The Long Island Expressway was constructed in stages over the course of three decades. The first piece, the Queens–Midtown Tunnel linking Manhattan and Queens, was opened to traffic on November 15, 1940. The highway connecting the tunnel to Laurel Hill Boulevard was built around the same time and named the "Midtown Highway". The tunnel, the Midtown Highway, and the segment of Laurel Hill Boulevard between the highway and Queens Boulevard all became part of a realigned NY 24 in the mid-1940s. Parts of this highway were built on the right of way of a streetcar line that extended from Hunters Point to southern Flushing. In 1945, $60 million in funding was allocated toward a plan to upgrade roads in the New York City area. The plan included building the Queens-Midtown Expressway from the Midtown Tunnel to Queens Boulevard, and the Horace Harding Expressway from Queens Boulevard to the New York City border.