By the 1950s a three-lane bridge over the New River in Fort Lauderdale was enjoying a dubious honor. People were calling it the ``worst bottleneck on U.S. 1 from Maine to Florida.``
Because the bridge was too low, it often had to be raised for boat traffic. Because it was too narrow, cars in both directions slowed to a crawl while crossing.
The only answer, in most people`s minds, was to build a better drawbridge -- one higher and wider. Or was it? How about a tunnel under the river?
Nobody had ever built a tunnel in Florida. The idea had surfaced (and quickly was submerged) as early as April 25, 1940, at a meeting of the Fort Lauderdale City Commission. The proposal was revived in late 1945 by the Post War Planning Committee of the Fort Lauderdale Chamber of Commerce.
Any mention of the tunnel brought instant controversy.
``It`s so un-Florida,`` was a frequently heard objection. Many pointed out that a bridge provided motorists with a vista of blue water, blue skies and palm trees -- the things tourists come to Florida to see. What do you see in a tunnel?
One of Fort Lauderdale`s most outspoken opponents of the tunnel was the late R.H. Gore, who was then the publisher of the Fort Lauderdale News. Gore`s main concern was the project`s high cost.
The wrangling dragged on until Nov. 20, 1956, when the voters finally had their say. The vote was close -- 7,040 for the tunnel, 6,443 against.
Nearly two more years passed before the Thorington Construction Company of Providence, R.I., started work. Its low bid of $6,494,432 was far above the $4 million estimated when the state of Florida first approved the project in 1951. When right-of-way costs (the only costs to the city) were added, the total hit $7,543,922.24.