Sepulveda Tunnel

Traffic streams through the Sepulveda Tunnel under the south runway at LAX. December 2011 Daily Breeze photo.

 

When a set of water pumps in the Sepulveda Tunnel under LAX malfunctioned during rainstorms in mid-November 2011, a lot of drivers learned how vital this transportation link can be. The tunnel flooded, leading to massive traffic jams in the area that lasted for hours. The pumps were repaired a few days later, shortly before the busy Thanksgiving travel period.

Sepulveda Boulevard didn’t always run under LAX’s south runway. For years, motorists on Sepulveda had to use a bypass road 1500 feet west of Sepulveda to detour around the airstrip.

Funded by a half-and-half combination of a 1945 airport bond issue and a special federal grant, construction on the estimated $3.5 million (unadjusted for inflation) tunnel project began in October 1949.

It was an impressive engineering feat. The structure had to be strong enough to withstand airplanes landing on the runway above it. Complex lighting, ventilation and drainage systems had to be built, and the tunnel needed its own power plant to operate them.

The Sepulveda Tunnel in 1953, shortly after its completion. Photo: Flight Path Learning Center and Museum, LAX.

 

At the time of its completion in March 1953, the six-lane, 1909-foot-long divided tunnel was the only traffic tunnel under a large  airport runway in the United States.

The tunnel’s grand opening was held on April 21, 1953. L.A. Mayor Fletcher Bowron cut the ribbon (presumably with one of those giant pairs of scissors), and the LAPD band provided entertainment during the ceremony.

After the first 100 cars traveled through the tunnel, their drivers received mementoes of the aviation industry from stewardesses (flight attendants)  who were stationed at the intersections of Sepulveda with Imperial Highway and Century Boulevard.

 
Almost immediately, complaints about dangers stemming from the dim lighting in the tunnel became commonplace, but it took until 1965 for money to be approved to overhaul the lighting system.

Lighting in the tunnel has continued to be an issue. Plans to replace the current conventional lighting with LED lights that will not burn out as quickly are scheduled to be implemented by 2012.

The current lighting in the Sepulveda Tunnel is expected to be replaced by an LED lighting system in 2012. December 2011 Daily Breeze photo.

 

 

Sources:

Daily Breeze files.

Los Angeles Times files, especially “Tunnel At Airport Nears Completion,” by Charles Hillinger, Oct. 26, 1952, Page B1.