Test drive

The controversial Al-Azhar Tunnel is finally being put to the test. Al-Ahram Weekly stops to ask the tough questions: what does it mean for Cairo traffic, local antiquities, tourism and the people who live and work in one of Cairo's oldest districts
Test drive
Gihan Shahine drives deep into tunnel dynamics
"It was a difficult delivery," says Abdel-Hadi Hafez, head of the planning and follow-up sector at the National Authority for Tunnels (NAT), about the birth of the Al-Azhar Tunnel. Three years in the making, this controversial project is finally being tested, albeit slowly.
"When a baby is still a newborn, we can't stuff it with food," explains Hafez, referring to the limited tests of the new tunnel. The office is buzzing with unmistakable excitement as people take directions on how to "nurse" the new baby.
For Hafez, the metaphor is apt. Many a long, sleepless night has been lost worrying over a 2.6- kilometre stretch connecting Opera Square, downtown, and Salah Salem Street. The project took 2,400 workers to complete and has been bogged down in problems, from subterranean water, to angry conservationists, to urban planning specialists claiming that it will create more problems that it solves.
When we met Hafez, it was the second day of the tunnel's limited opening, which began last Friday and opened one lane of the tunnel's dual carriage- way. As of tomorrow, both lanes are expected to be opened for similar experimentation and it is hoped that the renovations on Opera Square and the pedestrian tunnel there will be complete by then.
Driving down the tunnel is smooth sailing indeed. It took us less than five minutes to reach El- Darrassa, adjacent to Salah Salem, from Opera Square -- a trip which would otherwise take at least 15 minutes. But will this always be the case?
Before launching into the traffic debate, we took a long, hard look at the big maps that dotted Hafez's office, contemplating the efforts of the past three years. Al-Azhar Tunnel has been touted as a great technological achievement, featuring sophisticated design and strenuous safety precautions. A security system controls the tunnel gates, cameras and signposts have been installed, and there are traffic data and fire-control systems. The tunnel is monitored for flames, smoke, temperature, carbon dioxide emissions and wind speed.
Four ventilation shafts allow exhaust fumes to escape from the tunnel and a generator is on hand in case of power cuts. The control centre boasts all the latest technology, including a wireless alarm system and emergency telephone network. The centre is linked to the nearby civil defence authority and can summon ambulances immediately, while fire brigades and police security will be on call around the clock. Impressed?
"The tunnel was built in accordance with the latest advances in global technology," Hafez boasts, pointing out that digging some 10 to 30 metres underground was no easy task given that subterranean water begins only one or two metres down. Nor was it easy to build in such a densely populated area that also has at least 90 kilometres of subterranean infrastructure. Hafez notes that it was necessary to test the numerous dilapidated buildings and the historical edifices surrounding the tunnel area to ensure that they would withstand the extensive digging. "Sometimes I would get an emergency call at two in the morning to deal with such problems, like the collapse of a run-down pedestrian fly-over while digging. That was a nightmare."
Now that it is all behind him, Hafez hopes he will finally be able to catch a good night's sleep. But will he?
Despite the apparent success of last week's experiment, fears of haphazard planning persist. "The current flow of traffic inside the tunnel is not representative," notes Sherif Kamel, former head of the Urban Planning Authority. "It's like putting a patient on artificial respiration and then claiming that he is breathing properly."
Many urban planners insist that in the absence of a comprehensive master plan for Greater Cairo, the tunnel will only wreak havoc on the flow of traffic downtown. According to urban planner Milad Hanna, the tunnel is no more than "an exercise in crisis management."
Experts expect that the influx of vehicles exiting the tunnel and speeding into Opera Square will congest traffic in the city centre, ultimately blocking the tunnel. To overcome the problem, the government has advanced a new traffic plan -- the result of a two year study -- that it argues will directly solve the problem. Measures include marking off specific routes for large vehicles, widening some streets by removing run-down buildings, making some streets one way, constructing a multi- level car park and building two pedestrian tunnels at the tunnel's exits. Public bus routes will also be altered accordingly.
The plan, however, has yet to be proven fool- proof. For instance, 26 July Street, a main artery in Cairo, was converted into a one-way street two weeks ago, confusing motorists and causing traffic jams downtown. And, of course, the question that begs to be asked is whether the LE890 million poured into the project was worth it?
Hafez concedes that the tunnel, in and of itself, will not ease traffic, but he argues that within the context of the new traffic plan, "it certainly will." "The tunnel is primarily a part of a broader plan by the Ministry of Culture and the UNESCO to turn the historic district of Fatimid Cairo into an open- air museum," Hafez explains. Once the tunnel opens, cars will be banned from Al-Azhar area, which will be converted into a pedestrian area. The eye-sore of the Al-Azhar fly-over will also be dismantled.
The catch, however, is that the tunnel was not in the original UNESCO plan, which had recommended the construction of an underground metro line. Mass public transportation is globally perceived as the only real solution to traffic congestion in city centres. But NAT argued (and still maintains) that building an underground metro line in Al-Azhar area is "technically and financially unfeasible."
Hafez argued, "The flow of traffic inside the tunnel should provide a higher capacity than that of the densely-populated and intersected Al-Azhar Street." He estimates that the tunnel should accommodate approximately 2,800 vehicles per hour -- the projected traffic inflow expected until 2017. After that "New plans will be drafted, creating new routes," assures Hafez. What if the tunnel fails to accommodate the current number of cars? Will the government then keep the fly-over and Al-Azhar street open to vehicles? "We'll have to dump the tunnel then," he jokes, shrugging off such questions as unlikely scenarios.
It is, however, no joking matter. Hanna argues that a cost-benefit analysis should be conducted assessing the Al-Azhar tunnel project that takes into account the money spent on the management of the anticipated traffic crisis. "If the project proves a failure, as the fly-over did, we should know who to sue for wasting public funds when Cairo is still in dire need of basic infrastructure."
Among the worries raised about the tunnel are the log-jams at both exits and fears of traffic being backed up should there be an accident, or breakdown in the tunnel. The tunnel only has two lanes in each direction -- hardly enough to account for the high rate of breakdowns on Cairo streets. Others say NAT skimped on air shafts, noting that excessive exhaust, exacerbated by high temperatures, may be too much for the four air shafts situated at 800-metre intervals.
"We have found solutions for all possible scenarios," Hafez maintains, "We have the most up-to- date ventilation technology, which not only removes excess exhaust fumes caused by traffic jams and smoke -- in the case of fire -- but also pumps in clean air." But Hafez also notes that there were more pragmatic reasons for keeping the number of shafts down. Building more ventilation shafts would have meant the evacuation of at least 40 residential blocks and 270 shops. "That would have been a social disaster, and we just couldn't find any space for extra shafts," he explained.
The tunnel has side lines, to provide a shoulder for cars that break down or are involved in an accident, so as not to affect the flow of traffic. The authority has tow trucks on hand to remove broken vehicles quickly. Emergency exits and stairs are also provided for extra safety.
Critics claim that even if everything is working beautifully, over time, enforcement of safety and maintenance measures will erode. But Hafez refers all doubters to the precedent set by the Cairo metro, which he highlights as a successful example of proper management and maintenance.
Driving back downtown, we got ensnared in bumper-to-bumper traffic. "Will the tunnel ever solve this nightmare?" our driver demanded. "The government always promises solutions that only make matters worse," he muttered. "Wouldn't it have been better to put this huge sum of money into projects that solve the housing problem?"
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