Queens Midtown Tunnel and Hugh L. Carey Tunnel to partially close for the rest of the summer
Commuters may have noticed a bit of extra traffic when driving into Manhattan at night lately—and things are not going to get much better for the next few weeks.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA) has announced that two major tunnels connecting the island to other parts of the city have been and will continue to be partially closed at night in an effort to carry out tests on the 20-ton flood doors that protect them from various storms and hurricanes.
The Queens Midtown Tunnel and the Hugh L. Carey Tunnel each feature doors that are 29-feet wide and 14-feet high and almost two-feet thick, so you can imagine that work on any one of them may take some time.
“In the event of a coastal storm, these doors provide the last line of defense, preventing water from infiltrating tunnels an causing extensive damage as was seen during Superstorm Sandy in 2012,” reads an official press release. “Eight doors were installed in 2017 as part of the agency’s long-term flood mitigation program.”
According to the press release, the to-be-tested entryways can only be moved when the tunnels are closed to traffic. As a result, one tube in each tunnel will be closed overnight on select dates. The remaining tube will operate two lanes, one in each direction.
Here is when each tunnel will be closed:
Queens Midtown Tunnel
Saturday, July 27 at 12:01am through 8am
Sunday, July 28 at 1am through 9am
Saturday, August 3 at 12:01am through 8am
Sunday, August 4 at 1am through 9am
Hugh L. Carey Tunnel
Wednesday, July 24 at 9pm through Thursday, July 25 at 5am