The New York City Board of Estimate pushed back a proposed vote on the Lincoln Tunnel from March to May 1952. By June, a compromise had been worked out, and the city had given its assent to the new tube. Although the Port Authority was no longer obligated to construct a mid-Manhattan expressway, it did agree to widen 30th Street between 10th Avenue and 12th Avenue, and to provide ramps between the tunnel and the West Side Highway. The New York City government quickly moved to approve street upgrades on their side of the tunnel. By this point, the Weehawken, New Jersey, government had also started to raise concerns about street improvements on their side. However, there were no other major obstacles to starting construction. The first contract for the third tube's construction, a bid for digging the ventilation shafts, was awarded in August 1952. A groundbreaking ceremony for the third tube, marking the start of official construction on that tube, was held the next month at the Manhattan side's future ventilation shaft. Sandhogs began digging the tunnel from that end.
The New York City Board of Estimate pushed back a proposed vote on the Lincoln Tunnel from March to May 1952. By June, a compromise had been worked out, and the city had given its assent to the new tube. Although the Port Authority was no longer obligated to construct a mid-Manhattan expressway, it did agree to widen 30th Street between 10th Avenue and 12th Avenue, and to provide ramps between the tunnel and the West Side Highway. The New York City government quickly moved to approve street upgrades on their side of the tunnel. By this point, the Weehawken, New Jersey government had also started to raise concerns about street improvements on their side. However, there were no other major obstacles to starting construction. The first contract for the third tube's construction, a bid for digging the ventilation shafts, was awarded in August 1952. A groundbreaking ceremony for the third tube, marking the start of official construction on that tube, was held the next month at the Manhattan side's future ventilation shaft. Sandhogs began digging the tunnel from that end.