Editing Holland Tunnel (section)

==== Nearing completion ====
[[File:Entrance to Holland Tunnel in New Jersey.JPG|thumb|upright=1.1|The [[Jersey City, New Jersey|Jersey City]] entrance to the tunnel in March 2015]]
[[File:Rainy Day (36638025002).jpg|thumb|upright=1.1|Aerial view of [[Lower Manhattan]] with cars entering the Holland Tunnel (foreground) in March 2017]]
The two ends of both tubes were scheduled to be connected to each other at a ceremony on October 29, 1924, in which President [[Calvin Coolidge]] would have remotely set off an explosion to connect the tunnel's two sides.<ref>{{cite web | title=Tubes Under River Will Meet Oct. 29 | website=The New York Times | issn=0362-4331 | date=October 12, 1924 | url=https://www.nytimes.com/1924/10/12/archives/tubes-under-river-will-meet-oct-29-remaining-wall-of-earth-between.html | access-date=May 6, 2018 | archive-date=May 10, 2018 | archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180510052757/https://www.nytimes.com/1924/10/12/archives/tubes-under-river-will-meet-oct-29-remaining-wall-of-earth-between.html | url-status=live }}</ref> However, two days before the ceremony, Holland died of a heart attack at the [[Battle Creek Sanitarium|sanatorium in Battle Creek, Michigan]], aged 41. Individuals cited in ''[[The New York Times]]'' attributed his death to the stress associated with overseeing the tunnel's construction. The ceremony was postponed out of respect for Holland's death.<ref>{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1924/10/28/archives/onholinddibsi-altbl-brkdowni-_-chief-engineer-ofhudson-river-tunnel.html|title=C. M. Holland Dies After Breakdown|date=October 28, 1924|newspaper=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=May 29, 2010|page=23|archive-date=April 2, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180402102228/https://www.nytimes.com/1924/10/28/archives/onholinddibsi-altbl-brkdowni-_-chief-engineer-ofhudson-river-tunnel.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

The tunnel was ultimately holed through on October 29, but it was a nondescript event without any ceremony.<ref name="ASCE" /> On November 12, 1924, the Hudson River Vehicular Tunnel was renamed the Holland Tunnel by the two states' respective tunnel commissions.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1924/11/13/archives/submits-a-new-bid-for-ads-in-subway-artemus-ward-inc-proposes.html|title=Submits A New Bid For Ads In Subway|date=November 13, 1924|work=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=May 8, 2018|archive-date=May 10, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180510052714/https://www.nytimes.com/1924/11/13/archives/submits-a-new-bid-for-ads-in-subway-artemus-ward-inc-proposes.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Holland was succeeded by Milton Harvey Freeman, who died of [[pneumonia]] in March 1925, after several months of overseeing the project.<ref name="New York Sun 1926" /><ref name="nyt-1925-03-26">{{cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1925/03/26/archives/another-engineer-dies-on-big-tunnel-job-mh-freeman-is-victim-of.html|title=Another Engineer Dies on Big Tunnel Job|date=March 26, 1925|newspaper=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=May 29, 2010|page=1|archive-date=April 9, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180409233529/https://www.nytimes.com/1925/03/26/archives/another-engineer-dies-on-big-tunnel-job-mh-freeman-is-victim-of.html|url-status=live}}</ref> After Freeman's death, the position was occupied by [[Ole Singstad]], who oversaw the tunnel's completion.<ref name="Krebs 1969" /><ref name="New York Sun 1926">{{Cite news|url=http://fultonhistory.com/highlighter/highlight-for-xml?altUrl=http%3A%2F%2Ffultonhistory.com%2FNewspaper%252018%2FNew%2520York%2520NY%2520Sun%2FNew%2520York%2520NY%2520Sun%25201924%2FNew%2520York%2520NY%2520Sun%25201924%2520-%25201502.pdf|title=Smoke Bombs to be Fired in Motor Tunnel|date=February 10, 1926|work=New York Sun|access-date=April 16, 2018|pages=26|via=[[Fultonhistory.com]]}}</ref>

