The Figueroa Street Tunnels, 1938

 

Thanks to Historic Los Angeles. 

This 1954 movie, starring Lon Chaney, Jr. has fugitives driving through the Figueroa Street Tunnel.  See the 48:11 mark.

1941, View looking northeast along the Arroyo Seco Parkway (now part of the 110 Freeway) showing two-way traffic flowing through one of the Figueroa Street Tunnels. On the left, construction is underway for a new parallel extension road designed to alleviate rush hour bottlenecks through the Figueroa Tunnels for traffic between Los Angeles and Pasadena. This new extension of the Arroyo Seco Parkway will serve southbound traffic, while the Figueroa Street Tunnel section will accommodate northbound traffic. In the background, the framing of the new Park Row Bridge, which will straddle the new extension, can be seen. The building on the left is Solano Avenue Elementary School, located in the Elysian Park area of Los Angeles. Photo credy by LADWP Archives.  Thanks to Carlos Lucero.

1957, Look familiar? Here's an old photo of the southbound Pasadena Freeway, aka, the Arroyo Seco Parkway.  Traffic jams were nothing new.  Thanks to Jose Sotela.

1958, Here is a section of the 11 Freeway/Pasadena Freeway/Figueroa Street from Chavez Ravine.