Park Avenue Tunnel (roadway)

This article is about the road tunnel. For the Metro-North Railroad tunnel, see Park Avenue Tunnel (railroad). For the New York City Subway tunnel, see IRT Lexington Avenue Line.
Park Avenue Tunnel
(Murray Hill Tunnel)
A taxi heads into the tunnel heading North (2011)
Overview
LocationManhattan, New York
Coordinates40°44′56″N 73°58′48″W / 40.74889°N 73.98000°W / 40.74889; -73.98000
RouteNorthbound Park Avenue
StartEast 33rd Street (entrance ramp)
East 34th Street (entrance portal)
EndEast 40th Street (exit ramp)
East 39th Street (exit portal) (all traffic must continue to East 46th Street)
Operation
Opened1834; 190 years ago (1834)
OwnerNew York City
OperatorNew York City Department of Transportation
TrafficCars (formerly trains and street cars)
Technical
Length5 blocks, approximately 0.25 miles (0.40 km)
No. of lanes1
Operating speed35 mph (56.33 km/h)
Tunnel clearance8 feet 11 inches (2.72 m)
Width16 feet (4.88 m)

The Park Avenue Tunnel, also called the Murray Hill Tunnel, is a 1,600-foot-long (488 m) tunnel that passes under seven blocks of Park Avenue in Murray Hill, in the New York City borough of Manhattan. Traffic used to travel northbound from 33rd Street toward the Park Avenue Viaduct. The tunnel is under the jurisdiction of the New York City Department of Transportation. It is designed to carry one lane of northbound car traffic from East 33rd Street to East 40th Street. From 40th Street north, traffic must follow the Park Avenue Viaduct around Grand Central Terminal to 46th Street. The vertical clearance is 8 ft 11 in (2.72 m).

The IRT Lexington Avenue Line of the New York City Subway, carrying the 4, ​5, ​6, and <6> trains, runs parallel to the Park Avenue Tunnel in two tunnels below it.[1]

History

The tunnel once carried the New York and Harlem Railroad and later, that company's streetcar line. It was then called the Murray Hill Tunnel. The tunnel was originally built as an open rock cut, completed in 1834,[2] after which the NY&H Railroad was opened as far as Yorkville, to 85th Street. The first trains to use the cut were horse-drawn. It carried steam trains from the beginning of the New York & Harlem steam service in 1837 until steam locomotives were prohibited south of 42nd St in 1858.[3]

In 1850, the cut was roofed over[4] using granite stringers from the original railroad bed south of 14th Street, creating the present tunnel.[2] In 1870 an underground station for local horse-drawn streetcar service was added at 38th St along with stations at the portals at 34th St and 40th St.[5] After the completion of Grand Central Depot in 1871 the tunnel was used exclusively by local streetcars. The streetcar line was electrified with underground conduit power in 1898.[5]

In 1913, there was a plan to move the southern portal of the Park Avenue Tunnel one block north. This would have been accomplished by lowering 34th Street to the height of the existing tunnel.[6] Lloyd Collis of the Fourth Avenue Improvement Association said the plan would have minimal impact on surrounding buildings, such as the then-new Vanderbilt Hotel, and would allow passengers at the 33rd Street station to cross Park Avenue without having to detour to 32nd or 34th Street.[7] Several prominent businessmen and property owners including J. P. Morgan Jr. and Charles D. Wetmore opposed the plan.[8]

Some residents alleged the plan would damage nearby properties, while others objected that a flattened 34th Street would allow the construction of a moving walkway, "ruining" the residential character of the neighborhood.[9] The plans would have allowed a subway line to be built under 34th Street as well, though the Public Service Commission canceled a planned subway line under 34th Street in May 1913.[10] Mayor William Jay Gaynor vetoed the portal proposal the next month.[11]

In 1919 the ramp to the Park Avenue Viaduct around Grand Central Terminal was built directly above the northern streetcar ramp, which sloped upward from a portal north of 40th St to street level at 42nd St. In 1935, streetcar service was discontinued and the tunnel was converted for roadway use. At that time the north end was reconstructed with a steeper approach, reaching street level south of 40th St and allowing continuous car travel from the tunnel onto the viaduct. The tunnel reopened as a roadway in 1937.[5] Prior to August 3, 2008, the tunnel carried two-way traffic, one lane for each direction; on that date, it was made northbound-only to increase safety for pedestrians crossing Park Avenue at 33rd Street.[12]

