Havana Tunnel

Havana Tunnel is a route under the Havana Bay, built by the French company Societé de Grand Travaux de Marseille between 1957 and 1958.^[3][4] The president of the Republic Fulgencio Batista planned to expand the city to Habana del Este with a new suburb, and a new connection between Havana Vieja and the east side across Havana Bay was required.

Entrance to Havana Bay tunnel under construction, Havana, Cuba

Havana Tunnel

Entrance to tunnel from East Havana
Overview
Other name(s)	El Túnel de la Bahía
Location	Havana, Cuba
Coordinates	23.150708°N 82.354717°W / 23.150708; -82.354717
System	Immersed tube tunnel
Route	2–I–3 (Circuito Norte)
Start	Malecón in Old Havana
End	A2 / 2–400 in Habana del Este
Operation
Work begun	1957 (1957)
Opened	May 31, 1958 (1958-05-31)
Owner	Cuban government (contested)[a][1][2]
Traffic	Automotive
Toll	None
Technical
Design engineer	José Menéndez Menéndez
No. of lanes	4 (total)
Operating speed	50 kilometers per hour

The tunnel extends from the Paseo de Prado, is 733 m long and 12 m below ground level. It takes a driver 45 seconds traveling at a speed of 60 km/h to traverse the tunnel. In the 1970s the new suburb of Alamar in East Havana was built with the aid of the former Soviet Union. The new suburb was composed of Soviet-style concrete buildings, with no city center or character.

Tunnel entrance from East Havana

Gallery

• 
  Havana Bay Tunnel entrance from the west
• 
  Havana Bay Tunnel entrance from East Havana
• 
  Construction of entrance to Havana Tunnel

See also

• Cuba portal

• Havana Plan Piloto
• Havana Harbor
• Malecón, Havana
• Habana del Este

Notes

1. The confiscation of private property led the U.S. into severing diplomatic relations in 1961 and installing a brutal trade blocade and various sanctions against Cuba affecting the life of millions of Cubans. Over the years the UN requested at multiple occasions the end of the illegal and inhumane blockade.'"`UNIQ--ref-00000003-QINU`"'