space for farming or rewilding in rural areas.
Animals also could be saved from the change. For some, roads become a barrier for them, preventing them from joining other species or from finding prey to hunt. Roads also are places where they could become roadkill from collisions. Sarah Perkins, a teacher at Cardiff University, who organizes Project Splatter, a research project dedicated to roadkill on UK roads, says that they receive about 10,000 roadkill cases, but “that’s a fraction of the real total.”
People will also be safer without roads on the surface, as pedestrians, runners, and cyclists would no longer be in the same area as cars. Rachel Aldred, a professor at the University of Westminster in London, UK said, “Motor traffic mixing with people is inherently problematic.” Data supports her claim, with the WHO (World Health Organization) finding that around 1.3 million people die every year because of road traffic accidents.
However, the new infrastructure for roads brings new benefits and drawbacks. Underground roads would be safer against earthquakes, as shown by a powerful earthquake in Santiago in 2010 that destroyed the surface but barely damaged the city’s metro system. Unfortunately, underground roads would be more dangerous in other scenarios, like floods, which would require entrances and exits to be elevated to prevent water from entering.
In addition, the risk of a fire happening from an accident is very high, which would mean that the smoke from the fire can’t escape. Emergency services also need a way to move on the road, which would require bigger tunnels. Pollution from exhaust emissions also needs some way to escape, meaning that stacks may have to be used, which would cost more energy.
The cost of making the road also should be considered. It’s estimated that the cost per mile for creating an underground tunnel is about $100-200 million in China, India, and Southeast Asia, $250-500 million in Europe, and $1.5-2.5 billion in the U.S.
Despite the drawbacks, some cities have decided to make the change, like Boston for example. This city’s highway project, Big Dig, moved the city’s most congested highway underground, which gave more than 300 acres of open land. The project took around 15 years to finish in 2007 and cost more than $20 billion for 7.5 miles of road, way over the $2.6 billion the project was shooting for. Amsterdam has also made plans for change, planning to move thousands of parking spaces a year underground and replace the area with parks.
Article: https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20220621-what-if-roads-went-underground
Today, there are over 64 million kilometers of roads on Earth and that number is expected to rise by an estimated 3 to 4.7 million more kilometers by 2050. Removing roads on the ground would save space across the world that would otherwise be used for transportation. This allows space for farming or rewilding in rural areas.
Animals also could be saved from the change. For some, roads become a barrier for them, preventing them from joining other species or from finding prey to hunt. Roads also are places where they could become roadkill from collisions. Sarah Perkins, a teacher at Cardiff University, who organizes Project Splatter, a research project dedicated to roadkill on UK roads, says that they receive about 10,000 roadkill cases, but “that’s a fraction of the real total.”
People will also be safer without roads on the surface, as pedestrians, runners, and cyclists would no longer be in the same area as cars. Rachel Aldred, a professor at the University of Westminster in London, UK said, “Motor traffic mixing with people is inherently problematic.” Data supports her claim, with the WHO (World Health Organization) finding that around 1.3 million people die every year because of road traffic accidents.
However, the new infrastructure for roads brings new benefits and drawbacks. Underground roads would be safer against earthquakes, as shown by a powerful earthquake in Santiago in 2010 that destroyed the surface but barely damaged the city’s metro system. Unfortunately, underground roads would be more dangerous in other scenarios, like floods, which would require entrances and exits to be elevated to prevent water from entering.
In addition, the risk of a fire happening from an accident is very high, which would mean that the smoke from the fire can’t escape. Emergency services also need a way to move on the road, which would require bigger tunnels. Pollution from exhaust emissions also needs some way to escape, meaning that stacks may have to be used, which would cost more energy.
The cost of making the road also should be considered. It’s estimated that the cost per mile for creating an underground tunnel is about $100-200 million in China, India, and Southeast Asia, $250-500 million in Europe, and $1.5-2.5 billion in the U.S.
Despite the drawbacks, some cities have decided to make the change, like Boston for example. This city’s highway project, Big Dig, moved the city’s most congested highway underground, which gave more than 300 acres of open land. The project took around 15 years to finish in 2007 and cost more than $20 billion for 7.5 miles of road, way over the $2.6 billion the project was shooting for. Amsterdam has also made plans for change, planning to move thousands of parking spaces a year underground and replace the area with parks.
Article: https://www.bbc.com/future/article/20220621-what-if-roads-went-underground