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2nd Street Tunnel

Los Angeles street tunnel commonly depicted in photographs and media

Field	Value
name	2nd Street Tunnel
image	Mouth of the 2nd street tunnel.jpg
caption	The west entrance
image_size	250px
location	Downtown Los Angeles
route	2nd Street
crosses	Bunker Hill
start	Figueroa Street (Northwest end)
end	Hill Street (Southeast end)
opened	1924
length	1550 ft
height	12.75 ft
map

NOTOC

The 2nd Street Tunnel is a widely filmed and photographed tunnel on 2nd Street under Bunker Hill in Downtown Los Angeles, California. The Los Angeles Times described it as "the most recognizable city landmark most Americans have never heard of". It is 1500 ft long and lined with glossy white-glazed tiles that act similarly to a photographic light box and provide visually interesting, distorted reflections of things placed in it.

The tunnel was built to relieve congestion on the earlier 3rd Street Tunnel. Construction began in 1916 and was completed in 1924, with its formal opening on July 25 of that year. The distinctive white tiles, which give the tunnel its glow, came from Germany, which caused controversy at the time due to Anti-German sentiment at the onset of World War I.

The tunnel runs from South Figueroa Street at the northwest to Hill Street at the southeast. 2nd Street also runs above for two blocks at the surface from Hill Street at the southwest to South Hope Street.

The two entrances are very different in character, automotive columnist Dan Neil describing the contrast of "the grittier east entrance and the glowing aperture of the west side, with flaring buttresses reminiscent of the shell of the Hollywood Bowl."

|File:Second Street tunnel construction site before boring of the tunnel in Los Angeles, Calif., 1921.jpg|Before the boring of the tunnel, from the Figueroa Street end, 1921 |File:2nd Street Tunnel, Hill Street entrance, at dusk.jpg|Hill Street entrance |File:2nd Street Tunnel, Figueroa Street entrance, at dusk.jpg|Figueroa Street entrance |File:Second Street Tunnel (as seen in many Hollywood Movies & countless auto commercials on TV) (10434910853).jpg|The tunnel

Traffic

The tunnel has two-way traffic. It previously had four lanes (two in each direction), but in late 2013 a bike lane in each direction was added, resulting in one car lane and one bike lane in each direction.

In popular culture

The tunnel appears frequently in car advertisements from many manufacturers. Seventy-three car ads were filmed in the tunnel from 2006 to 2008, averaging more than two per month.

The tunnel has appeared in many movies, including The Student Nurses (1970), 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), Independence Day (1996), Money Talks (1997), Con Air (1997), Gattaca (1997), Enemy of the State (1998), Kill Bill (2003), Transformers (2007), Kill Speed (2010), Black November (2012), and Knight of Cups (2015).

The 2nd Street tunnel has been featured in music videos such as "Iris" by Goo Goo Dolls, "It’s Over Now" by Neve, "We R Who We R" by Kesha, "It's My Life" by Bon Jovi, "Kings and Queens" by Thirty Seconds to Mars, "Grenade" by Bruno Mars, "Sing" by My Chemical Romance, "Protovision" by Kavinsky, "Bet" by Tinashe, "Feel Good" by Gryffin and Illenium featuring Daya, "Narcissist" by Halo Circus, "Please Me" by Bruno Mars and Cardi B, "You Can't Stop The Girl" by Bebe Rexha and "Blinding Lights" by The Weeknd. It was also used in the artwork for Luna Sea's album Shine.

The tunnel has also been used for fashion shows, including the 2004 LA Fashion Week show by designer Michelle Mason, and for parties, such as the 2013 Golden Globe Awards the Art of Elysium/Audi party.

References

Neil, Dan. [https://www.latimes.com/archives/la-xpm-2009-apr-21-fi-ct-neil21-story.html "The automakers' tunnel of love is a cause for reflection"] . ''[[Los Angeles Times]]'' (April 21, 2009).
Richardson, Eric. [http://blogdowntown.com/2008/09/3589-third-street tunnel-a-primer "Third Street Tunnel: A Primer"] {{Webarchive. link. (2011-09-29 (December 5, 2008).)
"The 2nd Street tunnel's frustrating bike lanes".
"Another Side of SKF: 021◆オレにとって忘れちゃならない、「dead start」、、、、、". Sakaguchi Ken Factory.
Seward, N. Jayne. [http://www.apparelnews.net/news/2004/apr/02/la-fashion-week-fall-04-michelle-mason/ "L.A. Fashion Week Fall '04: Michelle Mason"] {{Webarchive. link. (2022-04-07 . ''California Apparel News'' (April 2, 2004).)
Niedler, Alison A. [http://www.apparelnews.net/news/2009/apr/22/mason-gets-anonymous-spotlight-in-the-la-times/ "Mason Gets Anonymous Spotlight in the L.A. Times"] {{Webarchive. link. (2022-04-07 . ''California Apparel News'' (April 22, 2009).)
Richardson. Eric. [http://blogdowntown.com/2009/04/4253-auto-shoots-nothing-new-for-2nd-street-tunnel "Auto Shoots Nothing New for 2nd Street Tunnel, But Fashion Shows?"] {{Webarchive. link. (2009-04-26 (April 21, 2009))

Info: Wikipedia Source

This article was imported from Wikipedia and is available under the Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 4.0 License. Content has been adapted to SurfDoc format. Original contributors can be found on the article history page.

bunker-hill,-los-angeles road-tunnels-in-california tunnels-completed-in-1924 tunnels-in-los-angeles

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