Palisadian., 1924-10-03
vEHICULA TUNNELS UNDER HUDSON
NEARLY Y COMPLETED; CITIZENS Will
VOTE ON 100000 APPROPRIATION
Letter From Chairman of Bridge and Tunnel Commission
Theo Boettger, Tells of Progress Made and Why Ex-
ira Appropriation Is Necessary; One of the Tunnels to
Be Open to Pedestrians the Last Part of This Month";

To the Editor:
Experience has shown conclusively
that in spite of the great amount of
publicity that has been given to the
construction of the Hudson River We
hicular Tunnel, a surprisingly large
number of the citizen of New Jersey
are under the impression that this
great project is still in an embryonic
stage.
l attribute the lack of information
on the part of the general public to
the fact that practically all of the
work thus far has been underground.
There had been no outward show of
the progress, such as superstructure
operations required in the building of
a bridge or surface work on a new
highway.
AS a matter of fact the job is more
than two-thirds completed and in 1926
the finished tunnel will be thrown
open for public use, if no delay SETS
ill., At that time thousands upon
thousands of present day victims of
the great traffic jams at the ferries
will awaken to realization of " hat
has been accomplished under the
Hudson River.
1t may interest the voters to know
that most of the under-river work, the
Ctr pf tyun acf
tubes, twenty-nine and a half feet in
diameter, as we'll as the construction
OF the twenty foot roadway, in each
tube, is nearing completion and thac
for the most part all that remains to
be done under present contracts are
finishing touches that will transform
these big under-river tunnels into at
tractive, well lighted and we'll venti
lated roadways equipped with all the
most modern devices known in the
field of traffic regulation.
In the latter part of the present
month one of the tunnels will be
joined so that it will be possible for
pedestrians to pass under the Hudson
River from Jersey City to Manhattan
On or about December l the other
tube will be joined so that foot traf
fic from Manhattan to Jersey City
will be established. Due to record
breaking progress, especially during
the month of June, this great project
has been pushed much nearer to COM
pletion.
In view of this apparent lack Of
knowledge on the part of the citizens
generally, | am addressing you per-
sonally, in an effort to enlist your as
sistance, in driving home to the voters
of New Jersey the necessity of an
affirmative vote on the $8,000,000 bond
issue, which will come before the vot
ers in the form of a referendum, in
the coming election. l think you will
agree with me that the average reader
of our newspapers will not be indlu-
enced, in a matter of voting, by what
he reads in the, news columns, so
much as by what he reads in the edi-
torial columns.
Originally New Jerseys share of
the expense of building the Vehicular
Tunnel and the Delaware River
Bridge was estimated at $2S,000,000.
This figure was arrived at when the
cost of labor and materials was de-
cidedly lower. This figure also pro-
vided for a tunnel with approaches
and plazas, that would have proved
inadequate in the face of the abnor-
NAL growth of traffic. But the great
est portion of the Increased cost is
due to change in tunnel plans for a
larger and better tunnel, larger and
more suitable plazas both in New Jer-
sey and New York. This increased
cost placed New Jerseys share of the
tunnel construction at $21,000,000 and
of the Delaware River Bridge at $15,'
100000. Having already authorized
the expenditure of the $2S,00O,OOO
the voters are now called upon to
authorize the additional $S,000,00O.
The urgency of the referendum lies
in the fact that two major contracts
providing for the approaches and
plazas in Jersey City and New York
are ready for submission to bidders.
All that remains for the letting of
these contracts is for the voters to
approve the referendum. The voters
must be informed and with the valu-
able assistance, such as | know you
could render, they would need but
little urging to vote yes on the ref
erendum.
| feel that the newspapers of the
state will be rendering valuable
public service by doing all in their
power to acquaint the citizens with
fha fact that the two projects, herein
referred to, are we'll on the way to
completion and that the states inter-
est would be best served and its pres
ent investment safeguarded by an af-
firmative vote on the referendum.
Thanking you in advance for any
effort you may lend to this matter,
i am,