As part of the tunnel project, one block of Watts Street in Manhattan was widened to accommodate traffic heading toward the westbound tube.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1926/02/24/archives/fight-plaza-change-in-river-tube-plan-tunnel-commission-asks-board.html|title=Fight Plaza Change In River Tube Plan|date=February 24, 1926|work=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=May 8, 2018|archive-date=May 10, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180510054402/https://www.nytimes.com/1926/02/24/archives/fight-plaza-change-in-river-tube-plan-tunnel-commission-asks-board.html|url-status=live}}</ref> [[Sixth Avenue (Manhattan)|Sixth Avenue]] was also widened and extended between [[Greenwich Village]] and [[Church Street (Manhattan)|Church Street]]. Ten thousand people were evicted to make way for the Sixth Avenue extension.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1926/07/29/archives/10000-must-leave-condemned-houses-citys-order-to-persons-in-path-of.html|title=10,000 Must Leave Condemned Houses|date=July 29, 1926|work=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=May 8, 2018|archive-date=May 10, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180510050833/https://www.nytimes.com/1926/07/29/archives/10000-must-leave-condemned-houses-citys-order-to-persons-in-path-of.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The north-south [[Church Street (Manhattan)|Church Street]] was widened and extended southward to [[Church Street and Trinity Place]]; [[West Side Highway]] was expanded and supplemented with an [[West Side Elevated Highway|elevated highway]]; and the west-east Vestry and Laight Streets were also widened.<ref name="nyt-1927-08-21">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1927/08/21/archives/holland-tube-roadways-involve-a-huge-task-engineering-effort-now.html|title=Holland Tube Roadways Involve A Huge Task|last=Walker|first=Waldo|date=August 21, 1927|work=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=May 9, 2018|archive-date=June 21, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180621093045/https://www.nytimes.com/1927/08/21/archives/holland-tube-roadways-involve-a-huge-task-engineering-effort-now.html|url-status=live}}</ref> On the New Jersey side, the Holland Tunnel was to connect a new highway (formerly the [[New Jersey Route 25#Route 1 Extension: 1922-1932|Route 1 Extension]]; now [[New Jersey Route 139]]), which extended westward to [[Newark, New Jersey|Newark]].<ref name="nyt-1926-05-30" /> This included a {{convert|2100|ft|m|adj=on}} viaduct, rising {{convert|80|ft|m}} from 12th and 14th Streets, at the bottom of [[The Palisades (Hudson River)|the Palisades]], to the new highway, at the top of the Palisades.<ref name="nyt-1927-08-21" /> The New Jersey highway approach was opened in stages beginning in 1927,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1927/06/19/archives/jersey-road-link-will-open-july-4-viaduct-in-jersey-city-which-will.html|title=Jersey Road Link Will Open July 4|date=June 19, 1927|work=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=May 8, 2018|archive-date=May 10, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180510054422/https://www.nytimes.com/1927/06/19/archives/jersey-road-link-will-open-july-4-viaduct-in-jersey-city-which-will.html|url-status=live}}</ref> and most of that highway was finished in 1930.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1930/09/28/archives/new-jersey-opens-new-auto-route.html|title=New Jersey Opens New Auto Route|date=September 28, 1930|work=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=May 8, 2018|archive-date=June 21, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180621070058/https://www.nytimes.com/1930/09/28/archives/new-jersey-opens-new-auto-route.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

The construction of the tunnel approach roads on the New Jersey side was delayed for months by [[Erie Railroad]], whose [[Bergen Arches]] right-of-way ran parallel to and directly south of Route 139, in the [[Right-of-way (transportation)|right of way]] of the proposed approach roads. Although the Erie had promised to find another site for its railroad yards, it had refused to respond to the plans that the [[New Jersey State Highway Commission]] had sent them. In March 1925, the Highway Commission decided that construction on the approach roads would begin regardless of Erie's response, and so the land would be taken using [[eminent domain]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1925/03/14/archives/the-erie-delays-tube-jersey-board-avers-highway-commission-says-it.html|title=The Erie Delays Tube, Jersey Board Avers|date=March 14, 1925|work=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=May 8, 2018|archive-date=May 10, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180510052701/https://www.nytimes.com/1925/03/14/archives/the-erie-delays-tube-jersey-board-avers-highway-commission-says-it.html|url-status=live}}</ref> This led to a legal disagreement between the Erie and the Highway Commission.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1925/04/26/archives/railroad-and-state-seek-priority-ruling-court-to-decide-eminent.html|title=Railroad And State Seek Priority Ruling|date=April 26, 1925|work=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=May 8, 2018|archive-date=May 10, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180510054223/https://www.nytimes.com/1925/04/26/archives/railroad-and-state-seek-priority-ruling-court-to-decide-eminent.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The Erie maintained that it absolutely needed 30 feet of land along 12th Street, while the Highway Commission stated that the most direct approach to the eastbound Holland Tunnel's 12th Street portal should be made using 12th Street. The commission rejected a suggestion that it should use 13th Street, one block north, because it would cost $500,000 more and involve two perpendicular turns.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1925/05/07/archives/erie-wont-budge-from-tunnel-site-counsel-says-road-will-fight-to.html|title=Erie Won't Budge From Tunnel Site|date=May 7, 1925|work=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=May 8, 2018|archive-date=May 10, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180510052827/https://www.nytimes.com/1925/05/07/archives/erie-wont-budge-from-tunnel-site-counsel-says-road-will-fight-to.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In October 1926, one million dollars was allocated to the completion of the Route 139 approach.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1926/10/06/archives/1000000-for-tunnel-approach.html|title=$1,000,000 for Tunnel Approach|date=October 6, 1926|work=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=May 8, 2018|archive-date=May 10, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180510052539/https://www.nytimes.com/1926/10/06/archives/1000000-for-tunnel-approach.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

