Editor:
A recent letter by Bob Orrick that followed a letter by Mike McConnell regarding the lighting and safety in the George Massey Tunnel led me to write this letter.
Orrick is quite right on all three counts:
1. Ventilation. There are two huge ventilation fans located in the two ventilation towers at either end of the tunnel that are designed to move up to one million cubic feet of air a minute and to meet all emergencies that would occur and adjust as the traffic volume increases.
2. Lighting. The original design called for lining the tunnel with white ceramic tile that would have reflected the light better and would have been easier to maintain, but the government at the time felt it could do it cheaper by painting the cement white and using some form of florescent lighting. This failed badly and it has spent millions over the last 50 years with no success.
3. Sign to turn your lights on. It wouldn't be necessary if the government had lined the tunnel in the first place as you would not need your lights. Many people have cars like mine where the headlights come on automatically, but unbeknown to me, my taillights do not come on too. Perhaps many others don't realize this, so check it out.
Orrick is right that more should be done to attract the public to turn all their lights on before proceeding into and through the tunnel and do a proper job of lining the tunnel as was originally recommended.
We would all be safer.
Doug Massey
(son of George Massey)
