Callahan Tunnel
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| Callahan Tunnel | |
|---|---|
| Carries |  Route 1A North |
| Crosses | Boston Harbor |
| Locale | Downtown Boston, Massachusetts to Logan International Airport |
| Total length | 5,069 feet (1,545 m) |
| Opening date | 1961 |
| Toll | No eastbound toll |
The Lieutenant William F. Callahan Tunnel is one of four tunnels beneath Boston Harbor. The tunnel's overall length is 1,545 m. It carries motor vehicles from Boston, Massachusetts's North End to Logan International Airport and Route 1A in East Boston. Ordinarily, this tunnel is only used to carry traffic out of the city and with the completion of the Big Dig it only collects traffic from I-93 southbound (right after traffic merges from Storrow Drive) and downtown Boston. There is no toll in this direction. Traffic from the airport and Route 1A towards downtown Boston and I-93 northbound normally flows in the older, parallel Sumner Tunnel, where a $3.50 toll is collected (raised from $3 on January 1, 2008).
[edit] History
Historically, control signals were used to reverse direction of one lane in this or the Sumner Tunnel, when the opposite tunnel was closed for maintenance or emergencies. Under the relevant Turnpike regulations, a yellow signal light means "proceed only as directed", on penalty of a $50 fine. As the signals are almost always yellow[citation needed], this rule is universally ignored by drivers. Other markings in the tunnel include a "double white line" in the center, intended to discourage drivers from changing lanes, to be penalized with a $100 fine.
Traffic flowing between the airport and directions south of the city on I-93 and west of the city on the Mass Pike (I-90) normally uses the Ted Williams Tunnel rather than the Callahan and Sumner Tunnels.
The tunnel was opened in 1961. The tunnel was named for Lieutenant William F. Callahan Jr., son of the Mass Pike's chairman at the time, who was killed in Italy just days before the end of World War II in 1945.
