During World War II the city was focused on wartime rationing, so completing the subway was not a high priority. The tunnels were suggested as possible air raid shelters, but the idea was never implemented. Underground storage of commercial and military supplies was also proposed as a use for the tunnels, or as a pathway to bring freight into the heart of the city, but both ideas were rejected because they would delay bringing mass transit to Cincinnati. After the war ended the City Planning Commission decided to not include the subway in its plans. Instead, the commission would use the loop's right-of-way as pathways for Interstate 75 and the Norwood Lateral. Then, in the 1950s, a massive water main was laid in the northbound tunnel to save $300,000 by not digging a new tunnel for the water main. According to the engineering firm Parsons Brinckerhoff, a redundant water main was installed during the construction of Fort Washington Way so the water main in the subway could be removed easily. There is also an escape clause in Ordinance No. 154-1956 that states, "in the event said section of the rapid transit subway is, at some future date, needed for rapid transit purposes, the Water Works shall remove said main at its sole cost."