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| figueroa tunnels, walkway, way, mary cummins, los angeles, california, 110 freeway, figueroa, pedestrian tunnel, golden state freeway, 5 freeway, hike, explore, la bucket list |
Directions to the walk:
Starting point 1 right in front of Solano Canyon Community Garden at 545 Solano Avenue, Los Angeles, CA 90012 34.07516358924873, -118.23170559978784. Park at Casanova St and Solana Ave intersection. On Solano Ave go north then make a right at the corner at the park. You'll see the 110 N freeway right in front of you. Go east right about 50 feet to enter the east side of pedestrian tunnel. Once out of the tunnel go up the stairs then make a right to another set of stairs in the photo above.
Starting point 2 near Solano Avenue Elementary school 615 Solano Ave near intersection of Amador Pl and Solano. 34.07579829634919, -118.23272841282824 There is a public walkway to the walk directly adjacent to the school parking lot, see photo below. Take that to end, go left under freeway then left again and you'll see the pedestrian tunnel entrance 34°04'31.9"N 118°13'54.2"W , 34.075540, -118.231710 You don't have to go through the pedestrian tunnel. The beginning of walk is directly to the left up the stairs in the photo above.
After you go up the stairs there will be a fence with a huge human sized hole in it. Go through that to the right or north east. Walk 1800 ft or 1/3 mile north east along the pathway which abuts the 110 S. This takes you to the spiral staircase where the 110 N splits to the 5 N. Enjoy the views of Los Angeles, LA River and mountains. You can walk farther on the 110 walkway either way.
There will be large holes in the fence along the way. Go through the holes and you can get directly above and behind the facades of the Figueroa tunnels over the 110 N. Be careful not to slip or you'll end up on the 110 fwy run over by 100 cars. There is nothing that prevents people from falling and it's steep dirt. You can see the graffiti behind the facades. Be careful because there are homeless encampments in the bushes. Some don't like strangers walking around there. Don't take this walk at night. Don't do the walk after rains as the walkway floods and is a huge wet muddy mess.
Map of the walk: Click to see larger.
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| figueroa tunnels, walkway, way, mary cummins, los angeles, california, 110 freeway, figueroa, pedestrian tunnel, golden state freeway, 5 freeway, hike, explore, la bucket list |
About the walk:
The Figueroa Street tunnels are a set of four four-lane tunnels that carry northbound traffic on State Route 110 (the Arroyo Seco Parkway) through Elysian Park in Los Angeles, California, United States. From south to north, the four tunnels measure 755, 461, 130, and 405 feet. They opened between 1931 and 1943.
The tunnels were designed by engineer Merrill Butler, who was responsible for many iconic Los Angeles River bridges - notably the Sixth Street Viaduct and the Glendale-Hyperion Bridge. The tunnels featured Art Deco patterns, ornamental street lamps, reflective tiling (similar to the 2nd Street Tunnel), and above all eight openings, a stylized Seal of Los Angeles.
The walkway was a WPA project. The entire walkway spans about one mile from Stadium Way at the east end of Chinatown to North San Fernando Road at the juncture between Lincoln Heights and Cypress Park. I only walked 1/3 of the walkway. Below are photos from that walk.
Video of the walk https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=MplYftI2SCM
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| Under 110 S looking at school playground |
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| Spiral stairs at the 110 and 5 split |
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| Entrance to Solano Canyon Community Garden |
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| Looking at Figueroa tunnel on 110 N at the 5 split from the spiral stairs |
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| Behind the facade of the Figueroa tunnel over the 110 North spiral stairs upper left |
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| Under the 110 S looking toward 110 N right before pedestrian tunnel |
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| Walk along 110 S |
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| Entrance to pedestrian tunnel under 110 N from north side near the school |
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| Entrance/exit of the pedestrian tunnel |
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| Beginning of walk near school and pedestrian tunnel looking south |
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| Entrance to walkway to the walk between school and school parking lot |
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| 110 N on the south side near the community garden |
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| Behind the facade of top of Figueroa tunnel looking north |
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| Inside community park which is locked |
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| Beginning of the walk up the stairs along the 110 N. |
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| 110 N Figueroa tunnel with LA River in the background |
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| Go through this hole to get to the walkway |
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| Behind the facade of the Figueroa tunnel looking north |
Related articles
The 110 Walkway https://losangelesexplorersguild.com/2021/11/12/the-110-walkway/