The contracts for constructing the Holland Tunnel's ventilation systems were awarded in December 1925.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1925/12/16/archives/bids-to-ventilate-tunnel-1577000-is-lowest-offer-to-erect-buildings.html|title=Bids To Ventilate Tunnel|date=December 16, 1925|work=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=May 8, 2018|archive-date=May 10, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180510054419/https://www.nytimes.com/1925/12/16/archives/bids-to-ventilate-tunnel-1577000-is-lowest-offer-to-erect-buildings.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Two months later, the New York-New Jersey Vehicular Tunnel Commission asked for $3.2&nbsp;million more in funding.  The tunnel was now expected to cost $46&nbsp;million, an increase of $17&nbsp;million over what was originally budgeted.<ref name="nyt-1926-02-10" /> The Holland Tunnel was nearly complete: in March 1926, Singstad stated that the tunnel was expected to be opened by the following February.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1926/03/10/archives/jersey-tunnel-will-be-ready-next-february-engineer-says.html|title=Jersey Tunnel Will Be Ready Next February, Engineer Says|date=March 10, 1926|work=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=May 8, 2018|archive-date=May 10, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180510052807/https://www.nytimes.com/1926/03/10/archives/jersey-tunnel-will-be-ready-next-february-engineer-says.html|url-status=live}}</ref> By May 1926, the tubes had been almost completely furnished: the polished-white tile walls were in place, as were the bright lighting systems and the Belgian-block-and-concrete road surfaces.<ref name="nyt-1926-05-30" /> The north tube's tiles were sourced locally by the Sonzogni Brothers of [[Union City, New Jersey]], while the south tube's tiles were sourced in equal amounts from Czechoslovakia and Germany.<ref name="nris" />{{rp|4}} The tiles' surfaces were specially engineered so that they could maintain their coloring even after years of use. The lighting systems used in the Holland Tunnel were designed to allow motorists to adjust to a gradual change in lighting levels just before leaving the tubes.<ref name="New York Sun 1927" />

The ventilation towers were the only major component of the Holland Tunnel that was not completed, but major progress had been made by the end of 1926.<ref name="nyt-1926-11-28">{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1926/11/28/archives/big-river-towers-give-air-to-tube-powerful-machinery-is-being.html|title=Big River Towers Give Air To Tube; Powerful Machinery Is Being Installed on Jersey and Manhattan Shores to Ventilate The Holland Vehicular Tunnel|date=November 28, 1926|work=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=May 8, 2018|archive-date=May 10, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180510054206/https://www.nytimes.com/1926/11/28/archives/big-river-towers-give-air-to-tube-powerful-machinery-is-being.html|url-status=live}}</ref> Ole Singstad and the two states' tunnel commissions tested the tunnel's ventilation system by releasing gas clouds in one of the tubes in February 1927. Singstad subsequently declared that the ventilation system was well equipped to ventilate the tunnel air.<ref name="nyt-1927-03-16" /> However, the New York Board of Trade and Transportation disagreed, stating that the system would be inadequate if there was a genuine incident within the tunnel. In April 1927, the board had conducted their own tests with two lighted candles, and a cloud of smoke had filled the entire tube before the ventilation system was able to perform a full exhaust.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1927/04/14/archives/ventilation-in-tube-called-a-menace-board-of-trade-wants-defects.html|title=Ventilation In Tube Called A Menace|date=April 14, 1927|work=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=May 9, 2018|archive-date=May 10, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180510052619/https://www.nytimes.com/1927/04/14/archives/ventilation-in-tube-called-a-menace-board-of-trade-wants-defects.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The Chief Surgeon of the U.S. Board of Mines supported Singstad's position that the ventilation system could sufficiently filter the tubes' air.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1927/04/28/archives/says-vehicular-tube-will-have-ample-air-dr-rr-sayers-of-the-bureau.html|title=Says Vehicular Tube Will Have Ample Air|date=April 28, 1927|work=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=May 9, 2018|archive-date=May 10, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180510054252/https://www.nytimes.com/1927/04/28/archives/says-vehicular-tube-will-have-ample-air-dr-rr-sayers-of-the-bureau.html|url-status=live}}</ref> To affirm the ventilation system's efficacy, in November 1927, the New York and New Jersey tunnel commissions burned a car within the tunnel; the ventilation system dissipated the fire within three and a half minutes.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1927/11/04/archives/automobile-burned-in-new-tube-as-test-holland-tunnel-experiment.html|title=Automobile Burned In New Tube As Test|date=November 4, 1927|work=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=May 9, 2018|archive-date=May 10, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180510052747/https://www.nytimes.com/1927/11/04/archives/automobile-burned-in-new-tube-as-test-holland-tunnel-experiment.html|url-status=live}}</ref>

