The Montague Street Tunnel is a rail tunnel of the

New York City Subway The New York City Subway is a rapid transit system owned by the government of New York City and leased to the New York City Transit Authority, an affiliate agency of the state-run Metropolitan Transportation Authority (MTA). Opened on October 2 ...

under the

East River The East River is a saltwater tidal estuary in New York City. The waterway, which is actually not a river despite its name, connects Upper New York Bay on its south end to Long Island Sound on its north end. It separates the borough of Queens ...

between the boroughs 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 ...

and

Brooklyn Brooklyn () is a borough of New York City, coextensive with Kings County, in the U.S. state of New York. Kings County is the most populous county in the State of New York, and the second-most densely populated county in the United States, be ...

, connecting the

BMT Broadway Line The BMT Broadway Line is a rapid transit line of the B Division of the New York City Subway in Manhattan. , it is served by four services, all colored : the on the express tracks and the on the local tracks during weekdays (the N and Q train ...

and

BMT Fourth Avenue Line The BMT Fourth Avenue Line is a rapid transit line of the New York City Subway, mainly running under Fourth Avenue in Brooklyn. The line is served by the D, N, and R at all times; the R typically runs local, while the D and N run express duri ...

. The R uses the tunnel at all times, the N uses it during late nights, and during rush hours, several W trains per day in each direction use the tunnel.

History

Construction of the tunnel began on October 12, 1914, using a

tunneling shield A tunnelling shield is a protective structure used during the excavation of large, man-made tunnels. When excavating through ground that is soft, liquid, or otherwise unstable, there is a potential Occupational safety and health, health and safet ...

in conjunction with compressed air. The tunnel was designed by civil engineer

Clifford Milburn Holland Clifford Milburn Holland (March 13, 1883 – October 27, 1924) was an American civil engineer who oversaw the construction of a number of subway and automobile tunnels in New York City, and for whom the Holland Tunnel is named. Life Holland was ...

, who would later serve as the first chief engineer of the

Holland Tunnel The Holland Tunnel is a vehicular tunnel under the Hudson River that connects the New York City neighborhood of Hudson Square in Lower Manhattan to the east with Jersey City in New Jersey to the west. The tunnel is operated by the Port Author ...

. The north tube of the tunnel was holed through on June 2, 1917, and the south tube was holed through on June 20, 1917. It opened to revenue service on August 1, 1920, the same day as the

60th Street Tunnel The 60th Street Tunnel carries the of the New York City Subway under the East River and Roosevelt Island between Manhattan and Queens. History Construction and opening The tunnel was built as part of the Dual Contracts, which expanded the ...

, on a holiday schedule; regular service began the next day. The two new tunnels allowed passengers to make an trip from Coney Island, through Manhattan on the

, to Queens for a 5-cent fare. The original construction cost was $9,867,906.52, almost twice that of the 60th Street Tunnel. On December 27, 1920, more than ten thousand passengers were forced to evacuate the tunnel. Power to the

third rail A third rail, also known as a live rail, electric rail or conductor rail, is a method of providing electric power to a railway locomotive or train, through a semi-continuous rigid conductor placed alongside or between the rails of a railway t ...

was shut off after a shoe beam on a train approaching

Whitehall Street Whitehall Street is a street in the South Ferry/Financial District neighborhood of Lower Manhattan in New York City, near the southern tip of Manhattan Island. The street begins at Bowling Green to the north, where it is a continuation of the ...

fell and caused a short circuit, stranding ten subway trains inside the tunnel. On October 29, 2012, the tunnel suffered severe flooding from

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 ...

and as a result, was closed to train service while repairs were being made. Service in the tunnel was restored using temporary equipment on December 21. However, the MTA later announced that a complete reconstruction of the tunnel systems was needed, so the tunnel was closed for a second time around-the-clock on August 2, 2013. Originally slated to open by October 15, 2014, it reopened a month early on September 15, 2014.

Constraints

Use of the Montague Street Tunnel, the

Cranberry Street Tunnel Cranberries are a group of evergreen dwarf shrubs or trailing vines in the subgenus ''Oxycoccus'' of the genus ''Vaccinium''. In Britain, cranberry may refer to the native species ''Vaccinium oxycoccos'', while in North America, cranberry ...

, or a combination of the two tunnels were considered as alternatives in lieu of constructing a new tunnel under the East River for the proposed

Lower Manhattan – Jamaica/JFK Transportation Project Lower may refer to: *Lower (surname) *Lower Township, New Jersey *Lower Receiver (firearms) *Lower Wick Lower Wick is a small hamlet located in the county of Gloucestershire, England. It is situated about five miles south west of Dursley, eig ...

. Use of the existing tunnel was considered as an option because the Montague Street Tunnel had surplus capacity, having carried the M train until its reroute from the

BMT Nassau Street Line The BMT Nassau Street Line is a rapid transit line of the B Division of the New York City Subway system in Manhattan. It is a continuation of the BMT Jamaica Line in Brooklyn after crossing the Williamsburg Bridge into Manhattan; it continues to ...

to the

IND Sixth Avenue Line The IND Sixth Avenue Line is a rapid transit line of the B Division of the New York City Subway in the United States. It runs mainly under Sixth Avenue in Manhattan, and continues south to Brooklyn. The B, D, F, and M trains, which use th ...

in 2010, and the N train during the reconstruction of the

Manhattan Bridge The Manhattan Bridge is a suspension bridge that crosses the East River in New York City, connecting Lower Manhattan at Canal Street with Downtown Brooklyn at the Flatbush Avenue Extension. The main span is long, with the suspension cables be ...

from 1986 until 2004.

References

External links

* {{NYC Bridge Crossings of the East River Railroad tunnels in New York City New York City Subway infrastructure Brooklyn–Manhattan Transit Corporation Tunnels completed in 1920 Tunnels in Manhattan 1920 establishments in New York City