The Lieutenant William F. Callahan Jr. Tunnel (colloquially Callahan Tunnel) is one of four

tunnel A tunnel is an underground passageway, dug through surrounding soil, earth or rock, and enclosed except for the entrance and exit, commonly at each end. A pipeline is not a tunnel, though some recent tunnels have used immersed tube cons ...

s, and one of three road tunnels, beneath

Boston Harbor Boston Harbor is a natural harbor and estuary of Massachusetts Bay, and is located adjacent to the city of Boston, Massachusetts. It is home to the Port of Boston, a major shipping facility in the northeastern United States. History ...

in Boston, Massachusetts. It carries motor vehicles from the North End to

Logan International Airport General Edward Lawrence Logan International Airport , also known as Boston Logan International Airport and commonly as Boston Logan, Logan Airport or simply Logan, is an international airport that is located mostly in East Boston and partial ...

and Route 1A in

East Boston East Boston, nicknamed Eastie, is a neighborhood of Boston, Massachusetts annexed by the city of Boston in 1637. Neighboring communities include Winthrop, Revere, and Chelsea. It is separated from the Boston neighborhood of Charlestown and d ...

. Ordinarily, this tunnel is only used to carry traffic out of the city, and with the completion of the

Big Dig The Central Artery/Tunnel Project (CA/T Project), commonly known as the Big Dig, was a megaproject in Boston that rerouted the Central Artery of Interstate 93 (I-93), the chief highway through the heart of the city, into the 1.5-mile (2.4&n ...

it only collects traffic from

I-93 Interstate 93 (I-93) is an Interstate Highway in the New England states of Massachusetts, New Hampshire, and Vermont in the United States. Spanning approximately along a north–south axis, it is one of three primary Interstate Highways ...

southbound (right after traffic merges from Storrow Drive) and downtown Boston; northbound traffic uses the

Ted Williams Tunnel The Ted Williams Tunnel is a highway tunnel in Boston, Massachusetts. The third in the city to travel under Boston Harbor, with the Sumner Tunnel and the Callahan Tunnel, it carries the final segment of Interstate 90 (the Massachusetts Turnpike) ...

. As of 2016, a toll of $1.50 is charged for non-commercial two-axle vehicles with a Massachusetts E-ZPass, while non-Massachusetts E-ZPass holders are charged $1.75. Vehicles without E-ZPass are charged $2.05 through MassDOT's Pay By Plate MA program. For residents of certain Boston ZIP codes, a discount is in effect using an

E-ZPass E-ZPass is an electronic toll collection system used on toll roads, toll bridges, and toll tunnels in the Eastern United States, Midwestern United States, and Southern United States. The E-ZPass Interagency Group (IAG) consists of member agenci ...

transponder, costing $0.20.

Alternatives

Traffic flowing between Logan International Airport and directions south of the city on I-93 and west of the city on the

Massachusetts Turnpike The Massachusetts Turnpike (colloquially "Mass Pike" or "the Pike") is a toll highway in the US state of Massachusetts that is maintained by the Massachusetts Department of Transportation (MassDOT). The turnpike begins at the New York state li ...

(I-90) normally uses the

rather than the Callahan and Sumner Tunnels. Airport traffic can also use East Boston surface roads to and from Chelsea ( Chelsea Street Bridge), Revere (

Massachusetts Route 1A Route 1A is a north–south state highway in Massachusetts. It is an alternate route to U.S. 1 with three signed sections and two unsigned sections where the highway is concurrent with its parent. Due to the reconfiguration of tunnel interchan ...

) and Winthrop ( Massachusetts Route 145).

History

The tunnel was opened in 1961. It was named for the son of Turnpike chairman

William F. Callahan William Francis Callahan (June 12, 1891 – April 20, 1964) was a Massachusetts civil servant who served as Commissioner of Public Works from and Chairman of the Massachusetts Turnpike Authority from 1952 until his death in 1964. Callahan ...

, who was killed in

Italy Italy ( it, Italia ), officially the Italian Republic, ) or the Republic of Italy, is a country in Southern Europe. It is located in the middle of the Mediterranean Sea, and its territory largely coincides with the homonymous geographical ...

days before the end of World War II. In 2016, cashless tolling systems were installed in both directions, entering the Sumner Tunnel and exiting the Callahan Tunnel as part of a plan to modernize toll collection the Boston area. Historically, control signals were used to reverse the direction of one lane in this tunnel or the Sumner Tunnel, when the opposite tunnel was closed for maintenance or emergencies. Under the relevant Turnpike regulations, a yellow signal light means "proceed only as directed", on penalty of a $50 fine. As the signals are almost always yellow, this rule is universally ignored by drivers. Other markings in the tunnel include a "double white line" in the center, intended to discourage drivers from changing lanes, to be penalized with a $100 fine. The Callahan Tunnel was repaired in the 1990s. A major overhaul began in December 2013, which completely replaced the deck, curbs, and wall panels; and cleaned and repaired its ceiling and vent systems (above the ceiling and below the deck). It was planned for three phases: complete closure from December 27, 2013 to March 12, 2014 during deck and curb replacement; closures 11pm-5am from March 13, 2014 to late August 2014 for wall panel replacement; and final work until November 2014. McCourt Construction of South Boston was awarded the $19.3 million contract in August. During closures, Logan-bound traffic was diverted into the

, Tobin Bridge, and

South via Revere or East Boston. Starting with the Accelerated Bridge Program in the late 2000s, MassDOT began employing accelerated construction techniques, in which it signed contracts with incentives for early completion and penalties for late completion, and used intense construction during longer periods of complete closure to shorten the overall project duration and reduce cost. These techniques were also used for the Callahan Tunnel Rehabilitation Project.

Alternatives

History

References

See also