The governors of New York and New Jersey took ceremonial rides through the tunnel in August 1926, meeting at the tunnel's midpoint.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1926/08/22/archives/smith-and-moore-meet-in-tunnel-governors-shake-hands-as-they-reach.html|title=Smith And Moore Meet In Tunnel|date=August 22, 1926|work=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=May 8, 2018|archive-date=May 10, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180510115231/https://www.nytimes.com/1926/08/22/archives/smith-and-moore-meet-in-tunnel-governors-shake-hands-as-they-reach.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The first unofficial drive through the entirety of the Holland Tunnel was undertaken by a group of British businessmen a year later, in August 1927.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1927/08/26/archives/british-merchants-ride-under-hudson-delegation-is-first-unofficial.html|title=British Merchants Ride Under Hudson|date=August 26, 1927|work=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=May 9, 2018|archive-date=May 10, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180510054215/https://www.nytimes.com/1927/08/26/archives/british-merchants-ride-under-hudson-delegation-is-first-unofficial.html|url-status=live}}</ref> The next month, a group from the Buffalo and Niagara Frontier Port Authority Survey Commission also visited the tunnel.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1927/09/29/archives/inspects-vehicular-tube-buffalo-commission-also-studies-site-for.html|title=Inspects Vehicular Tube|date=September 29, 1927|work=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=May 9, 2018|archive-date=May 10, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180510054258/https://www.nytimes.com/1927/09/29/archives/inspects-vehicular-tube-buffalo-commission-also-studies-site-for.html|url-status=live}}</ref> In October, a delegation of representatives from [[Detroit|Detroit, Michigan]], and [[Windsor, Ontario]], toured the nearly complete Holland Tunnel to get ideas for the then-proposed [[Detroit–Windsor Tunnel]].<ref>{{Cite news|url=http://fultonhistory.com/highlighter/highlight-for-xml?altUrl=http%3A%2F%2Ffultonhistory.com%2FNewspaper%252018%2FNew%2520York%2520NY%2520Sun%2FNew%2520York%2520NY%2520Sun%25201927%2FNew%2520York%2520NY%2520%25201927%2520-%25204669.pdf|title=Detroiters See Hudson Tunnel|date=October 14, 1927|work=New York Sun|access-date=April 16, 2018|pages=59|via=[[Fultonhistory.com]]}}</ref><ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1927/10/15/archives/detroit-engineers-visit-holland-tube-come-with-windsor-ontario.html|title=Detroit Engineers Visit Holland Tube|date=October 15, 1927|work=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=May 9, 2018|archive-date=May 10, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180510052805/https://www.nytimes.com/1927/10/15/archives/detroit-engineers-visit-holland-tube-come-with-windsor-ontario.html|url-status=live}}</ref> A reporter for ''The New York Times'' was able to make a test drive through the tunnel, noting that "there is no sudden pressure of wind upon the ear-drums" and that it would reduce the duration of crossing the Hudson River by between 15 and 22 minutes.<ref name="nyt-1927-10-02" /> Three hundred police officers were trained in advance of the Holland Tunnel's opening,<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1927/05/16/archives/300-traffic-police-for-holland-tube-patrol-for-vehicular-tunnel.html|title=300 Traffic Police For Holland Tube|date=May 16, 1927|work=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=May 9, 2018|archive-date=May 10, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180510052645/https://www.nytimes.com/1927/05/16/archives/300-traffic-police-for-holland-tube-patrol-for-vehicular-tunnel.html|url-status=live}}</ref> and bus companies started receiving franchises to operate buses through the tunnel.<ref>{{Cite news|url=https://www.nytimes.com/1927/07/06/archives/holland-tunnel-bus-lines-nevins-company-gets-franchises-to-operate.html|title=Holland Tunnel Bus Lines|date=July 6, 1927|work=The New York Times|issn=0362-4331|access-date=May 9, 2018|archive-date=May 10, 2018|archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20180510050904/https://www.nytimes.com/1927/07/06/archives/holland-tunnel-bus-lines-nevins-company-gets-franchises-to-operate.html|url-status=live}}</ref>