- New River Tunnel
-
New River Tunnel 
Official name Henry E. Kinney Tunnel Carries 4 lanes of US 1
1 sidewalkCrosses New River
Las Olas Boulevard
South New River Drive/Rio Vista BoulevardLocale Fort Lauderdale, Florida Maintained by Florida Department of Transportation ID number 860003 Design concrete tunnel Total length 864 feet (263.3 m) Width 24 feet (7.3 m) not counting the sidewalk Clearance below 14 feet (4.3 m) above the tunnel at mean low water Opened December 9, 1960 Coordinates 26°07′05″N 80°08′13″W / 26.118°N 80.137°WCoordinates: 26°07′05″N 80°08′13″W / 26.118°N 80.137°W The New River Tunnel, also known as the Henry E. Kinney Tunnel, is one of three underwater road tunnels in Florida (the other two are in Walt Disney World), that replaced the Federal Aid Highway Bridge, a drawbridge opened on August 26, 1926 and closed in 1958. It carries U.S. Route 1 underneath the New River and Las Olas Boulevard in downtown Fort Lauderdale. The tunnel reaches 35 feet underground.[1] In 2014, the Port of Miami Tunnel is slated for completion and will be the fourth and largest by far tunnel in Florida.
The tunnel was built after a lengthy debate on whether to construct another bridge or a tunnel. The old drawbridge operated so slowly that it sometimes took motorists 45 minutes to cross from one end of the bridge to the other, creating massive traffic jams in the heart of the city.[2]
In 1986 it was renamed in honor of Henry E. Kinney, who had advocated its construction while he was chief of the Fort Lauderdale/Broward Edition of the Miami Herald.
References
- ^ "The 1960s: Swinging Sixties bring Spring Breakers and broken barriers". Sun Sentinel. March 18, 2011. http://articles.sun-sentinel.com/2011-03-18/features/fl-100-1960s-0320-20110318_1_college-students-spring-breakers-student-body. Retrieved 2011-04-10.
- ^ "KidZone-Henry E. Kinney Tunnel". Florida State Department of Transportation. Archived from the original on 2007-11-02. http://web.archive.org/web/20071102080721/http://www.dot.state.fl.us/publicinformationoffice/kidzone/PhotoZone/kinneytunnel.htm. Retrieved 2007-07-23.
External links
Notable bridges and tunnels in Florida Panhandle Escambia Bay · Garcon Point · John Gorrie · Mid-Bay · Pensacola Bay · St. George Island · Trammell · Victory
North Acosta · Bridge of Lions · Buckman · Dames Point · Fuller Warren · Hart · Mathews · Memorial · Strauss Trunnion
West Central East Central A. Max Brewer · Bennett Causeway · Bert Dosh · Broadway · Eau Gallie Causeway · Granada · Melbourne Causeway · Merritt Island Causeway · NASA Causeway · Pineda Causeway · Port Orange Causeway · Roosevelt · Wabasso
South Broad Causeway · Cape Coral · Coral Springs† · Julia Tuttle Causeway · John F. Kennedy Causeway · John Ringling Causeway · Lehman Causeway · MacArthur Causeway · Matanzas Pass · Midpoint · Rickenbacker Causeway · Sanibel Causeway · Snow-Reed‡ · Venetian Causeway
Keys Bahia Honda · Card Sound · Jewfish Creek · Overseas Highway · Seven Mile
Tunnels New River Tunnel · Port of Miami Tunnel
† – Covered bridge‡ - Swing bridge
See also: List of bridges in FloridaCategories:- Tunnels in Florida
- U.S. Route 1
- Transportation in Fort Lauderdale, Florida
- Historic Florida architecture 1989 AIA survey listings in Broward County
- Buildings and structures in Fort Lauderdale, Florida
- Tunnels completed in 1960
- Florida road stubs
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