Does Directional Traffic Congestion Affect Local Business Development?
A couple weeks ago, a friend made an interesting statement as we left an Oakland bar. He said that he did not support the 4th bore of the Caldecott Tunnel, bringing the current three 2-lane tunnels to four. He believes that the 4th bore is actually bad for Oakland business.
My friend stated that a 4th bore only benefits the reverse commute, meaning traffic headed into Contra Costa County and not Oakland. Therefore, by making it easier to get to cities like Walnut Creek, we are taking away business from Oakland. He was essentially making a direct correlation between directional traffic congestion and business development.
I thought a little about his statement and told him I disagreed and thought there was nothing terribly bad with the fourth bore project. We pretty much left it at that and I didn’t think much of it until today.
