The Battery Park Underpass is a vehicular tunnel at the southernmost tip of

Manhattan Manhattan (), known regionally as the City, is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the five boroughs of New York City. The borough is also coextensive with New York County, one of the original counties of the U.S. state ...

New York City New York, often called New York City or NYC, is the List of United States cities by population, most populous city in the United States. With a 2020 population of 8,804,190 distributed over , New York City is also the L ...

, near the neighborhoods of South Ferry and

Battery Park City Battery Park City is a mainly residential planned community and neighborhood on the west side of the southern tip of the island of Manhattan in New York City. It is bounded by the Hudson River on the west, the Hudson River shoreline on the north ...

. The tunnel connects

FDR Drive The Franklin D. Roosevelt East River Drive, commonly called the FDR Drive for short, is a limited-access parkway on the east side of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It starts near South and Broad Streets, just north of the Battery Park ...

, which runs along the east side of Manhattan Island, with the

West Side Highway The Joe DiMaggio Highway, commonly called the West Side Highway and formerly the Miller Highway, is a mostly surface section of New York State Route 9A (NY 9A), running from West 72nd Street along the Hudson River to the southern t ...

(

New York State Route 9A New York State Route 9A (NY 9A) is a state highway in the vicinity of New York City in the United States. Its southern terminus is at Battery Place near the northern end of the Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel in New York City, where it inters ...

, or NY 9A), which runs along the island's west side. Opened in 1951, it was the second section of the FDR Drive to be completed. The underpass crosses beneath the Battery (formerly Battery Park) and the approach to the

Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel The Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel, officially the Hugh L. Carey Tunnel and commonly referred to as the Battery Tunnel or Battery Park Tunnel, is a tolled tunnel in New York City that connects Red Hook in Brooklyn with the Battery in Manhatta ...

History

The underpass started construction in 1949 and opened to the public on April 10, 1951. The underpass runs underneath the Battery, connecting the

to the

South Street Viaduct The Franklin D. Roosevelt East River Drive, commonly called the FDR Drive for short, is a limited-access parkway on the east side of the New York City borough of Manhattan. It starts near South and Broad Streets, just north of the Battery Park ...

with two lanes of traffic in each direction. The project was completed shortly after the opening of the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel in 1950, and provides direct access between the West Side Highway and FDR Drive. In 2005, during the reconstruction of NY 9A, the western end of the Battery Park Underpass was extended to the north by about to provide a U-turn lane and amenities for pedestrians and bicyclists. During

Hurricane Sandy Hurricane Sandy (unofficially referred to as ''Superstorm Sandy'') was an extremely destructive and strong Atlantic hurricane, as well as the largest Atlantic hurricane on record as measured by diameter, with tropical-storm-force winds spann ...

, the tunnel was filled completely with seawater and required major repairs.

Plans for extension

There have been three proposals to extend the tunnel north on the FDR Drive side. *In 1971, it was suggested that the South Street Viaduct be turned into a tunnel, essentially extending the underpass north to the

Brooklyn Bridge The Brooklyn Bridge is a hybrid cable-stayed/ suspension bridge in New York City, spanning the East River between the boroughs of Manhattan and Brooklyn. Opened on May 24, 1883, the Brooklyn Bridge was the first fixed crossing of the East River ...

*In 2002, the Downtown Alliance, the local business improvement district, called for a 350-foot (105 m) extension to the underpass to create a plaza in front of the

Battery Maritime Building The Battery Maritime Building is a building at South Ferry on the southern tip of Manhattan Island in New York City. Located at 10 South Street, near the intersection with Whitehall Street, it contains an operational ferry terminal at ground ...

. The estimated cost was $70 million. *In 2005, Mayor

Michael Bloomberg Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American businessman, politician, philanthropist, and author. He is the majority owner, co-founder and CEO of Bloomberg L.P. He was Mayor of New York City from 2002 to 2013, and was a ca ...

also called for an extension of the underpass near the Battery Maritime Building as part of a plan to rehabilitate the South Street Viaduct.

References

External links

FDR at NYCRoads.com
{{NYC Bridge 1951 establishments in New York City Tunnels completed in 1951 Road tunnels in New York City The Battery (Manhattan)