A new twin tube tunnel in Mexico City will help reduce the city’s chronic congestion problem, which is particularly acute at peak travel periods. The tunnel is located at Mixcoac in the south west of the city and should be ready by August 2017. The new twin bore tunnel link will reduce traffic jams on the city’s Circuito Interior urban highway, which handles up to 300,000 vehicles/hour at peak travel periods. Mexico City’s traffic jams are notorious and journey times can be infuriatingly long at times.
But the project is now costing around US$6.64 billion, with the pricetag having been increased due to a series of design revisions caused by unexpected technical issues. The ground conditions in and around Mexico City are very poor and as the region suffers from serious earthquakes, these factors will have added considerably to the cost of the project. The installation of the safety systems including the ventilation, fire detection and CCTV equipment, for the 1.5km tunnel link will be completed shortly. And recent heavy rain has also shown that the tunnel’s new drainage system works effectively.
