A 1.4-mile bored tunnel could be one of the potential solutions to alleviate traffic congestion in Coronado. Courtesy of Photo Geodetic Corp. CORONADO Coronado residents will have their say on a proposal to build a traffic tunnel through town, the City Council has decided. The June ballot measure will be the third tunnel-related advisory measure Coronado voters have been asked to consider in the past 22 years. The City Council voted unanimously Jan. 19 to ask voters whether they want Coronado to continue studying traffic-relief options, specifically a tunnel between the San Diego-Coronado Bridge and North Island Naval Air Station. “I think the tunnel concept is a divisive issue in Coronado,” Mayor Casey Tanaka said before the vote. “One of the reasons why is because we’ve waited so long to test the pulse of the city to see if our residents still support this.” In 1988, Coronado voters rejected Proposition G, which asked whether they supported a tunnel under Fourth Street to help solve traffic problems. In 1998, Proposition O asked voters whether they supported the city in seeking funding sources for another type of tunnel. The measure passed with 83 percent of the vote. The language on the June ballot will read: “Do you support the city continuing to use existing federal, state and local funding to complete the study of long-term traffic-relief options, including a tunnel, between the Coronado Bridge and North Island Naval Air Base?” Coronado has spent 10 years and nearly $13.5 million, mostly in federal and regional grants and toll revenue, studying ways to ease traffic congestion. The city’s share has been kept at $1 million. Proposals include two tunnel options, the most expensive of which is estimated to cost more than half a billion dollars. Read the entire Union Tribune article here.
