Get ready for 2-year nightmare at Holland Tunnel

Heads up for motorists who take the Holland Tunnel.

All New Jersey-bound traffic at the tunnel will be suspended six overnights each week beginning 11 p.m. on Sunday, Feb. 5. The closures will last two years.

The work is designed for critical Superstorm Sandy repairs, according to the Port of Authority of New York and New Jersey.

Similar New York-bound traffic closures that began in April 2020 will end at 5 a.m. on Feb. 4 as the PANYNJ completes repairs and storm resiliency projects related to Sandy damage in the tunnels’ south tube.

Lights lead down a nearly-empty Holland tunnel (AP Photo/Wong Maye-E)

Holland Tunnel repair project

The $364 million repair project during the overnight closures include the replacement of mechanical, electrical, communications, and plumbing systems damaged by the salt from Sandy seawater flooding, as well as repairs to architectural, structural, and civil elements of the tunnel’s infrastructure.

Short-term measures were deployed within a year after the storm to address flood mitigation concerns, but now more extensive work needs to be done to accommodate extensive and critical work to permanently fix or replace damaged components.

The Port Authority will install flood mitigation improvements such as flexible wall barriers at the tunnel exits designed to withstand extreme weather events and meet federal flood standards.

(Photo by John Moore/Getty Images)