Only Underwater Traffic Tunnel in Texas Closes for Repairs Two Years After Accident

The big state of Texas has all kinds of stuff when it comes to infrastructure but there’s one thing you won’t find in abundance, and that’s underwater traffic tunnels. There’s only one in the entire state, the Washburn Tunnel east of downtown Houston.

The toll-free tunnel goes under the Houston Ship Channel, connecting the communities of Galena Park and Pasadena (the refinery town made famous in the 1980 movie “Urban Cowboy”.) Officials say during the week it carries up to 27,000 vehicles a day.

Built in 1950 at a cost of $7 million, the Washburn Tunnel is just under 3800 feet long, taking drivers 68 feet below the ship channel. Atop the tunnel’s entrance there’s a large midcentury structure containing high-speed blower fans that provide ventilation. Because of its unique trench design, the Washburn Tunnel was included on the National Register of Historic Places in 2008.

Also in 2008, all large vehicles were banned from the tunnel including 18-wheelers. But in September 2010, that didn’t stop a big rig driver from trying to enter. Gail Miller is with Harris County Precinct 2, the governmental entity that operates the tunnel, and she tells what happened next.

“We had an 18-wheeler, about 3:30 in the morning, drive by the guard shack. The guard was out, the flags were out, he drove right around then and headed into the tunnel. Well, he’s too big to get into the tunnel, and he hit the north portal wall, damaging the brick and the metal behind it.”

Once inside the tunnel, Miller says the truck collapsed and it took about seven hours to remove the wreckage. The driver wound up going to jail. Now two years later, crews are at work repairing the damage.

Miller says at the time of the accident, the damage wasn’t considered severe enough to close the tunnel to traffic. As for why it’s taken so long to do the repairs, Miller says they had to settle insurance claims, and because of the tunnel’s historic status, they had to find the proper materials to make the repairs to the tunnel’s entrance.

“Any changes to a historic building have to be run by the Texas Historical Commission, and they have to be matched in terms of brickwork.”

The tunnel will be closed to traffic on weekends through April 2 to make those repairs. So what does that mean for drivers? Traffic will be funneled onto several other ship channel crossings, including the East I-610 Loop, the Sam Houston Parkway toll bridge and the State Highway 146 Fred Hartman Bridge (which replaced another tunnel, the Baytown Tunnel, in 1995). Drivers also have the option of using the Lynchburg Ferry, which will have expanded hours during the Washburn Tunnel’s closure.

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source: Transportation Nation (Delaughter, 3/20)



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Texas man crushed by big-rig makes miraculous recovery

DALLAS -- They may be small, and gingerly taken, but Greg Meece isn't taking baby steps as he walks out of UT Southwestern's Zale Lipshy hospital.

For everyone involved in his recovery, every step forward is a giant leap.

"When I was brought in here two weeks ago," says Meece, "I was an incomplete quadraplegic. And I'm going to be walking out of the hospital today."

Two weeks ago, Meece was driving on the Dallas North Tollway when an 18-wheeler lost control. The truck slammed into the concrete divider -- and landed on-top of Meece's car.

Other drivers rushed to help. But Meece was so badly crushed, doctors didn't know if he would ever walk again.

A surgery, fusing one of his own ribs to his neck, stabilized his spine.

"Never. I never doubted," says Donna Meece of her husband's recovery.

Still, she is astonished her husband rehabbed to quickly.

"I was thinking, 'We'll be here for months,'" she says, "Two weeks? I'm shocked at 2 weeks, I really am. But every day I knew he was getting better and better.

"It's a miracle," says Greg, "It's amazing. It's almost beyond words."

Greg Meece was in a rental car the day of the accident.

He says he is very frugal -- and always pays for a small, compact car. That day, he says he splurged an extra four dollars for a mid-sized car. As he walked out of the hospital, upright and able-bodied, he says it was the best four bucks he ever spent.

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source: WFAA (St. James, 3/9)



The Cole Legal Group has a proven track record of obtaining substantial insurance settlements and jury awards for people hurt in all types of motor vehicle accidents in Texas.


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AGs decide not to object to Honda hybrid class-action settlement.

The AP (3/1, Spagat) reported, "Attorneys general in California and four other states said Wednesday that they won't oppose a class-action settlement between Honda Motor Co. and owners of its hybrid cars over inflated claims of fuel efficiency. The five states had asked a judge for more time to consider after Honda owner Heather Peters won $9,867 in a California small claims court this month – much more than the couple hundred dollars cash that the settlement offers. The judge reluctantly granted a two-week extension for them to declare objections." Just hours before that extended deadline, attorneys general for California, Iowa, Massachusetts, Texas and Washington announced they would not oppose the proposed class-action settlement.

        The Chicago Tribune (3/1, Hirsch) noted the issue "rose to prominence this month when a Los Angeles County court commissioner ruled that American Honda Motor Co. negligently misled Civic owner Heather Peters when it said the hybrid could achieve as much as 50 miles per gallon." Opting out of the class settlement, Peters was awarded almost the $10,000 small claims maximum, well above the several hundred dollars provided under the settlement. Honda says it's gearing up to appeal the Los Angeles ruling, which it called "a radical and unprecedented departure from California and federal law."

-- source AAJ News Brief

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