Holland Tunnel

Eeek! Beep the horn! Well, only if you want everyone around you to know you’re a tourist!
We visited NYC on Memorial Day weekend even though all of our local NY family told us we were nuts. After sight seeing, we opted to tour my birthplace and head over to NJ. We opted to take the tunnel and to my surprise, we made the right decision! The tunnel traffic was flowing just fine! Eve through the massive holiday traffic.
While going through, the boys asked all about how the tunnel was made, how cool it was that we were under water, and what would we do if there was a leak
:-O
After explaining that it was built in 1927, I had to take a look here
to find out some other cool facts.
To the boys dismay, there was no beeping ;-)

Only time there isn’t traffic is between the hours of 12am and 6am IF they aren’t working on one of the lanes.
Still better than the Lincoln tunnel traffic.
Cheap gas in jersey and they just opened a McDonald’s
They need another bridge or tunnel

As long as they haven’t closed one of the lanes for night maintenance the tunnel runs smoothly pretty much around the clock. The easiest way for Staten Islanders and Southern Brooklynites to get into the city.

Slow & steady while entering the tunnel. Multiple lames entering the tunnel but two lanes to actually the tunnel.
It’s December so it’s decorated with holiday lights & Christmas tree. I’m entering during the morning so it might be a better visual at night.
You must stay in your own lane which is posted everywhere.
It’s a slow drive but not at a standstill. Welcome to New York.

My go-​to tunnel when going to/​from NJ. The view from the turnpike, as you move toward the tunnel is quite a sight. It always makes me kind of smile and sigh, knowing I am getting closer and closer to home.
As for the actual tunnel, once the light changes and you’re able to get to those toll lanes, it’s a free for fall — everyone is moving from the far right or far left trying to get to the EZ Pass (plentiful) or cash/​EZ Pass lane (these lanes are always super long and backed up). No one ever signals either or eases into it. It’s quite aggressive, so be sure to watch out.
It’s about 8 lanes merging into two as you go inside the tunnel, which is a real pain whether it’s busy or not. When it’s busy cars have to carefully merge, alternating one by one, putting their egos aside. It would not help to get into an accident here just because a big ass SUV feels they automatically have the right of way and can cut off five other cars because of it’s sheer size. When it’s not busy, cars literally try to race one another to get into the tunnel first. So either way, practice caution.
No passing in the tunnel, double solid lines. Sometimes impatient people ignore this. At night, it’s well-​lit with white lighting illuminating the entire tunnel so you can clearly see where you’re going. During the day, there are lamp lights only, yellow/​orange tinged. But you can still see where you’re going regardless.
After you get out of the tunnel, it’s two lanes until you wind further and then it starts to split off depending on your destination (Canal Street, Brooklyn Bridge, Downtown etc). Be careful around here, because people are unsure of where to go and slow down to read the signs, or they abruptly veer off before they miss the exit. Canal street exit can often be backed up – the lights are very short and not always coordinated. And if you speed in the far left lane, thinking it’s empty and smooth sailing, you could approach and possibly rear end a car faster than you realize.
Not cheap, but if you get there before 4pm on weekdays, before 11AM on weekends, and after 9PM in general, it’s a reduced rate for EZ pass and maybe cash payments as well? For now, I believe it’s still $ 14

The Holland Tunnel connects Jersey City, New Jersey to Lower Manhattan in New York. According to the Port Authority of New York & New Jersey, the peak travel times for the Holland Tunnel are 6am to 10am and 4pm to 8pm, Monday through Friday, and 11am to 9pm on Saturday and Sunday. Luckily, I’ve never had to travel through the tunnel during those times. My eastbound and westbound trips through the tunnel between Newark Liberty International Airport and Manhattan were smooth sailing during off-​peak hours.
I took Lyft rides through the tunnel. Regardless of direction, there was a $ 14 Holland Tunnel toll charge applied to each of my trips.
For an area as populous as the New York metro, I was surprised the Holland Tunnel is only two lanes in each direction (until I later learned how old the tunnel is – it opened in 1927). I can’t imagine what it must be like during rush hour or when there’s an accident. On the Jersey City side, it looks like 8 – 10 lanes merge and collapse into just two. The Manhattan side doesn’t have as «grand» of an entrance (there’s not enough space for one) with the tunnel’s entrance discreetly beginning in between two buildings.
Riding through the tunnel is cool. It’s clean (for NY/​NJ), brightly illuminated, well ventilated, and the inside walls and ceilings are covered in light-​colored subway tiles. There are double solid lines on the road meaning no passing is allowed. Eastbound, the tunnel measures about 1.58 miles long. Westbound, it’s about 1.62 miles. The tunnel goes underneath the Hudson River. I believe the speed limit is 35 miles per hour.
What this tunnel reminds me most of is the Booth Tunnel in Grand Theft Auto IV (2008). That tunnel connects Algonquin and Alderney in Liberty City. New York isn’t the only city to remind me of certain landmarks in GTA. Miami very much reminded me of Vice City from Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (2002) during my visits in the early 2000s.

Time to get them permits and C. o sign so i can start handling my owe… lol but hey its a township where you get all papers aka permits and what not in order to not have headaches from them… lols until next time

Stay in your lane and don’t drive too quickly. This tunnel is a little longer than you might think. You’ll be just fine.

This is my preferred tunnel for heading into NYC. Of course traffic sucks during rush hour and they are doing construction on route 139. However, it’s a great option for getting into NYC on off hours! $ 14 buck if paying cash and you can use the car pool option if you have it on your ezpass.
There are tons of ezpass lanes and only 4 cash/​ezpass lanes. The tunnel is a cool drive and normally moves well traffic wise.
When exiting you will have options to go towards Greenwich, west side highway, canal street/​Manhattan bridge and Brooklyn bridge. This is where the bottle neck traffic might occur. Enjoy your drive, plan for a little traffic and you’ll be fine!

