On this date in 1957, the 1.4-mile, four-lane Harbor Tunnel opened. It crosses under the Patapsco River in Baltimore, Maryland. The tunnel ended the need for vehicles to use Baltimore streets, thereby avoiding 51 traffic signals. Before the tunnel opened, traveling on city streets was known as the “Baltimore Bottleneck” for East Coast traffic. Today, 64 years later, more than 25 million vehicles use the tunnel annually.
The Baltimore Harbor Tunnel Thruway is signed as Interstate 895 (I-985). It...