By now you've probably heard the story that broke Wednesday morning - a plan by the Ontario government to tunnel under the 401 and make an extra highway that would stretch over 50 kilometres or more. 

I don't want to get into the politics of this idea, but let's just say you could wave a magic wand and have this thing built next week. What would happen to radio reception if you were driving along in this dark place for half an hour? 

I'm assuming AM would be completely gone and I'm not sure if you're deep underground, whether FM reception would be possible, either. Or even cell service to stream music. 

I would imagine any extra roadway would immediately be taken up with thousands of cars. How would stations here deal with potentially losing listeners for long stretches during rush hour? 

I recall hearing once that CKLW outfitted the Windsor-Detroit tunnel with an underground transmitter of sorts, to make The Big 8 the only station you could get while driving the length of the thoroughfare. Would any station do this today? What did they do in Boston after the Big Dig was finally finished? (According to this Massachusetts website, celluar and radio signals are "re-broadcast" into the tunnels. Would we do that here and who would pay for it?)

It may all be moot, of course, because it might never happen. And even if it does, many of us will be long gone by the time it's completed, if the Eglinton Crosstown is any indication. 

But I can't help but wonder at this early stage what it would be like driving all that way in virtual silence if no stations could penetrate the concrete.