The Details
Queens Midtown Tunnel is a toll facility situated in New York City. It’s one of the busiest tunnels in the New York area, opened in 1940. It connects Queens with midtown Manhattan, running from western Queens, under the East River, to Manhattan’s 34th Street.
Queens Midtown Tunnel – description
The Queens Midtown Tunnel is a vehicular tunnel under the East River in New York. It is often called the Midtown Tunnel. It connects the boroughs of Queens and Manhattan. It has two tubes and each of them carries two lanes. The tunnel was designed by Ole Singstad and opened to traffic in 1940 to relieve traffic congestion on the city’s East River bridges. It is owned by New York City and operated by MTA Bridges and Tunnels. The Queens Midtown tunnel is as a major connection between Queens and midtown Manhattan. On the Queens’ side, there is the Hunters Point district of Long Island City, and on the Manhattan side, there is Murray Hill, one of the most attractive residential neighborhoods in the area. The Midtown Tunnel carries Interstate 495 for its entire length.
The northern tube is 1,955 meters long (6,414 feet) and the southern one is 1,912 meters long (6,272 feet). During rush hours, especially in the morning, one of the two lanes in the southern tube is used as a westbound high-occupancy vehicle lane.
Queens Midtown Tunnel tolls
Queens Midtown Tunnel is a toll facility. Since 2021, passenger vehicle owners pay $10.17 per car to go through the tunnel. Motorcyclists have to pay $4.28. E-ZPass users with transponders issued by the New York E-ZPass Customer Center pay a lower rate of $6.55 per car or $2.85 per motorcycle. If the mentioned authority doesn’t issue your E-ZPass, you have to pay cash toll or Toll-by-mail rates.
Payment options
The Queens Midtown Tunnel charges tolls in both directions. No cash payment is possible while entering the tunnel. In 2017, the Queens Midtown Tunnel started open-road cashless tolling. Currently, there are no toll booths and drivers can’t pay cash. Instead, there are cameras installed onto overhead gantries. If you have E-ZPass, sensors will detect the transponder on your windshield wirelessly. If you’re not an E-ZPass user, a picture of your license plate will be taken, and the bill will be mailed to you. You can pay the toll bill by mail, on the phone, or in person, using a check, credit or debit card, bank account, or cash. Don’t forget that you can also use a convenient application – Uproad – to manage all your tolls quickly and easily.
Toll pricing in the Queens Midtown Tunnel is consistent. It doesn’t depend on traffic volume or the time of the day.
An interesting fact about Midtown Tunnel
Between 1981 and 2011, the Midtown Tunnel was closed to traffic for a few hours one night each spring. The reason was the annual Ringling Bros. and Barnum & Bailey Circus Animal Walk and the annual elephant walk through the tunnel. The event stopped in 2011 because of several organizations protesting the treatment of the circus animals.
Here on Uproad.com, you'll find Queens Midtown Tunnel toll information. From the latest estimated Queens Midtown Tunnel toll prices to payment options, Uproad lets you know the rules of the road.
And, if you drive a lot and are looking for a new toll payment account without a transponder or toll tag, you've come to the right place! With an Uproad app account, you'll pay tolls as you go with your mobile phone.