New-York tribune. [volume] (New York [N.Y.]) 1866-1924, 1902-03-07
PLANNING AHEAD FOR, TRAFFIC.
MORE TUNNELS THE SOLUTION FOR IN7ERBOROUGH
TRANSIT PROBLEMs-EQUIPPLNG THE SUBWAY.
DISCUSSION OF TUNNELS.
BY CITY OFFICIALS AS A
MEANS OF RELIEF IN FUTURE.

MEANS Or RELIEF IN
Warned by the congestion of traffic the
Brooklyn Bridge, which is already intolerable
at the rush hours and is increasing steadily,
the city officials are giving thought to plans
for the future. Some provision must be made
for the great tide of travel between Man
haitian and Brooklyn. which is bound to grow
enormously greater in the years following the
completion Of the rapid transit subway and
its extension by tunnel to Brooklyn, the COM
pletion of the New East River Bridge and the
building of bridge No. 3, which is to cross
the East River near the navy yard. 1t is be-
lieved that those new facilities for travel will
take care of the increase of traffic only up to
the time of their completion. They will soon be
congested. as the Brooklyn Bridge now is, unless
additional means of travel are provided in the
future.
On account of the enormous cost of new
bridges, and in view of the fact that the citys
debt limit will not permit the spending of many
millions to increase transit facilities for years
TO come after the completion of the subway
and the bridges now under way. the hope for
the future lies in the construction of more
tunnels for rapid service cars or trains The
decision Of the Pennsylvania Railroad Company
to abandon bridge plans and construct tunnels
under the North and East rivers and under
Manhattan Borough. in order to bring its rail-
ROAD lnlO New / OIh anu NoHtIt'J II Will INC
Long Island Railroad, is regarded strong
argument in favor of more tunnels between
Manhattan and the boroughs of Brooklyn and
Queens.
The construction of double track rapid
transit tunnel from point near the City Hall
in Manhattan to a point the Borough Hall
in Brooklyn, by the most direct route possible.
has been suggested a provision for the future
that should be planned without delay. Such
tunnel would cost about S2O00OOO It Is said,
mere fraction of the cost Of charging the ter
mnal facilities OF the Brooklyn Bridge accord
ing to the plan recommended by Bridge Com
missioner Lindenthal and IT would relieve the
pressure upon the Brooklyn Bridge to an extent
immeasurably greater than would be possible
by any increase in the terminal facilities OF the
bridge
Mayor Low in his recent message spoke OF the
plan for extending the rapid transit subway
down Broadway to the Battery and connecting
it with a tunnel under the East River which is
to pass under Joralemon-st, to a point the
Borough Hall in Brooklyn. This undertaking."
the Mayor says, has proceeded up TO the point
where all the necessary legal consents have
been obtained and it viii shortly come before
the city authorities for the appropriation that
will make It possible"
The Mayor declares that If a four track tun-
mel in lower Broadway is insisted on. there
may be delay. In this connection" he says,
iii ought to be considered whether two addi-
tional tracks running directly from the bridge
to the same point in Brooklyn would not meet
all that is imperative"
Any additional tunnels between the boroughs
will have 10 be constructed with the consent
of the Rapid Transit Commission Edward NJ.
Shepard, Of counsel for the commission, said yes
terday that while a direct tunnel between the
tv Hall i'm nd he oil
in Brooklyn might be planned for the future.
the first thing Of importance was to push the
plan for the extension OF the subway down
Broadway and by tunnel to Brooklyn from the
Battery. There is no reason he said why
that extension should not be authorized i'm
mediately. Work it might be begun in the
coming summer. AS soon as the extension is
completed there will be immediate relief for the
Brooklyn Bridge. People who now travel by way
Of the bridge between Brooklyn and the south
end of Manhattan will find the rapid transit
road by way Of the Battery much shorter in
time"
Would not direct tunnel on or near the line
of the bridge be BETTER" he was asked.
1T might mean the saving of two or three
minutes for some people" he replied, but it is
useless to talk about direct tunnel at present
for the reason that no route for it has been
liked and there is no money in sight for its con-
Strucuon. 1t would take a year TO make the
borings and determine on the route. Such a
tunnel might be costly on account of the prom
erty on each side of the river to be ACQUIRED.
The preparations for the tunnel from the Bat
terry are complete, and the tunnel should be be-
gun and finished as soon possible"
William Barclay Parsons, chief engineer of the
Rapid Transit Commission, said yesterday that
more tunnels would be needed between Man
haitian and Brooklyn in the future L expect
he said, that the work the extension Of the
subway down Broadway and by tunnel from the
Battery to Brooklyn will be begun early in the
coming summer 1t viii take about three years
to complete the tunnel and its extensions on
each side Of the river. Before they are finished
/ do not that there can be relief for the
Brooklyn Bridge. In fact, the completion OF the
subway to the City Hall will throw great adj
ditional burden upon the bridge for time AS
soon as the extension of the subway TO Brooklyn
Is In USE however, there will be relief for the
bridge.
"A direct tunnel on the line of the bridge could
be constructed. but I would not say that such
a tunnel should be constructed. II would fur
nsh only one more means of travel between
Brooklyn and the City Hall. l have contended
that people come to the City Hall not because
they want to, but becaIse they are Obliged to if
they travel by the bridge The great mass of
people who cross the bridge do not go to pIaces
near the city Hall, but TO points south of il. A
tunnel on the line of Fulton-st. or WalI-st
would accommodate more people than a tunnel
on the line of the bridge. Then there are MANY
people who travel between the shopping district
in Manhattan and Brooklyn. A tunnel to tap
the shopping district say in the neighborhood
of Seventeenth st. would be a direct Ane of
travel for many thousands of people who now
the bridge.
"Of course there must be more rand +raneI.
tunnels connecting the boroughs in the future
IT is true that no matter how many improve-
ments in travel we have in the city thew do NOT
quite keep up with the increase of travel in the
city The elevated roads leSsened he o,-ar-
crowding on the streetcars only for a short time
The change from horsecar to electrical roads
drew some of the travel from the elevated roads
but all the lines of travel are crowded ar Ger.
tain times of the day The amount of travel in
the city Is increasing all the time With the