Beginning on Sunday, February 5, and extending into 2025, the New Jersey-bound tube of the Holland Tunnel will close during off-peak nighttime hours to allow for “extensive and critical repairs” from damage caused by Superstorm Sandy.

According to the The Port Authority of New York and New Jersey, the work in both tubes of the 1.6-mile-long tunnel during the overnight closures includes repairs to and replacement of mechanical, electrical, communications and plumbing systems damaged by latent salt from Sandy seawater flooding, as well as repairs to architectural, structural and civil elements of the tunnel infrastructure. These systems suffered major damage when 30 million gallons of brackish water entered the tunnel through the New Jersey portals and ventilation buildings in the aftermath of Sandy, which struck the New York metropolitan area in October 2012.

Closures will take place according to the following schedule:

  • Sunday nights                    11 p.m. – 5:30 a.m.
  • Monday nights                   11 p.m. – 5:30 a.m.
  • Tuesday nights                  11 p.m. – 5:30 a.m.
  • Wednesday nights             11 p.m. – 5:30 a.m.
  • Thursday nights                 11 p.m. – 5:30 a.m.
  • Friday nights                      11:59 p.m. – 9 a.m.
  • Saturday nights                 no scheduled closures

In addition to repairing damaged systems, the Port Authority will install flood mitigation improvements designed to withstand future extreme weather events and meet federal flood standards, such as flexible wall barriers at the tunnel exit and entrance portals; a removable flood barrier system around the tunnel perimeter; and concrete flood walls around the New Jersey administrative facility.

With the conclusion of repairs in the south tube, which carries eastbound traffic towards New York, the overnight closures that had facilitated that work will end at 5 a.m. on Feb. 4, after which eastbound traffic will remain open at all hours through the Holland Tunnel.

During the New Jersey-bound tube repairs, motorists are advised to use alternate routes based on their origins and destinations or to use mass transit alternatives when possible. For motorists going to:

  • Northern New Jersey: Use the George Washington Bridge
  • Hudson or Essex counties: Use the Lincoln Tunnel
  • Staten Island or southern New Jersey: Use the Verrazzano-Narrows Bridge to the Goethals or Bayonne bridges, or the Outerbridge Crossing