. The section to the WTC Transportation Hub, which was opened on May 26, 2016, is at this end. During the planning stage of the
Fulton Center project, there were numerous alternatives for a passageway connecting Church Street and the
Fulton Street complex. These alternatives included a pedestrian tunnel, with a paid transfer, under Fulton Street. Various configurations within the Fulton Center main building were also planned, including a diagonal link between a tunnel under Dey Street and the mezzanine in the Fulton Center transit hub. The Fulton Center design changed very frequently during planning, but after much analysis, it was decided that a wide tunnel was to be built under Dey Street, without a paid transfer between the Fulton Street complex and the
Cortlandt Street station. The MTA's decision to disallow a paid transfer was on the premise that Broadway and Church Streets are critical north–south streets. An unpaid passageway allows non-passengers to move throughout Lower Manhattan without having to cross those streets. Furthermore, the passageway directly connects to the
World Trade Center Transportation Hub, the connection to which opened in the
World Trade Center site in May 2016. However, due to budgetary concerns, the tunnel width had been rescaled from to . The aforementioned transfer between the Cortlandt Street and
Chambers Street–World Trade Center stations was eventually realized and opened in late 2017. ==Construction==