The first of three underwater crossings beneath Boston Harbor, the Sumner Tunnel, was named after William Hyslop Sumner and opened on June 30, 1934. Sumner had developed Noddle’s Island in the harbor as East Boston. First known as the East Boston Traffic Tunnel, it was then the only tunnel, and traffic moved on one lane in both directions. The tunnel is over a mile long and more than 30 feet in diameter. Clay dug out of the harbor for the roadway was dumped around the East Boston Airport, which would eventually expand to become Boston Logan International Airport. - Lane Turner and Lisa Tuite
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