Tunnelways - the mega project scoring resilience and growth in one.
In an inherently unstable World, resilience is everything. The UK is also constrained by its limited space and under huge pressure to reverse stagnating growth in the backdrop of too many mutually occurring "crises".
Could a nationwide tunnelling mega-project offer multiple solutions?
Preparing for a clean emissions future, we should now start to place our largest trunk roads in vast tunnels, liberating the limited surface real estate for a balance of growth and re-wilding.
The Chiltern Tunnel, Thames Tideway, Crossrail, the Channel Tunnel - the UK has developed a huge technical knowledge and track record of tunnelling at scale. Why stop the drills - should we not see instead that tunnels as the natural infrastructure tool of policy into the electric mobility future?
The Motorway. A vast belt of land that has a huge financial value and the transformative potential this country needs. Dotted across the country, they're the very arteries of our economy. Let us begin placing an enlarged replica of this network beneath the surface, section by section over a 20 yr period.
An aggressive mega-project to match the ambition and scale of the original projects undertaken two generations before.
How might it work?
As with all such projects, a pilot project would need to be created - with a view to learning and discovering points for economies of scale, if the project were to be rolled out nationwide.
Sections of the above ground real estate are secured by pre-sale of Land Futures/Options, similar to the means by which the government auctions mobile bandwidth. This capital would form the deposit sum for the pilot works and allow financial markets to begin signalling appetite for further widening of the concept.
A Global talent pool is drawn upon to ensure the engineering challenges met and surpassed around the world - such as the Sydney Metro super tunnels, are included. Consultation, Operation, Execution.
The Economic Dividend:
With a mix of new affordable council-owned housing, to form a future revenue stream on permanent land sale rights. The UK Government could also act as landowner with Leasehold structures, co-ownership or share of onward property sales.
There are a number of inherent reasons this concept works. It could create a global asset class, tradable on UK markets with direct revenue an ancillary trade and tax benefits.
Citizens could invest in land a new “land grab” buzz bests the UK, perhaps even with some sections literally offered on lottery to those in most need. That's something we've not had in this country for centuries. Affordable housing surges could help our growing population.
Infrastructure is one of the most efficient means to stimulate employment and growth, The Real Estate unlocked is a veritable goldilocks zone of value to a land precious economy.
The section by section nature of planned works across the country would not effect other land prices, time is an ally. Expertise could be exported to other space constrained nations and it goes hand in hand with the electric mobility future.
Motorways built from scratch could be more future proof - how much time, effort and carnage has been wrought by the Smart Motorways projects? Tens of millions of driving hours affected - simply to widen major trunks by about fifteen feet!
Underground, roads would suffer from less environment wear and tear - which reduces the attrition rate of road.
The Natural Dividend:
Capital for the project is earned by cashflow of the sale of options, and land - including re-wilding for Carbon Credits and potentially carbon sequestration during construction.
Entire new tracts of forest and nature could be placed around the UK's largest cities to not only help meet carbon emission targets, but also to offer new resources and a quality of life unrivalled.
Herds of sustainable meat through deer gracing, a massive drop in the number of roadkill incidents and quality of life dividend from sound pollution and traffic stress caused to local communities abutting current motorways.
Imagine a single, vast tract of "connected nature", interspersed with freshly liberated real estate for solar, wind power, hydrogen storage, real estate for the housing crisis - and a subterranean trove of new capacity.
The vast excavations and subterranean matter could be used for coastal defences or reclamation of new coastal and wider oceanic space, fortifying the island against the very real threats of climate change - and possible sea level rises.
The Security Dividend
A huge array of tunnels could play host to primary nuclear bunker sites fit for the 21st-century threats. As well as digital storage, shadow factory and other such resource reserve infrastructure. A new age for military and civil readiness - the catalyst being the tunnel projects themselves.
Across the country, the Bank of England could also create a new series “Gold Vault” locations alongside the tunnels - a marquee asset for UK reputation.
The sites would act as a network of "Arks" for resources and civilians in the event of future catastrophe.
The Space Dividend:
Space exploration and eventual human settlement will likely rely heavily on tunnelling to be viable. From the Moon to Mars - with vast mineral-rich asteroids between - the nation with a competitive advantage in tunnelling and automation will surely gain a distinct edge.
Verdict:
Tunnelways offer the potential to reinvigorate the UK. They doubtless come with huge civil engineering challenges - as well as vast potential costs. Yet many of these can be mitigated by treating the projects as plural value creators - thinking creatively about revenue streams and market opportunities.
If there is another way to unlock thousands of square miles of prime real estate, do share it!