Due to extra costs caused by delays and striking sandhogs, the authority petitioned the RFC for $14 million in funds in August 1947, and in December of the same year, asked for another $2 million. In February 1948, the RFC agreed to extend another $28 million toward the completion of the tunnel. By mid-1948, the tunnel was 70% complete, despite material shortages and cost overruns, and was expected to open to traffic in early 1950. Work on the tunnel progressed, and the tunnel was 94% complete by late 1949. A reporter for the "Brooklyn Daily Eagle" made an unsanctioned drive between the two ends of the tunnel, noting that tiles, lighting, and a road surface had yet to be added, although the bores themselves were complete. The tubes included four fluorescent-lighting installations with a total of 5,776 bulbs. At the time, it comprised the world's largest continuous fluorescent installation in the world, and was the first crossing in the city to have fluorescent lights. The strips of clay tiles on the tubes' ceilings were advertised as the United States' longest continuous uses of clay tiles.