For some reason my motorcycle riding bike bro’s get a huge kick out of dare I say racing the Los Angeles tunnels. Today I looked up a little history and found out that the 2nd Street Tunnel is considered “the most recognizable city landmark most Americans have never heard of”.
Perhaps it’s because of the glossy white-glazed tiles that act similarly to a photographic light box. Seventy-three car ads were filmed in the tunnel from 2006 to 2008.
And the tunnels appeared in many movies, including The Terminal Man (1974), The Driver(1978), When a Stranger Calls (1979), Blade Runner (1982), Flashdance (1983), The Terminator (1984), Repo Man (1984), Rocky IV(1985), Lethal Weapon 2 (1989), Sneakers(1992), Deep Cover (1992), Demolition Man(1993), Money Talks (1997), Con Air (1997), Gattaca (1997), Enemy of the State (1998), Independence Day (1996), Kill Bill (2003), Transformers (2007), Black November (2012), and Knight of Cups (2015).
If we weren’t so busy “racing” up and around the tunnels I too would have some great pictures to share. Around Circa 1901 the Los Angeles skyline was an entirely different scene than what we see today. Bunker Hill used to be the neighborhood of the rich and famous.
Beginning in the late 1860s developers began to construct Victorian style homes on top of Bunker Hill. … The first tunnel to be built through Bunker Hill (1901) was on 3rd street from Hill Street west to Flower Street.
The 3rd Street Tunnel was built next to the original Angel’s Flight incline railroad which moved pedestrian traffic uphill to Olive Street. The original Angel’s Flight operated until 1969. A second Angele’s Flight was opened in 1996 between Hill Street and Grand Avenue a half block from the 3rd Street Tunnel.
The 2nd Street Tunnel is by far the most well known tunnel in the Bunker Hill neighborhood. And every taco night we get lost looking for it. Just so we’re now clear, the Hill Street Tunnel runs between Hill Street to South Figueroa Street.
And that my friends is a little tunnel history.
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