New York City commuters must find alternate routes Wednesday after the Queens-Midtown Tunnel was shut down due to what the MTA said was a water main break.
The Metropolitan Transportation Authority sent out alerts before 1:30 p.m. that all lanes of the heavily trafficked tunnel connecting Manhattan and Queens under the East River are “temporarily closed.” Officials did not disclose the extent of the water main break and a tweet posted on the official MTA X account was later deleted.
A video posted by one driver to Facebook shows “leaking” water splashed across his windshield.
“Tell me why the tunnel is leaking. What’s going on here?” the driver reacted.
The MTA had said all buses have been detoured and there are delays on the east side of Manhattan due to increased traffic. According to MTA.info, QM 1/2/3/4/5/6/10/12/20/24/31/32/34/36/40/42/44 buses will use the 59th St Bridge to proceed to the LIE in both directions.
QM 7/8/11/25 buses will use the Williamsburg Bridge.
Meanwhile, the Queensboro Bridge is partially closed Wednesday through Saturday for the replacement of the upper roadway, according to the Department of Transportation. Single-lane Manhattan-bound north upper roadway will be closed 24 hours from Wednesday to Saturday. Double-lane will be closed Wednesday to Friday from 9:30 a.m. to 3 p.m. and Tuesday to Friday from 8 p.m. to 5 a.m. the next morning. Queens-bound south outer roadway will be closed Sunday to Saturday from 11 p.m. to 6 a.m. next morning.
The Queens Midtown Tunnel was opened in 1940 to help relieve congestion on East River bridges.
This is a developing story.
