Volume Two, Issue 13

June 13, 2022

We desire to see everyone living in a healthy relationship with the Lord.

Joanna Snow Ministries is located in Downtown Mobile, and we love it!

Tunnel Vision

from Cossondra

Established on the shore of Mobile Bay, the city of Mobile owes much of its formation and history to the effects of water. Native peoples and early explorers built settlements near both the Bay and Mobile River to obtain food and expedite trade. And, when settlements, forts, and populations declined because of yellow fever or hurricanes, another settlement would soon build upon the remains and rise up again.

In more recent centuries, water has prompted Mobile to construct bridges and tunnels allowing motorists to travel more and more conveniently. The oldest of these tunnels, the Bankhead, was opened in 1941, connecting drivers on the Eastern Shore of Baldwin County directly to Downtown Mobile via Government Street. Named for John H. Bankhead, a U.S. Senator from Alabama, the tunnel was considered a triumph of engineering. The ingenuity of the construction (sections of the tunnel were built and then submerged and linked) made national news. And, according to papers of the time, a festival-like celebration was held on a grand opening day, allowing pedestrians to walk through. After that first day, the Bankhead opened initially as a toll tunnel, with drivers paying 25 cents to drive through it instead of going nearly eight miles around the tip of the bay.

In recent years, however, news about the tunnel has been less about engineering wonders and more about oversized trucks. The clearance of the Bankhead Tunnel is 12 feet. Those 12 feet do not give, vary, or change. This clearance allows most, but not all, vehicles to pass through with plenty of space left over. Honestly, we don't hear about the "most," but when a vehicle collides with the top of the tunnel, everyone hears it.

To prevent damage to vehicles and the tunnel itself, officials have installed several warning systems. One is a sign, or rather a group of signs, displaying the clearance and indicating that trucks should exit before entering the tunnel. Chains surrounded by PVC pipe and bright yellow reflective tape hang down to 12 feet, so if trucks hit the chains, that indicates that they are too tall to go through the tunnel, alerting drivers to stop. Besides these warnings, an electric beam sits at the 12-foot clearance mark. If the beam is disrupted, a siren goes off. Red lights flash. A message board shows, "STOP DO NOT ENTER." Other than perhaps having spike strips pop up when the beam is broken, I don't know what else highway officials could do to warn drivers when they are not going to fit their vehicles into the tunnel.

If you aren't from Mobile, you may think that, with all of these warnings, truck-to-tunnel contact is rare. That is not the case. Drivers hit the Bankhead fairly regularly. Recently, three trucks had run-ins with the Bankhead in just a week. (See the pictures below.) On May 30, a truck got stuck at the entrance, prompting embarrassing headlines like "Two Men and a Stuck." The next day, a more determined driver ripped the top off his rental truck by driving all the way through the tunnel. (I would love to interview that guy.) And June 7, another truck made contact with the entrance, but this driver backed up and salvaged most of his vehicle and some of his pride.

Understated tweet from @MobileAlTraffic on April 17 of this year:

Bankhead Tunnel EB is closed due to 13 ft trailer in a 12 ft tunnel.

With all of the warnings, why do drivers still hit the tunnel? I think there are three possible reasons.

One, they are distracted and don’t see the signs.

Two, they aren’t sure of their vehicle’s clearance, so they don’t think the warnings apply to them.

And finally, they know it applies to them, but they are determined to gamble and try it anyway.

Have you ever hit the Bankhead Tunnel? No? Good. (If you have, please email me. I want to talk!) Have you ever missed warning signs? Yes? Well, so have I. So why do we do that?

Perhaps we are distracted by things in our lives and aren’t paying attention to our scriptural studies or prayer time. Before we know it, we have hit a situation we didn’t prepare for. Is our job gone? Is our health failing? We didn’t see the warnings.

Sometimes, we do see the signs. Maybe we get into a relationship with a person who is marching to their own drummer and waving their own red flags, but we think we can change the situation. We think the warnings don’t apply to us.

Maybe we have bought something out of our price range. Yes, we saw the sign, the price tag, but we thought we would gamble and try it anyway. We believe we will be able to make the cuts in other areas, but we end up not cutting enough, and we don’t have enough clearance.

It’s called tunnel vision. We are so focused on a goal that we don’t consider the preparation, dangers, or wisdom we need before entering new situations. This week, I pray that you will take the time to evaluate new situations that lie ahead of you. Do you need to prepare? Do you need to assess any concerns? Are you gambling on something? Ask God where to start. He can help you build a foundation of incomparable engineering. Listen to His wisdom before you get stuck in embarrassing or even painful circumstances. And, the next time you go through the Bankhead Tunnel, notice the scrapes on the concrete of those who didn’t pay attention to the signs.