After months of drilling in the Cleveland National Forest, transportation officials will use the results to determine if a tunnel for commuter traffic linking Riverside and Orange counties is an engineering possibility.
The North County Times reported that the 11-mile tunnel under consideration would be one of the world's longest tunnels for cars, running under the Santa Ana mountains. The Riverside Orange Corridor Authority, a public agency made up of transportation officials from the two counties, was formed to improve mobility and reduce congestion for the hundreds of thousands of commuters who shuttle back and forth each workday on Highway 91.
The drilling work was conducted by the San Diego-based engineering firm Kleinfelder and wrapped up this month and all reports on the work have been positive so far.
"Based on the studies that we've done so far, we haven't seen any fatal flaws," said H. Tony Rahimian, the lead engineer on the project. "But that doesn't mean we're done with our investigation."
Read more about this story in the North County Times.
