The city-bound Holland Tunnel today reopens to cars – and only to cars – which could take pressure off the chronically crammed Lincoln Tunnel.
But all cars crossing into Manhattan via the Holland must have two or more occupants, 24 hours a day, officials say.
The tunnel had been closed since the World Trade Center disaster Sept. 11 because of its proximity to ground zero.
The closure, combined with searches of all trucks entering Manhattan on river crossings, has greatly escalated traffic at the Lincoln Tunnel, and created jams lasting an hour or more.
Last month, the New Jersey-bound tube of the Holland was opened for passenger vehicles and buses, but not commercial vehicles.
Today’s reopening of the city-bound tunnel at 5 a.m. has the 24-hour ban on single-occupant cars in place to avoid inundating lower Manhattan with vehicles, according to the New York Department of Transportation.
Officials hinted that that ban might be lifted after a while.
Traffic exiting the tunnel into Manhattan will only be allowed to head north on West Street via Laight Street, or head north on Hudson Street.
The city is working on plans to allow authorized buses to enter the city-bound tunnel starting sometime next week.
In other traffic developments, outbound Brooklyn Bridge traffic now is allowed to exit onto Tillary and Adams streets, which previously were closed off.
And traffic crossing over the Brooklyn Bridge into Manhattan now is allowed to exit onto Centre Street, but only to proceed north, said DOT spokesman Tom Cocola.
The Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel now is open for outbound traffic only to vehicles entering from the southbound FDR Drive.
To accommodate that traffic, the Manhattan-bound Gowanus Expressway’s high-occupancy-vehicle lane will be removed from 2 to 8 p.m. weekdays.
And Route 9A in Manhattan – West Street, 11th Avenue and 12th Avenue – now is open from Canal Street to the north. The route previously was closed south of 34th Street.
But a lane on Route 9A for emergency vehicles has been set aside in both northbound and southbound directions, reducing capacity for normal traffic.
A ban remains in effect on single-occupant cars entering Manhattan river crossings south of 63rd Street from 6 to 11 a.m., Monday through Friday.
Police security checkpoints at bridges and tunnels remain in place.
And officials encourage ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^commuters to use mass transit to avoid overburdening roads.