In February 2017, the Park Avenue Tunnel was closed for a $24 million rehabilitation. It was scheduled to reopen in 2019 but remained closed until November 2023.[13]

Art installations

In 2013, the tunnel was open to pedestrians for the first time in coordination with the annual Summer Streets event, which shuts down part of Park Avenue to vehicular traffic between 7:00 am and 1:00 pm for three Sundays every August. During the August 2013 event, the interior served as an art space containing Rafael Lozano-Hemmer's Voice Tunnel installation, in which visitors could record a short message that would be played back continuously from speakers along the tunnel walls.[14] In the 2014 Summer Streets, the tunnel temporarily reopened to pedestrians, this time featuring DIVE, an installation by Jana Winderen that incorporates aquatic soundscapes.[15] Both art projects were commissioned by the New York City Department of Transportation.

Parts of the 1998 movie Godzilla were filmed in the tunnel. Toward the end of the film, Godzilla chases the film's main characters into the tunnel, but is later lured back into the open toward the Brooklyn Bridge.[citation needed]

  • Interior with Voice Tunnel art installation (2013)
    Interior with Voice Tunnel art installation (2013)
  • North end, before the tunnel was converted to one-way northbound
    North end, before the tunnel was converted to one-way northbound

References

Notes

  1. ^ "Some Features Of The New York Rapid Transit Tunnel" (reprint). Scientific American: 327. May 25, 1901.
  2. ^ a b Gray, Christopher (July 21, 2011). "Putting the Park in Park Avenue". The New York Times. Retrieved September 3, 2011.
  3. ^ New York and Vicinity Railroad Map from 1860 (BrooklynRail.net)
  4. ^ Eldredge, Niles and Horenstein, Sidney (2014). Concrete Jungle: New York City and Our Last Best Hope for a Sustainable Future. Berkeley, California: University of California Press. pp. 120–121. ISBN 978-0-520-27015-2.
  5. ^ a b c Brennan, Joseph. "Abandoned Stations - 38 St". Retrieved October 20, 2022.
  6. ^ "New Grade Level Plan for Park Av. And 34th St.; Some Improvements Made. New Grade Plan Explained. Aid to Surface and Subway Traffic". The New York Times. March 2, 1930. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 28, 2022.
  7. ^ "Hope to Abolish Park Ave. Grade; Board of Estimate Expected to Approve the Collis Plan on Thursday". The New York Times. March 24, 1913. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 28, 2022.
  8. ^ "J.P. Morgan Against Park Ave. Grading; With Other Property Owners He Is Opposed to Cutting Back Tunnel to 35th Street". The New York Times. March 14, 1913. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 28, 2022.
  9. ^ "Oppose Lowering Thirty-fourth St.; Property Owners Allege Change in Grade Would Pave the Way for a Moving Platform". The New York Times. March 12, 1913. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 28, 2022.
  10. ^ "No Subway to Go Under 34th Street; A Dead Project Now, as Commission Rescinds Its Order for the Route". The New York Times. May 7, 1913. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 28, 2022.
  11. ^ "Park Avenue Plan Vetoed by Gaynor; Continuation on Two Sides, He Says, Would Meet All Needs". The New York Times. June 27, 1913. ISSN 0362-4331. Retrieved April 28, 2022.
  12. ^ "DOT Announces Safety Upgrade at Park Avenue and 33rd Street/Trial Closure of Park Avenue Tunnel's Southbound Lane" (Press release). New York City Department of Transportation. August 1, 2008. Retrieved February 19, 2010.
  13. ^ "Park Avenue Tunnel Rehabilitation begins February 2017". The Murray Hill Neighborhood Association, New York City, New York. October 19, 2018. Retrieved December 10, 2018.
  14. ^ "Voice Tunnel Preview: Summer Streets 2013". New York City Department of Transportation video. Retrieved on August 30, 2014.
  15. ^ Cascone, Sarah (August 5, 2014). "Dive Into the Park Avenue Tunnel's Aquatic Sound Art Installation". Artnet News. Retrieved August 30, 2014.
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