From the December 1, 1935 issue of the Los Angeles Times:
Head: New Tunnel Plans Ready
Sub: Third Street Job Verdict Near
Deck Specifications for proposed WPA Structure Would Doom Angels Flight
Hailed as a great stride in the march of progress being made by the Los Angeles of 1900, the Third Street tunnel has fallen into disrepute in late years as too old-fashioned for modern traffic and will be replaced shortly under a proposal to construct an up-to-the-minute bore as a Works Project Administration Project.
Along with the replacement of the old tunnel, the picturesque Angels Flight cable railway up the hill above the tunnel probably will have to be eliminated, according to City Engineer Aldrich, under whose direction plans and specifications for the new tunnel have been prepared.
NEW ONE WIDER
The new tunnel is planned for a width of 49.6 feet, more than 17 feet wider than the present tunnel, requiring, as the engineers put it, “every inch of space we can squeeze out of it” in order to make a narrow sidewalk is provided along the north side of the tunnel, leaving a roadway 37-feet wide. The present roadway is 21 feet, stingy room even for two lanes of traffic.
Complaint of poor air in the present tunnel is expected to be eliminated for the new tunnel by the installation of a modern ventilating system. An additional 8 feet of headroom to be allowed over the old tunnel is expected also to provide better ventilation.
A proposal came before City Council last week to improve the wentilating system of the present bore, but action was postponed to await the outcome of negotiations with the Federal government on the proposal to put the new tunnel through as a WPA project.
COST PUT AT $1,706,115
Approval of the Federal authorities is expected, in view of the worthiness of the project. The only possible objection the WPA could raise, it was said, was that the project could not be completed by next July, when all WPA projects are expected to be completed.
The cost of the work has been estimated at $1,706,115, using an average of 850 men on the job over a period of 18 months.
One difficult phase ot the work would be the removal of the concrete lining of the present tunnel. This will have to be accomplished by breaking it up with pneumatic jackhammers. Dynamite could not be used, it was explained, because of the necessity of not disturbing too much of the adjacent soil and rock beyond where the new tunnel will be placed.
Should Angels Flight cable railway be removed, and the engineers say there is no room for it and the new tunnel, it is proposed to permit the installation of elevators from the tunnel level to the top of the hill, in order to accommodate those who now use the cable railway. The city would not operate the elevators, but, like the present incline railway, they would be operated under a franchise from the city. The lease under which Angels Flight now operates carries a 90-day cancellation clause of which either party may take advantage.
In addition to the elevators, one or two stairways would be provided.