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Sources for Los Angeles Sent Schoolchildren Under Sunset Boulevard

Published Aug 22, 2026

Sources Used

  1. Tunnels for Tots: The Pedestrian Tunnel Experiment in Los Angeles

    Morgan P. Yates / November 2013 / Secondary; archive-based historical essay by the Automobile Club of Southern California's corporate archivist

    The 1923 Micheltorena safety pageant; appeals from parents and teachers; the tunnel's 1924 construction, dimensions, utilities, lighting, drainage and cost; its effect on collisions; the 1925 bond program; the number of tunnels by 1940; compulsory use, police reassignment, maintenance problems, wartime shelter proposal and later mirrors and closures.

    Accessed 2026-08-22

  2. Motion: Tunnel Underneath Sunset Boulevard at Golden Gate Avenue / Permanent Closure

    Mitch O’Farrell, Los Angeles City Council / May 20, 2015 / Primary; municipal record

    City construction of the Micheltorena tunnel in 1924; its location; long closure; vandalized locks, encampments, graffiti, trash and the request for permanent closure.

    Accessed 2026-08-22

  3. Council File 15-0617: Tunnel Underneath Sunset Boulevard at Golden Gate Avenue / Permanent Closure

    Office of the City Clerk, City of Los Angeles / Generated August 22, 2026 / Primary; municipal record

    Council-file identity, motion and committee chronology, 2015 Council action and subsequent administrative status.

    Accessed 2026-08-22

  4. Unearthing LA’s Pedestrian Tunnels and Their Roots in Our History of Traffic Violence

    Ryan Fonseca / June 1, 2022 / Secondary; reported article

    The 1924 child casualty figures; Auto Club involvement; the relationship between tunnels and motor-traffic priorities; Micheltorena's 2017 filling; the Dahlia Heights tunnel's 2022 operation, lighting and murals; archival image identification.

    Accessed 2026-08-22

  5. Fighting Traffic: The Dawn of the Motor Age in the American City

    Peter D. Norton / 2008 / Secondary; scholarly history

    The broader historical interpretation of American streets being reconstructed around motor traffic, including the transfer of safety responsibility from drivers to pedestrians and children.

    Accessed 2026-08-22

  6. School Children Must Use Tunnels

    San Pedro Daily News / November 12, 1927 / Primary; contemporary newspaper report

    The Los Angeles police plan requiring schoolchildren to use pedestrian tunnels wherever they were available.

    Accessed 2026-08-22

  7. Traffic Commission Bond and Pedestrian Tunnel Report

    Daily News (Los Angeles) / December 25, 1925 / Primary; contemporary newspaper report

    Contemporary confirmation of the 1925 $350,000 bond issue for pedestrian tunnels protecting schoolchildren.

    Accessed 2026-08-22

  8. Automobile Club of Southern California Repository Profile

    LA as Subject / Undated / Image-source and repository directory

    Archive holdings, access information and the current permission contact for Automobile Club photographs.

    Accessed 2026-08-22

Image Sources

  1. Children emerging from the experimental pedestrian tunnel beneath Sunset Boulevard near Micheltorena School.

    Photographer uncredited; Automobile Club of Southern California Archives / 1927 / Permission needed; all rights reserved by the Automobile Club of Southern California Archives. LAist's prior publication does not establish reuse rights for ECO ARC.

    Permission contact: Morgan Yates, Automobile Club of Southern California Archives, yates.morgan@aaa-calif.com, 213-741-4692

    Original file: https://scpr-brightspot.s3.us-west-2.amazonaws.com/ec/da/62128e1640a6beb3496d5817cb15/1019-a-tunnels-micheltorena-st-jpeg.jpg