A light at the end of the $1B Port of Miami tunnel

Port of Miami tunnel (inset: Port Director Bill Johnson)
Port of Miami tunnel (inset: Port Director Bill Johnson)

A billion-dollar tunnel under Biscayne Bay is nearly ready for an expected bump in the throngs of containers and cruise passengers arriving into the Port of Miami.

Dropping as low as 120 feet, the underwater passage financed by a public-private parternship will have four lanes of traffic, two westbound and two eastbound, to convey containers and cruise passengers in a 4,200-foot-deep space beneath Dodge Island, Watson Island, the MacArthur Causeway and in the middle of Biscayne Bay.

“Port Miami will be one of the only ports in the world with a direct connection from the port to the highway system without a single traffic signal,” Port Director Bill Johnson told WSVN.

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With the drilling, which began in 2011, complete, 90 percent of the project has been completed, though construction of the interior, including lighting, traffic signs, ventilation, fire proofing and five emergency exits still need to be done.

“We just cannot wait until the completion and just think about everything it’s bringing to Miami: 250,000 jobs directly and indirectly,” Florida’s attorney general Pam Bondi told the TV news station. [WSVN]Emily Schmall