Standing water flooded the state-owned Henry E. Kinney Tunnel on U.S. 1 in Fort Lauderdale on Wednesday, forcing the temporary closure of the tunnel.
Just before 1 p.m., Fort Lauderdale announced the state was planning to close the tunnel within the hour.
“There is currently standing water in the Kinney Tunnel,” the alert said. “The Florida Department of Transportation has been notified of the situation and has informed the city that they expect to close the tunnel within the next hour. The tunnel will remain closed until the issue is fully resolved.”
Guillermo “Billy” Canedo, a spokesman for the Florida Department of Transportation, could not be reached for comment Wednesday.
The city notified state transportation officials that water was pooling inside the tunnel, Fort Lauderdale spokeswoman Ashley Doussard said.
“We’ve notified FDOT,” she said about noon. “They are responsible for the tunnel but if the water gets to a dangerous point we will close it.”
Doussard could not say how deep the water had gotten or when the tunnel might reopen.
A video sent to the South Florida Sun Sentinel showed cars driving slowly through the water just before noon.
Mayor Dean Trantalis said he suspects the tunnel’s pump system was to blame.
“That tunnel has been in operation for more than 60 years,” Trantalis said. “It’s not because of the tunnel design or the construction. It’s probably a failure of the pump system. And it’s up to the state to correct it. They’ll drain it and we’ll be back to normal.”
The Henry E. Kinney Tunnel opened in 1960 to replace a bridge built so drivers could cross over the New River along Federal Highway. The tunnel is one of two underground tunnels in South Florida. The other is the PortMiami tunnel from the MacArthur Causeway to Dodge Island.
Susannah Bryan can be reached at sbryan@sunsentinel.com. Follow me on X @Susannah_Bryan
