While construction on the southern part of West St. is expected to begin soon, just to the north, the state Dept. of Transportation and the Lower Manhattan Development Corp. are still considering whether or not to build an $860 million vehicular tunnel under West St. and adjacent to the memorial. Tim Carey, president of the Battery Park City Authority said he remains convinced the tunnel is the best option to get more traffic away from the memorial and make it safer to cross the street. He said building the tunnel from Vesey to Cedar Sts. looks like the best option and declined to comment about a report in the New York Times that Goldman Sachs wants the tunnel to go an additional block to the north to include the area near its planned headquarters at Murray and West Sts.
Community Board 1 and many residents oppose the tunnel because of the costs and concerns about noise, construction and uncertainty about the safety near the tunnel entrances and exits.
Carey said he does not know if the tunnel plan will be approved.
—Josh Rogers
WWW Downtown Express
