bbtunn.jpgHow do Bay Bridge toll takers make it to their booths without getting smeared by traffic? According to CBS5, it’s via a “secret tunnel” that stretches beneath all 18 lanes of toll-plaza traffic.

Did everyone else know about this already? Well, obviously, not everyone — the CBS report was spurred by a question from a viewer, one “Michael” of El Sobrante.

Part of the bridge’s original design, workers use the tunnel to elude the over 275,000 cars passing through the booths (many of them without stopping, given FasTrak) every day.

Speaking of FasTrak, does CalTrans foresee a time when toll takers (and, therefore, the 10 foot below tunnel) become obsolete? Nope, they say, citing the large number of non-FasTrak sporting tourists passing through the plaza every day.

the author

Eve Batey is the editor and publisher of the San Francisco Appeal. She used to be the San Francisco Chronicle's Deputy Managing Editor for Online, and started at the Chronicle as their blogging and interactive editor. Before that, she was a co-founding writer and the lead editor of SFist. She's been in the city since 1997, presently living in the Outer Sunset with her husband, cat, and dog. You can reach Eve at eve@sfappeal.com.

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