Build new bridge, not BART tunnel

Your story “BART getting serious about 2nd bay tunnel” (Page One, Feb. 21) has an astonishing fact — that BART is already estimating its second tunnel across the bay will cost twice what the the new Bay Bridge cost, the most expensive bridge of its length in the world. Why are they not instead planning a second bridge, rather than a $12 billion to $15 billion tunnel “at a minimum”?

A simple concrete ribbon bridge (such as Caltrans originally designed for the Bay Bridge replacement) would cost a tiny, tiny fraction of this tunnel, and could carry train tracks, plus dedicated bus/transit lanes, or lanes for cars. What are they thinking?

Robert Sykes, Davis