simcity 4 Autopista de la Bruma (Highway 6)
The Ministry of Transportation of Isla Bonita (MTIB) is pleased to announce the opening of the brand-new Autopista de la Bruma (Mist Highway) connection between Interior and Bahía Herradura! The newly-designated Highway 6 is expected to relieve substantial congestion on Highway 4, to its north, and halve travelling times between its two linked cities.
Panorama of Highway 6 (centre) looking north. Also visible is Highway 4's approach to Interior (upper centre), Bahía Herradura's southern approach highway (bottom centre, bordering Horseshoe Bay), Highway 1 (far left) and the Vía Mayor (far right)
The 6-kilometre long highway runs from west to east. It starts at its junction with Highway 1, crosses Horseshoe Bay on the newly-built Great Trilobite Viaduct (pictured below) before climbing some 170 metres (500 feet, its maximum altitude at Engineers' Tunnel) to reach the Interior Plateau.
The bridge stands some 15 metres above the shallow bay and allows small boats through, though not ferries
Túnel de los Ingenieros (Engineers' Tunnel), so named to honour the engineering feat of Highway 6's construction, stands at the highest point in the route. Despite crossing the watershed between the coast and the inner valley, it's actually fully located in Bahía Herradura, the limit with Interior standing a few metres ahead
Climbing the hills, even at the very steep 15% grade allowed by Bonitean transportation standards, required substantial engineering challenges: several curves, two short viaducts, and one tunnel ("Túnel del Caracol", which translates as Snail Tunnel but would be better translated as Switchback Tunnel) that routes the highway under itself.
Why not go straight?
Once in Interior, the highway quickly descends to valley altitude (some 100 metres, 300 feet above sea level) through a quick switchback before linking with Interior's loop highway.
Conveniently, a thick, blueish fog covered Bahía Herradura in this picture
The construction of Interior's approach involved moving large amounts of rock in order to create a convenient link that could take over Interior's Long Tunnel, formerly signed as part of its loop highway. A new, four-way connection was required to replace the old three-way route.
The approach as it was built
Travelling fully under Church Hill, Highway 6 finally surfaces at its intersection with the Vía Mayor, coming to an end as a signed highway.
A monumental backdrop marks the end of Highway 6, within sight of the Triumph Arc
The route does, however, continue east as Avenida de las Industrias until it meets Highway 3 on the eastern margin of the valley. On the other side of the roundabout, the highway is signed as Highway 4, onwards to Costa Este —but there have been calls to resign it as Highway 6, or even to switch Highways 4 and 6 around (so numbers increase south-to-north, as originally intended).
Highway 4 or 6? Only time will tell
The construction of Highway 6, Mist Highway had a budget of around §500,000, with all of the bill footed by the Cities of Interior and Bahía Herradura. Bahía Herradura did write its expenses of off loans undertaken with the National Government regarding the New Port project, arguing the new connection benefitted the port —connected via Highway 1— in a direct manner, linking it to the largest city on the island. The project was also part of Bahía Herradura's Maintown Revival Project, an ambitious proposal to rejuvenate lagging parts of its main town.
As part of that project, the area around Bahía Herradura Main Station was rebuilt: streets were widened and turned one-way, a bus-preferential offload ramp was built connecting the highway and the station, and a new bus terminal was inaugurated across the road.
The subway station, Bahía Herradura on Line 8, had actually been built in an earlier phase of the Maintown Revival Project —but the entrance needed to be relocated to accommodate the bus terminal
Highway 6's approach into Bahía Herradura, including the offload ramp for buses (particulars can also use it, though)
The project encountered some stiff opposition from several sectors: opposition parties bemoaned the car-centric focus of the new government —although they were placated by bus concessions and new line announcements, below—, while Herradureans complained about the high cost of the project and the fact that the highway would substantially alter the fabric of the hitherto small town on the outskirts of the South Bay metro area. The sharp zig-zag the highway takes on its approach to the town was decided in order to avoid cutting through it, but it did cut off the downtown area from its closest shore —a practice frowned upon by urbanists around the world— and required substantial demolition, including the old Bahía Herradura church (replaced by a new, smaller one, still on the side of the highway). Others complained about the closeness between Highways 6 and 4, little over a kilometre apart at their closest, though the former was specifically built to relieve the latter on a heavily-used route that, unlike Highway 3, could not be widened.
For its part, the ferry industry, already wounded by the Line 8 extension, was also fiercely opposed to the project, but was told to pound sand. Oddly enough, usage of ferries has increased in the last few years, spurred by better connections to inland towns and the development of settlements alongside the eastern Isla Enojada shore —the roundabout route taken by Highway 1 and the High Speed Rail is still no match for the convenience of a short ferry trip to South Bay.
Ferry traffic actually increased, despite projections, after the extension of Line 8, and has remained stable even after the Trilobite Bridge was built
As for the actual highway, it has been a resounding success, with over 9,000 cars per day — not quite maximum capacity, but close enough to relieve Highway 4, which now sees fewer traffic jams. Highway 6 has particularly been a boon for commuters from the Interior Old Town and surrounding areas, who can now quickly commute to the west coast and beyond.
And that's it! One more highway, one more way to travel to the beach or something (?). See you next time!
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