TUNNELS IN SAN FRANCISCO

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How many vehicle tunnels are there in S.F. and there location. I'm talking, train, bus, auto, streetcar. Even the ones that may not be in use anymore. I also remember the one in front of the Ferry bulding and now filled in and over. Dan

-- DAN HASTINGS (danrooster@mlode.com), March 28, 2004

Answers

Wow, I don't think I've ever seen a list like that. But we can easily get one started. Here are a few that pop to mind:

Broadway Tunnel (autos) MacArthur Tunnel in Presidio (autos) Twin Peaks Tunnel (streetcars) Duboce Street Tunnel (streetcars) Fort Mason Tunnel (railroad; currently closed) SP Railroad Tunnel in Butchertown (can't its remember proper name) Geary Street underpass at Masonic (autos) Geary Street underpass at Fillmore (autos) Transbay Tube from SF to Oakland

And then there's Market Street, which in effect is a double-decker tunnel for most of its length, with BART Trains on one level and Muni streetcars on the other.

Also, that tunnel you remember in front of the Ferry Building was actually just a long underpass for vehicles. It was demolished during construction of the Embarcadero Freeway.

-- John Martini (jamartini@slip.net), March 28, 2004.


Let me add a few dates to the list and some additional names.

Dduboce Tunnel (1928), Geary Tunnel (1964) and Twin Peaks Tunel (1914).

Then there's Stockton Tunnel (1913), Sunset/Westportal (1932) and Mile Rock Sewage (1914).

The railroad tunnels include the one at Tunnel Avenue and the Potrero Hill Tunnel.

Anybody got anymore?

-- Kurt Iversen (iversenk@aol.com), March 29, 2004.


There's also the tunnel where 280 runs under J. Serra and 19th Ave. It sounds like an "underpass", but it's a legitimate tunnel with lights, etc.

I don't know if it has an official name.

-- Steve (swolf1625@hotmail.com), April 25, 2004.


A 1949 survey of San Francisco tunnels

-- strange (stranger@yahoo.com), April 26, 2004.

There is an abandoned tunnel between the pier at Aquatic Park and Fort Mason. Tracks lead to it presumably for streetcars.

-- Michael (bige531@aol.com), May 27, 2004.


There used to be a second railroad tunnel under potrero hill, from 18th near arkansas to 22nd and texas. You can still see the path of the rails through the lower part of potrero, from 16th and rhode island diagonally across 3 blocks, even though most of is has been filled with buildings now. It must have been filled up in the 1950s.

-- Christian Wolff (sub-gnsp@scara.com), June 01, 2004.

Is there a tunnel connected to Bethel Christian Church (24th St. and Valecia)?

-- Geetarchic (geetarchic@yahoo.com), July 12, 2004.

I once heard of and found an article about a tunnel that goes under the golden gate, from Sausalito to the presidio. Has anyone else ever heard of this?

-- Mary Lantz (lantz2733@mac.com), November 20, 2004.

The story about an underwater tunnel from the Headlands to the Presidio has been kicking around for decades. It's just mythology, though, which apparently emerged from the Army's secretive construction projects during WWII. If it had been built, such a tunnel would have been an engineering marvel since the Golden Gate strait is more than 300 feet deep!

The most extensive military tunnel system is Battery Townsely at Fort Cronkhite, which only extends a few hundred feet in length.

-- P.S. Perris (psperris@slip.net), November 20, 2004.


Im looking for an old railroad tunnel in the brisbane area of san francisco. is there anyone who knows about it? and how can I get there ... thanks!!

Phillip

-- Phillip Pasag (phillip_pasag@yahoo.com), December 08, 2004.



If you ever hop on the Caltrain, it runs through Brisbane. You get a good look of all the tunnels in that area as well as the old industry building and such that have declined. I like that ride.

-- gypsy (gypsyconvictions@yahoo.com), December 28, 2004.

The blocked tunnel at the west end of Aquatic Park was once used by trolleys to transport people to the Panama Pacific Exposition (built on the site of the current Marina neighborhood). The tunnel goes under Black Point and exits in Fort Mason. The rest of the tracks were under the wide sidewalk on the south side of the Marina Green. After the Exposition closed, the City traded the right-of-way for the tracks to the Army (to take supplies to Fort Mason), in exchange for the Palace of Fine Arts -- which was actually on the Army's Presidio property at the time of the Exposition.

-- Jim McCormick (jheem.ppc@yahoo.com), January 12, 2005.

Actually, the trolley to the fair ran through upper Fort Mason and stopped near the corner of Laguna and Marina Blvd where it made a loop before returning to Van Ness Ave. (There's a passenger station still standing across from GGNRA headquarters.) The tunnel was only used by trains bringing construction materials and freight to the fair site and, later, Fort Mason and the Presidio. An interesting footnote is that during World War II hospital trains carrying Pacific battlefield casualties came through the tunnel headed for Letterman Hospital.

-- John Martini (jamartini@slip.net), January 13, 2005.

maga

-- maga (maga@maga.com), January 22, 2005.

As kids, in the 40's after WW11 ended, we used to go exploring on Lands End, in back of Sutro Baths, along the cliffs, below The Vet's Hospitol and ending around Lincoln Park Golf Course. There were several tunnels in the cliffs above the surf. We used to run through, always carefully avoiding puddles in case it was a hole dropping down to another level. Never did happen, however. Are those tunnels still there? I don't know.

-- Adele and Anatole Balmy (abalmy@sbcglobal.net), February 03, 2005.


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