The Callahan Tunnel, closed since December 27 for a $35 million rehabilitation project, will re-open for traffic March 12, according to Massachusetts Department of Transportation Highway Administrator Frank DePaola.
'We fully expect to, obviously, open by the 12th, if not before the 12th," DePaolo told reporters before a tour of the tunnel on Friday. "We're very encouraged with that."
DePaola led a group of reporters on a shallow-depth tour of the North End side of the tunnel, which was still being worked on. Under pale green lights and a low, droning hum, reporters walked on newly installed concrete Friday, which will be covered up by new asphalt before the tunnel opens to traffic. Once it does, some overnight closings will still be necessary to install new decorative wall panels, DePaola said.
State officials conducted a review of the 52-year-old tunnel after a wall panel fell last year. The tunnel carries about 30,000 cars under Boston Harbor between the North End and East Boston on an average weekday.