How do you review a tunnel? All I know is that I’m in and out, in and out, each and every day. Sometimes I’m entering when I’m sleepy, or sometimes it leaves me frustrated because I’m not the only one trying to get in. I do know it’s often a huge relief when I’m done and able to get out of the tunnel. The biggest problem is when too many are trying to enter at the same time, and then no one is happy.

Keep your windows closed inside the Tunnel.
There’s always less traffic then the Lincoln.
Spits you out close to Chinatown/​Little Italy.
What more can I say?

Used this place so many times to go to NYC. Lots of traffic, but I still like it. Also, I like the divider, where it shows you which area is NY and NJ.

This tunnel always scares me.
After watching that action movie (can’t remember the name right now) where the tunnel cracks due to the pressure of the ocean and everyone inside the tunnel dies. Yup it feels like forever crossing this tunnel :(plus it does help if you are claustrophobic. I like the double lines in between lanes since this prevent crazy driving.

I like driving through this tunnel. It’s like being in your own video game car race or in an awesome car chase scene in a movie. Until reality says, «you are screwed if you have car problems in here.» It’s still a fun 5 minute ride through a fantasy world. These got to be the cleanest walls in NYC

I still get a signal on my phone in here! While that may not necessarily assuage any misgivings I may have about this tunnel being able to keep out all that wetness just outside its walls (Holland Tunnel you’re letting cell phone signals in! You gonna let the water in next?!?), I must say that the trade off is appreciated; when looking at everything on the scales of a cost benefit analysis, having a cell phone signal is a godsend.
Why would you need a signal? Well, odds are if you’re travelling through this tunnel, so are a few hundred/​thousand other people, and two lanes of traffic results in a slow/​slogging filter of traffic for which 3G, 4G, LTE, or any other kind of wireless signal could provide you with some form of entertainment. I mean what else are you gonna do… talk to another person or something crazy like that?!?
At any rate, this tunnel is a necessary part of the trip to or from NY. Good thing is once you’re out, it’s relatively smooth sailing (driving) thereafter (depending on where you be heading).

68% of the time, there will be less traffic here than the Lincoln when heading into Manhattan.
42% of the time, I will be wrong.
100% of the time, the HT to the Williamsburg Bridge to the BQE is cheaper than the LT to the Midtown Tunnel when heading to Long Island.
50% of the time, that is a really crappy way to go.
77% of the time, a car will ignore the unwritten «every other» rule of merging and you will get mad and beep and move your arms in a way that expresses extreme and utter discontent for the situation.
38% of the time, you will be the one that violated that rule.
14% of the time, you will get flicked off.
81% of the time you probably won’t care.
3% of the time, you will.
16% of the time, you won’t notice or be completely indifferent.
91% of the time, regardless of the above, you will be close enough to the bumper of the car in front of you to eat a meal off it.
100% of the time there are cars coming from multiple streets in multiple areas of lower Manhattan trying to head home through this tunnel.
77% of the time you will pick the wrong street and get stuck somewhere in that nonsense.
22% of the time you will leave the traffic because you saw a secret side street with no cars on it.
86% of the time it’s a path to the back of the line.
98% of the time you are definitely not the first car to try it.
50% of the time there is a car that has been kinda burned (somehow) or crumpled at the entrance to the Lincoln.
0% of the time I have seen this at the Holland… yet.
100% of the time this tunnel goes under the Hudson, brings you to another state, and will cost you money at some point. In my experience — far fewer buses enter here and as such, the Lincoln Tunnel seems to be a disaster area far more often.

The Holland Tunnel is eight bucks to go to New York and free to return to New Jersey… it lets you out in downtown Manhattan… where parking can be very expensive…
A much more reasonable alternative is to park in Jersey City and then take the PATH train to Manhattan… It is a subway that connects New York and New Jersey and brings you to the same area as the Holland Tunnel… No need to hassle on parking and convent way to enjoy your day in the city… :)

Yes as said previously, The Holland tunnel is a 2 lane tunnel. To get to it you must go through the EZ-​Pass which is about 16 lanes immediately and I do mean IMMEDIATELY after paying your $ 13 at EZ pass ALL102 lanes merge into 2 measly lanes. It’s a chaotic nightmare. Im usually pretty excited when I get to the tunnel because it means I’ve finally made it to the Big Apple! And for that reason I give it 4 stars :)

This is the easiest crossing into Manhattan. Even when it is rush hour and there is an hour delay it is still more tolerable than the GWB or the Lincoln Tunnel.
The GWB is out of my way. No, I am not going to drive to Fort Lee to cross into the Bronx unless I am going to a Yankee game. No, no, no, no, no!
The Lincoln Tunnel is an unmitigated disaster with construction at the Helix. Why are you dummies doing this during rush hour? Why are there always accidents? Who thought it was a good idea to make giant curves where people will invariably crash their vehicles entering a tunnel? Avoid.
When I was a child, I used to try to hold my breath going through the Holland Tunnel. I do not recommend you try this. You will die. It takes forever to get through because of traffic at the circle on the manhattan side. But once you hit the circle it is pretty easy to get to the west side highway or FDR or lower manhattan. When I worked in FiDi, it took about 5 minutes to get to my job.
$ 13 is ridiculous to cross into NYC and I am not sure what Port Authority does with all of this money. Burns it on «security» or inflated salaries for their police officers is the most likely answer because they certainly aren’t upgrading or repairing their structures.
If you have to drive to NYC or more likely beaches on Long Island, take this route.

If you’re going downtown, then this tunnel is it.
The traffic that leads up to the tunnel is a mess, going through the tunnel during heavy traffic congestion takes forever, and the toll is expensive.