Traffic is one of our common problems today. Sometimes traffic lights, sometimes a traffic accident, steal hours from our lives. There is also the environmental dimension. The lane roads we build for the flow of traffic, the horns stolen and the gases released from the cars cause both environmental pollution and the waste of millions of square kilometers.
What would happen if we carried all the roads in the world underground? Will the plan, described as “magical” by Bradley Garrett, a scientist who teaches geography at one of Europe’s leading universities, come true one day? In this content, we will examine the effects of moving the roads completely underground on nature and traffic.
According to 2018 research, there are 64,285,009 km of roads in the world. What would happen if we moved them all underground?
According to a study conducted in 2018 by a company called SCMO, which conducts global research on the logistics sector, the length of asphalt roads in the world is 64 million 285 thousand 9 kilometers. If we compare this distance to Russia, whose distance from the easternmost to the westernmost is 10 thousand kilometers, in order to go all the roads in the world, you have to go 6,428 times from the easternmost to the westernmost point of Russia.
Moreover, this distance is increasing a little more every day. Increasingly intensifying urbanization forces administrative governments to build new roads. Parallel to this, the number of cars in traffic is also increasing. Research shows that by 2040, there will be more than 2 billion cars in traffic. This will lead to a 50% increase in traffic anywhere in the world. In other words, roads that are like “highland” will not be enough in the coming years.
Let’s brainstorm: If the roads are moved underground, important opportunities for both humanity and natural life will be captured!
If all the roads on Earth were to be moved underground, there would be a huge void on our planet. This gap means more farming and livestock opportunities. We will also have a larger area for natural life. Taking the roads underground also allows us to place much more solar panels on our planet. This makes electricity generation easier than ever before.
The effects of moving the roads underground are not limited to these. Countless trees are cut down for road construction. This upsets the oxygen balance. Animals from the environment they live in cannot hold on to life in the places where they migrate. And some even die as a result of being hit by a vehicle while crossing the road. Along with all this, we also sometimes disrupt stream routes to make roads. When we put them together, you might think that moving the roads underground is a really great project.
What do experts think about moving the roads underground?
According to the statements made by transportation professor Rachel Aldred, taking the roads underground is not such an easy task. Acknowledging all the advantages mentioned above, the scientist states that there are very important risks that should not be forgotten. So what are these risks?
- Flood.
- Traffic accidents.
- Evacuation.
- Crimes.
- Ventilation.
- Restructuring of cities.
- Cost issues.
prof. According to the statement made by Aldred, all engineering opportunities must be mobilized to take the roads underground. Especially fires that may occur due to floods, traffic accidents and ventilation is more important than anything else. Emphasizing the importance of ways to evacuate people as a result of these, the scientist says that all details should be considered. However, even if these are solved, the high costs, existing infrastructure systems (sewer, subway, etc.) and possible crimes are enough to abandon the idea of moving the roads underground.
Moreover, the traffic problem will not be solved!
Rachel Aldred emphasizes that if everything is calculated in detail and the roads are moved underground, there will be no solution to the traffic problem. According to the scientist, in such a project, all the cars on earth will be transported underground. The traffic jam we live in on earth will go underground together with the cars…
So what to do?
According to the statement made by the transportation professor, the only thing that needs to be done is to increase the quality of public transportation vehicles and make them even more attractive to people. Only this method will allow people to prefer public transportation instead of personal vehicles, and the traffic problem will be relatively solved…
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