City planners in Washington made some bold decisions after learning how bridges and overpasses were affected by the 1989 Bay Area Earthquake.

The quake, which registered 6.9 on the Richter Scale, caused the Nimitz Freeway on Interstate 880 in Oakland to collapse. Entire sections of the upper deck collapsed directly on the lower deck, crushing more than two dozen cars and their occupants. 

25 Years Since The Bay Area Earthquake: Then And Now
Now & then: The Nimitz Freeway on Interstate 880 in Oakland Getty Images
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Timing is Everything

The time the earthquake struck - 5 p.m.- usually meant much more traffic should have been stuck on the Nimitz. But that year, baseball’s World Series featured two local teams: the Oakland A’s and the San Fransisco Giants. Ten of thousands came home early from work and errands to watch the game on television.

The collapse of the Nimitz Freeway meant change for a viaduct in Washington.

The Nimitz Freeway was designed similarly to Seattle’s Alaskan Way Viaduct, which ran the length of the downtown Seattle waterfront. 

Due to Seattle’s earthquake history, planners knew the Alaskan Way Viaduct had to go.

This led to the 2009 decision by King County, the city of Seattle, and the Port of Seattle to replace the viaduct with a four-lane, 2-mile-long tunnel.

Funding For The Alaskan Way Viaduct Becomes Divisive Issue In Mayoral Race
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The Longest Road Tunnel in the Lower 48 is here in Washington.

This Seattle's Highway 99 Tunnel—the longest in the contiguous U.S. (the lower 48)—opened in early 2019. The tunnel gives drivers excellent access from Seattle’s downtown to the famous waterfront attractions. 

Does the Highway 99 Tunnel require a toll to drive on?

Yes. The tunnel's price varies depending on how long you drive and whether you have the WA Good-To-Go sticker on your windshield. Click HERE for the toll info.

SR 99 in Seattle - Longest road tunnel in the Lower 48
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How does this tunnel compare to other famous tunnels in NYC?

Two tunnels connect New Jersey with the east side of Manhattan in New York City. 

The Lincoln Tunnel is a 1.5-mile-long tunnel built under the Hudson River. It connects Weehawken, New Jersey, to Midtown Manhattan. 

The Holland Tunnel is slightly longer than the Lincoln Tunnel, measuring 1.6 miles below the Hudson River, connecting the Newport district in Jersey City< New Jersey, with Lower Manhattan.

Is there a longer road tunnel than Seattle’s Highway 99 in Alaska or Hawaii?

Yes. The Anton Anderson Memorial Tunnel in Alaska is a 2.5-mile tunnel connecting Anchorage and Whittier.

LOOK: See how much gasoline cost the year you started driving

To find out more about how has the price of gas changed throughout the years, Stacker ran the numbers on the cost of a gallon of gasoline for each of the last 84 years. Using data from the Bureau of Labor Statistics (released in April 2020), we analyzed the average price for a gallon of unleaded regular gasoline from 1976 to 2020 along with the Consumer Price Index (CPI) for unleaded regular gasoline from 1937 to 1976, including the absolute and inflation-adjusted prices for each year.

Read on to explore the cost of gas over time and rediscover just how much a gallon was when you first started driving.

Gallery Credit: Sophia Crisafulli

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