Midtown Tunnel
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- For the tunnel under the East River in New York City, see Queens Midtown Tunnel.
The Midtown Tunnel crosses the main channel of the Elizabeth River in the South Hampton Roads area. It links the independent City of Portsmouth with the independent City of Norfolk. It carries U.S. Highway 58 and is a toll-free facility.
[edit] History
The two-lane Midtown Tunnel was completed September 6, 1962, supplementing the Downtown Tunnel and the Berkley Bridge. It was the second fixed crossing directly between Portsmouth and Norfolk across the Elizabeth River. It was financed and built by the Elizabeth River Tunnel Commission with toll revenue bonds. In 1988 and 1989, during an expansion of I-264 , the Downtown Tunnel and the Berkley Bridge were rebuilt and expanded. Tolls were also removed from the Midtown and Downtown tunnels at that time. In the westbound lane of US Route 58 right before the tunnel's entry, there is an HOV lane that spans a total of 25 yards (until its removal during construction in 2007). There is some speculation that this might be the shortest HOV lane in the United States, and possibly the world.
[edit] 2003: Hurricane Isabel
In September, 2003, the Midtown Tunnel was flooded and seriously damaged by Hurricane Isabel. The facility is equipped with floodgates designed for closure to protect it from flooding during extreme weather conditions such as East Coast hurricanes. Managers of the Virginia Department of Transportation (VDOT) failed to act quickly enough, and the Midtown Tunnel was closed for an extended period, causing traffic problems in the weeks following the disaster.
VDOT revamped its operating procedures at all of its tunnels in the wake of the incident. Studies of additional harbor crossings have also gained additional attention since then.
