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

Manhattan Manhattan ( ) is the most densely populated and geographically smallest of the Boroughs of New York City, five boroughs of New York City. Coextensive with New York County, Manhattan is the County statistics of the United States#Smallest, larg ...

New York City New York, often called New York City (NYC), is the most populous city in the United States, located at the southern tip of New York State on one of the world's largest natural harbors. The city comprises five boroughs, each coextensive w ...

, 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 nor ...

. The tunnel connects FDR Drive, which runs along the east side of Manhattan Island, with the West Side Highway ( New York State Route 9A, or NY 9A), which runs along the island's west side. Opened in 1951, it was the second section of FDR Drive to be completed. The underpass crosses beneath the Battery (formerly Battery Park) and the approach to the Brooklyn–Battery Tunnel.

History

The underpass started construction in 1949 and opened to the public on April 10, 1951. The underpass runs underneath the Battery, connecting the West Side Highway to the South Street Viaduct 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 large and devastating tropical cyclone which ravaged the Caribbean and the coastal Mid-Atlantic (United States), Mid-Atlantic region of the United States in late ...

, the tunnel was filled 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 *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 estimated cost was $70 million. *In 2005, Mayor

Michael Bloomberg Michael Rubens Bloomberg (born February 14, 1942) is an American businessman and politician. He is the majority owner and co-founder of Bloomberg L.P., and was its CEO from 1981 to 2001 and again from 2014 to 2023. He served as the 108th mayo ...

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)