Robinson Ave Tunnel completed for MAPS 3 Central Park Access
So... Several months ago there was a very lengthy conversation about what style of tunnel should be build to go underneath the Robinson Avenue highway bridge north side ramp.
A little back story to all of this. Originally the I-40 Crosstown was supposed to be entirely below grade with major streets crossing on a level plane. In what can be debated eternally between protesters and advocates as a "bait and switch" move, engineers made the case that the water table was too close to the ground to completely recess the I-40 Crosstown.
Subsequently, the highway became less like I-75 in Dallas and more like our conventional highway design with ramps elevating streets to bridge approaches. Robinson, Walker, Western, Penn, and Exchange have these "ramp boxes."
At some point, someone (or multiple people) panicked at the city as they realized that the tall concrete retaining walls that create this ramping approach would potentially sever connectivity between the new MAPS 3 Central Park and the eastern side of Robinson. It was an even bigger issue several months ago as the original Core to Shore MAPS 3 Convention Center site was still in contention.
The argument was made and Public Works debated with ODoT on the pretense that this tunnel at a minimum was warranted for emergency vehicle access from the park side to the still unknown use of the eastern side. I believe that ODoT made the city pay for the tunnel as it was not in the original plans. A fire truck can drive through it.
That leads up the meeting by the MAPS 3 Park Advisory Committee in which the design of this tunnel was debated at length.
Consequently, you can see the results in these pictures. It is almost an arch. Something unusual around here and will make for an an interesting pedestrian acoustical experience.
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Originally Posted by mcca7596
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