When governor Chris Christie’s put the ARC tunnel on the chopping block last October there was public outcry, and there was public support. In fact a survey done by Rutgers’ Eagleton Institute of Politics shows 51 per cent of New Jersey citizens agreed with the decision.

More recently on the west coast, Seattle may have made history signing the USD 1.35bn contract for the bored tunnel to replace the SR99 Alaskan Way Viaduct, but there are plenty of people who don’t want to see the Seattle Tunnel Partners break ground.

There are even two anti-tunnel initiatives seeking signatures to qualify for a ballot. One, looking to ban the use of city right of way for tunnel construction, has qualified.

However, a survey last year found that the majority of people in and around Seattle support replacing the viaduct with a bored tunnel. On learning key project details, 62 per cent of 1,000 registered voters supported a tunnel.

There will always be gripes over government spending, land use and any type construction inconveniences. But here in the 21st century we have endless ways to share our message and those who stand opposed, they know that.

Social media—it’s time to create a bigger presence on Facebook, Twitter, Flickr—yes, it all sounds like nonsense but it works. And not just from a business stand point. Upload pictures and videos; boast about the successes even after you’ve left the worksite. Clean water, quicker commute? Let them talk about that rather cost overruns. It’s just one, small way for the industry to do a better job showing the (voting) public what they don’t know they don’t know about tunneling.

While working on this month’s features focusing on the Midwest and talking with David Egger of Black & Veatch, he regaled me with optimistic anecdotes about working with local authorities and their communities on designing tunnels and presenting deep-bored versus open-cut approaches. He says the internet has played a big role in informing the public about tunneling. People are using it to research what they hear from city planners and engineers. There have been times when people have brought up specific projects Black & Veatch to engineers in town forums that the company had worked on else where, wondering if that’s an option for their city.

But what can people find on the Internet, and is it what you want them to find? I’m guessing Governor Chris Gregoire of Washington, who has spent time playing defense while the mayor of Seattle, Mike McGinn, speaks out against the city’s tunnel, might say no.

Social media is a necessary evil, not just for individual, hotly-contested projects, but for public awareness in general. It might be too late for New Year’s resolutions, so let’s take it one step at a time. I’ll join you there on Twitter, @TunnelsNA.


Nicole Robinson