The tunnel opened in 1952, and serves as a high-capacity conduit for traffic between Chinatown and North Beach to the east and Russian Hill and Van Ness Avenue to the west.

[10] Site preparations, including the move of an apartment building from 1453 Mason to Vallejo Street,[11] were underway by October 1949, and the construction contract was anticipated to be bid in January 1950.

A plaque outside the tunnel reads, "He devoted his life to high standards of professionalism in engineering and to the City which he loved."

Combined with these two overpasses, the tunnel provides for uninterrupted traffic flow along Broadway for a stretch of six blocks, between Powell on the east and Larkin on the west.

Bicyclists tend to use the sidewalk, but signal lights triggered by an inductive loop were installed in 2011 to alert motorists to the presence of bicycles in the tunnel.

[18] A stylized dragon relief sculpture by Patti Bowler, rendered in bronze, has been mounted above the eastern portal of the tunnel since 1969.

[22] In 2008, the artist Moose, sponsored by a company, executed a 140-foot-long (43 m) mural by cleaning dirt from the side of the approach to the western portal of the tunnel using pressure washing and cardboard stencils, a technique known as reverse graffiti.