From the L. A. Times:
L.A. Times
1936 tunnel opening in Santa Monica
Posted By: Scott Harrison
Posted On: 12:21 a.m. | August 13, 2014
Feb. 1, 1936: Dedication of new tunnel in Santa Monica linking Roosevelt Highway with Olympic and Lincoln boulevards.
Staff photographer Bob Jakobsen’s original caption reported:
Scene near tunnel opened yesterday (Saturday – Feb. 1, 1936) afternoon in Santa Monica, as another important link was added to the Roosevelt Highway system. Hundreds crowded the scene despite a drizzling rain as county, state and city officials dedicated the tunnel, located at the head of Santa Monica pier. The tunnel was formerly used, before its reconstruction into a much larger capacity road, by Pacific Electric Streetcar system.
An article in the Feb. 2, 1936 Los Angeles Times reported:
SANTA MONICA, Feb. 1. (Exclusive)–A drizzling rain today failed to hold back a crowd that witnessed the formal opening of the new 400-foot tunnel in Santa Monica linking Roosevelt Coast Highway traffic with the coast route south, Olympic Boulevard and arteries to metropolitan Los Angeles.
The new bore, costing $200,000, running under Ocean Avenue along Colorado Avenue, was formally opened to traffic by Earl Lee Kelly, State Director of Public Works. The ceremony was preceded by a parade headed by the Santa Monica Municipal Band. …
The tunnel became known as the Olympic Tunnel. In 1969, it was renamed the Robert E. McClure Tunnel – honoring the former editor of the Santa Monica Outlook. Today the tunnel connects the Santa Monica Freeway and Pacific Coast Highway.
L.A. Times
Feb. 1936: A new Ford V-8 Fordor sedan exits the new tunnel in Santa Monica onto Olympic Boulevard, which leads to Lincoln Boulevard. The tunnel connected those streets with the Roosevelt Highway. Credit: Los Angeles Times.
Today:
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