Several connections have been added to the street, most notably in 1940 to the Arroyo Seco Parkway and in 1953 to the Four Level Interchange.

At the north end of the tunnels is an interchange with Interstate 5 (Golden State Freeway), in which the leftmost lane makes a hard turn onto the offramp.

Since the tunnels' incorporation into Arroyo Seco Parkway (now SR 110), Figueroa Street has been discontinuous.

[3][4] The Dayton Avenue Bridge provided another crossing to the north, but the hills of Elysian Park prevented it from being connected to downtown.

The Figueroa Street Viaduct opened in 1937, providing a wider and direct Los Angeles River crossing than the Dayton Avenue Bridge.

However, the six-lane parkway narrowed to four lanes at the viaduct and through the tunnels, and had a number of at-grade intersections on its way downtown.

Famously featured in the 1982 Ridley Scott film Blade Runner, Harrison Ford drives through the tunnel while listening to the recording of an attempted murder.

Seen in the end credits of the 1995 PlayStation video game Twisted Metal In the 2005 film Rumor Has It…, three of the characters hold their breaths while driving through the tunnels.