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Both Sides Of Hugh Carey Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel To Be Open Monday

NEW YORK (CBSNewYork/AP) -- When commuters hit the roads Monday morning, both tubes of the Hugh L. Carey Tunnel -- formerly known as the Brooklyn-Battery Tunnel -- will be open to traffic in both directions.

Officials said the tunnel will reopen to all cars at 6 a.m. Monday. Trucks are still barred from the tunnel until further notice.

The tunnel was completely flooded during Superstorm Sandy.

As of last week, half the tunnel was back open for business. The east tube reopened to limited bus service last Monday, and to cars last Tuesday.

The Metropolitan Transportation Authority called it a major accomplishment after nearly 80 million gallons of Sandy's flood waters rushed down the streets of Manhattan and filled all four lanes of the twin tubes, something that shocked even the tunnel's general manager.

"We never had water in this tunnel, ever. The only water we had was from cars, snow. We never had a leak, we don't have leaks. This tunnel is built under bedrock," Marc Mende told CBS 2's Elise Finch last week.

The ventilation system and cameras had to be fixed, and nearly 900 lights had to be removed, cleaned, rewired, tested and replaced.

(TM and Copyright 2012 CBS Radio Inc. and its relevant subsidiaries. CBS RADIO and EYE Logo TM and Copyright 2012 CBS Broadcasting Inc. Used under license. All Rights Reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed. The Associated Press contributed to this report.)

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