Cuomo: Queens-Midtown Tunnel fully restored

Morning commuters who take the Queens-Midtown Tunnel into Manhattan are getting their extra lane back, nearly one month after superstorm Sandy struck the area.

Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo announced Friday that what's known as a contraflow traffic pattern will resume Monday morning. One normally Queens-bound lane is converted to Manhattan-bound from 7 a.m. to 10 a.m. weekdays.

The tunnel under the East River carries about 78,000 vehicles on an average weekday. It was severely flooded during the Oct. 29 storm.

The tunnel reopened to cars on Nov. 9 and trucks a week later. But workers still needed to make repairs to the green-and-red signal lights that indicate when and where contraflow traffic can go.

That's been done now. Cuomo says the tunnel is "fully restored to pre-Sandy service."

-- AP