Quote:
Originally Posted by 10023
Well the WSH is a lot further west than Madison Square, which is right in the middle.
Anyway, I very consciously said south of Columbus Circle to north of Madison Square. Definitely wouldn't want to run either... but Broadway in the mid 50s and in the upper 20s are — anyway. I also think the infrastructure required would be quite minimal if it was not a toll tunnel. Urban tunnels like this exist in Europe and Asia.
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Sure, except that there are two four-track subway lines running underneath Broadway, with station mezzanines and other, transverse subway lines occupying the space between the roadway surface and the subway tunnel. The real estate under Times and Herald Squares is possibly the most congested underground space in the world. Any space not directly used by tunnels and tracks is used for pedestrian circulation, to distribute tens of thousands of subway riders between the multitude of platforms and station entrances.
European and Asian cities don't use land nearly as intensely as New York, so there is usually underground real estate available for things like tunnels.
Also - modern techniques for toll collection require virtually no added space. You charge people with transponders (i.e. EZPass) and other drivers who try to use the tunnel are either ticketed or they receive a bill in the mail, their vehicle being identified by license-plate cameras.
Herald Square cutaway, LIFE Magazine:
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