Cycling: Why Tunnels are Better than Bridges (2014)

Tunnels offer faster journeys than bridges due to less climbing. Steeper gradients can be used than with a bridge because cyclists going into a tunnel first ride downhill and pick up speed which can be used to climb back out of the tunnel. Tunnels have a smaller height difference than bridges. Tunnels take up less space than a bridge because inclines are shorter. Tunnels are easier to fit into an existing landscape. There should be no turns within the tunnel, no-where for a potential mugger to hide. Quoted from a blogpost at "A view from the cyclepath", which discusses Dutch standards for cycling tunnels and bridges.