Worcester's Peculiar Downtown Tunnel Might Close For Good

WORCESTER, MA — Abandon hope all ye who use the Ernest A. Johnson Tunnel regularly. The peculiar subterranean lane may never reopen to drivers, drag racers and graffiti artists.

The tunnel that dives under the Lincoln Square intersection to Main Street closed in May 2023 for "construction-related activities" and was supposed to reopen this spring. But city officials may never reopen it due to the cost of badly needed repairs, according to Spectrum News 1.

It could cost anywhere from $1.2 to $7 million to keep the tunnel open, Spectrum reported, and up to $3 million to close it for good.

The closure one year ago allowed construction crews to repair tiles inside the tunnel, but also allowed for a "comprehensive structural analysis," the city said in a news release.

The tunnel opened in 1956 as part of a larger project to update Lincoln Square, which at the time more closely resembled its 1856 layout, complete with freight train tracks. Famed tunnel designer Ole Singstad — builder of the Lincoln Tunnel, Holland Tunnel and Baltimore Harbor Tunnel — included the tunnel as part of the (then) new rotary layout at Lincoln Square. The single southbound lane allowed drivers to reach downtown without having to enter the gargantuan intersection.

Then tunnel was one of the few pieces of Singstad's Lincoln Square design left when the city eliminated the rotary in 1983 for the configuration that exists today.

The tunnel has been infrequently used — and in need of repair — for some time. An August 1989 article in the Worcester Telegram described an emergency closure of the tunnel after concrete slabs fell off of it. The city's traffic engineer at the time said only about 1,500 cars per-day used the tunnel.

"That is not a large amount," then-engineer Robert Johnson said.

The fate of the tunnel could still be years away. Spectrum reported that a decision won't be made until the redevelopment of the Boys Club wraps up. That project has been stalled recently, but plans call for it to extend over the tunnel entrance near Grove Street.