State DOT officials say they have made such a commitment. The environmental impact statement (EIS) that DOT will undertake (the draft EIS is now targeted for completion in 2002) will look at rebuilding the expressway in place, putting it in a tunnel and other options, like elevating the roadway higher, perhaps with multiple decks.

Some tunnel advocates aren't sure the DOT will take the hard look at the tunnel that Brooklyn communities want (especially a bored tunnel, as opposed to disruptive cut-and-cover tunnel construction), and are pressing for an independent tunnel study to parallel the EIS work. State legislation introduced by Assemblymember Joan Millman and State Senator Martin Connor (A.7370 and S.4369) would require DOT to "provide for" the separate tunnel study. Congressman Ed Towns also recently hosted a visit by U.S. Transportation Secretary Rodney Slater, and urged him to press NYS DOT on the tunnel option.

Adding to the pressure, State DOT and federal highway officials are trying to settle a lawsuit filed against them by community and transportation groups over the Gowanus project's planning.