Talk:Solano Avenue

The Tunnel
There seems to be a disagreement over the name of the tunnel that Solano passes through.

A quick search of the Berkeley Muicicpal Code finds one mention of "Solano Tunnel", under Section 99.02.030 Table 3 Inventory of Property Owned by the City. There is also one mention of "Northbrae Tunnel", under Section 19.48.020 Amendments to the California Fire Code.

A search of the city's website finds 10 pages for "solano tunnel", and one for "northbrae tunnel".

A google search for "northbrae tunnel" finds 28 pages, including this wikipedia article. About half are from railfan sites, six are from a City of Berkeley zoning map, and five are from a 40-50 year old Caltrans publication.

A google search for "solano tunnel" finds 141 pages.

I also found a handful of references to the "Thousand Oaks Tunnel", "Solano Avenue Tunnel", "Henry Street Tunnel", and "North Berkeley Tunnel".

The tunnel (or more accurately, the "bridge" which carries Marin Avenue over the top) is listed as "Solano-Sutter Street Tunnel" on the Caltrans website at http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/structur/strmaint/local.htm

Just from looking at the above, there doesn't seem to be much official agreement over the name, although "Solano Tunnel" is used slightly more often. "Solano Tunnel" is, however, the most commonly used name (on the internet, at least). Personally, as someone who grew up nearby, I can't remember anyone ever calling it the "Northbrae Tunnel". Nogood 09:33, 1 March 2006 (UTC)

The Robert S. Ford book contains photos showing the construction of the tunnel. "Tunnel" is the correct term for this type of construction. "Cut and cover" is a standard method of tunnel construction. When trains used the tunnel, I don't recall any specific name being used except maybe "SP tunnel" or "Key System tunnel". One of the photos shows a real estate office at the south end of the tunnel with a sign that says "Northbrae Properties" and "Mason-McDuffie Co.", so the SP apparently used the subdivision name for the stop at that point and for the tunnel. The Codornices Creek article talks about how the dirt removed was used on the railroad right-of-way to the south. MagnaGraecia, May 9, 2010