The tunnel provides access to a parking garage and to loading docks; motorists with no interest in those facilities are reported to use the tunnel as a convenient route to avoid traffic lights and congestion.
Security
In 2003, the United States Marshals Service and General Services Administration provided funds which were used to install surveillance cameras, gates for closing the tunnel, and booths to accommodate guards. As of 2005[update], the gates are open 16 hours a day, five days a week, with the only security personnel in the tunnel being occasional patrols by city police. The lack of guards to control access at those times has drawn attention of the state's news media.
In February 2007, plans were announced to enhance security, apparently in anticipation of extradition from the United Kingdom, and trial in New Haven, of a person charged with conspiracy in a terrorism-related case. One measure is to be armed guards who are not visible to the public.