Mystery Underpass

[SignBridge]

I'm hoping you Los Angeles folks can help me with an L.A. freeway trivia question that's been on my mind for years, but I never thought to ask here before.

In the late 1970's there was a movie that involved a freeway chase where the CHP and an LA County Sheriff's helicopter were chasing a guy driving a passenger bus. At some point the bus tried to hide under a very long underpass, actually a short tunnel. It was on a transition from one freeway to another, and curved to the right if I remember correctly.

I've made 3 separate trips to the L.A. area since then, and I've never found that long underpass at any interchange I ever drove thru. It might not be in the city of L.A; possibly somewhere in eastern L.A. County. And before anybody suggests it, it's not the actual "tunnel" that connects the westbound I-105 to southbound I-405 near LAX. That interchange was built about 10 years after this movie was made.

If anybody knows where that location is, I'll look at it on Google Earth and see if it looks like where I remember from the movie. Any suggestions?

[agentsteel53]

it might be the truck lanes on I-5 southbound at the 5/14 junction.

that is the only long tunnel I can think of offhand in the LA area.

[SignBridge]

Hmmm, I don't think that's it. I've seen that tunnel on news footage when there was a big accident/fire there a few years ago. Also, that tunnel was probably built after the movie was made. Anyone know for sure?

[agentsteel53]

Hmmm, I don't think that's it. I've seen that tunnel on news footage when there was a big accident/fire there a few years ago. Also, that tunnel was probably built after the movie was made. Anyone know for sure?

I believe the tunnel dates to 1971.

there is also a tunnel at the western terminus of I-10 where it transitions to CA-1.

[SignBridge]

Okay, I didn't realize that truck tunnel was that old.  I just "drove" it on Google Earth. It looks newer than 40 years old. Did they rehab it after the fire? Anyway, it's not the one from the movie. The one in the movie was shorter; really just a very long underpass, maybe a few hundred feet long. It's definitely not that one in Santa Monica either. I've driven thru that one too (in real life, LOL). Let's keep trying!

[ARMOURERERIC]

Was it any of the NB 110 tunnels between 101 and da 5

[SignBridge]

Again, IIRC it was a transition road curving to the right thru the long underpass, not the freeway itself. Damn, I can't even remember the name of the movie, that I hope I'll catch again one day; haven't seen it in many years now. Made in the mid/late 1970's, it was about a commercial bus driver and his girlfriend who pull some kind of heist using the bus with the big freeway chase at the end. And largely about the officers of the L.A. Sheriffs helicopter division looking for them throughout the movie. Wish I could remember the name or who was in the movie......... 

[DTComposer]

It curves to the left, but what about the I-210/CA-134 interchange in Pasadena? The tunnel is the transition from I-210 heading south then turning to the east.

EDIT/ADD: Also curves to the left, but maybe the transition from eastbound CA-60 to northbound CA-57 in Diamond Bar?

[SignBridge]

Progress: I remembered 2 actors in the movie; Frank Gorshin (the Riddler in the Batman TV series) as the bad guy driving the bus and Don Meredith as a chopper pilot. Did a Google search and came up with the movie Sky Heist from 1975, starring them and Stephanie Powers and Larry Wilcox (from CHIPS). Looking further now to see if I can buy the movie. We might figure this out yet! (Chuckle!)

[Duke87]

Considering how movie filming operates, it's entirely possible that the underpass in question is not in LA or even anywhere near it.

Just sayin'...

[agentsteel53]

Considering how movie filming operates, it's entirely possible that the underpass in question is not in LA or even anywhere near it.

Just sayin'...

usually it's the other way around - locations which are stated to be set elsewhere are filmed in the LA area ... but yes, sometimes indeed LA locations are filmed elsewhere.

for some reason*, the Sierra Highway (old US-6) heading north from Castaic to Lancaster are a very popular filming location.  This includes the iconic Vasquez Rocks, which are easily seen if you look to the west from the current 14 freeway.



yep, that is where Kirk and the Gorn captain faced off, so the location has been extrapolated to be a completely different planet than ours.

* it is a very logical reason.  not only does it provide scenery, but places along that route are over 30 miles from the studios of LA, and the union rules are different and bent in favor of the filmmaking producers, as opposed to the actors and crew.  therefore, it is much less expensive to film there.

[roadman65]

It might be the tunnel at I-605's southern terminus/

[Riverside Frwy]

It would be more helpful if we actually had the picture of the overpass from the movie, or atleast the name of movie so we could see it for ourselves. Trying to guess some random overpass based on an Unknown movie with the OP the only one that knows what it looks like is pretty hopeless.

The funny part is this overpass is probably somewhere so obvious that it probably deserves a "No $hit Sherlock".

[SignBridge]

I mentioned above, the movie was Sky Heist, made in 1975 starring Frank Gorshin,  Don Meredith, Stephanie Powers and Larry Wilcox (who later starred in CHiPs).

[hm insulators]

I'm pretty sure all of the freeway transition underpasses in and around Los Angeles (such as the ones mentioned above, such as the I-210 south to I-210 east in Pasadena) curve to the left, which makes more sense; you just might have your directions wrong. I'm from there originally and know the L.A. freeway system like the back of my hand.

A likely possibility for the time period of the movie in question might be one of two such transitions at the interchange where the California 2 Freeway ends at I-210 in La Canada Flintridge. The westbound 210 to the southbound 2 ducks under the 210 through one of these tunnels you describe, as does the northbound 2 to the westbound 210. I grew up in La Canada Flintridge and remember when both freeways were built. The 210 was opened through La Canada Flintridge and La Crescenta in 1973. The interchange at the 2 was constructed in the same time period, but the 2 itself was not open to traffic until 1977 or '78. Before then, only a mile or so of the 2 south of the 210 was even paved. So if the movie was shot in 1975, it's quite likely that the scene in question could've been filmed in one or both of those transition ramps that were basically unused at the time. Quite convenient, really: it would've been one section of freeway they didn't have to close to traffic to shoot a few feet of movie film.

[SignBridge]

hm, thanks for your detailed reply. I guess the only way I'll know for sure is if I catch the movie again sometime. It's available on the net for $36.00, but I won't pay that exhorbitant price. (chuckle!) I appreciate your knowledge of L.A. County freeways. I have similar detailed knowledge of the highways in my region, having lived here my whole life. Someone suggested earlier that maybe the scenes were not filmed in L.A. or even in Calif. Hopefully I'll find out one day, and we'll see if my memory was right.   

[Alps]

The idea of a long underpass with a short tunnel is very Californian

[J N Winkler]

The I-210/Calif. 2 interchange has a direct connector lying in a false tunnel built almost like a box culvert.  If the parts of the tunnel roof not covered by the roadway were not solid concrete, but rather concrete girders laid parallel to each other, the result would be a pergola, which is a distinguishing feature of Spanish motorway architecture.