Welcoming the Tom Lantos Tunnels to the Coast [PHOTOS/VIDEO]

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Seventy-six years after building an extension of Highway 1 at Devils Slide, Caltrans is ready to shut down the coastal road forever and open the twin tunnels through the mountainside.

Today at 11 a.m. the invitation-only grand opening of the Tom Lantos Tunnels brings together more than 400 people, including many who worked hard to push the tunnel project through like Lennie Roberts, the leader of the Measure T campaign that made the tunnel a reality, and Moss Beach resident Zoe Kersteen-Tucker, the spokesperson for the Tunnel Campaign.

The Half Moon Bay High School Band, Terra Nova High School Band in Pacifica, Supervisor Don Horsley, and representatives from the Pacifica Chamber of Commerce and Half Moon Bay Chamber of Commerce are in attendance at the ribbon cutting cutting ceremony, as well as a lot of speakers who all had a stake in making the tunnel project happen such as Annette Tilleman, the wife of the Tom Lantos, the late Congressman who lobbied for the project.

Aside from Caltrans vehicles, the first vehicles to inaugurate the tunnels are a series of antique cars representing each era from 1912 to 2013, which parade through the tunnels and stop at the Pillar Point Harbor after the ceremonies.

Senator Leland Yee (D-San Mateo/San Francisco) expressed his excitement in a statement, "I was proud to author the legislation to name these tunnels in honor of Congressman Lantos and to have fought for the bill that allowed for the construction.

"I only wish that Tom was also able to see this day come to fruition," he added. "His efforts, as well as so many on the coastside, ensured that pristine coastal land was not paved over.” 

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