Aging pedestrian tunnels beneath the streets of Los Angeles have been attracting squatters who break into the subterranean passageways and cover them in filth.

One tunnel, located near Soto Street Elementary School in Boyle Heights, is among several pedestrian underpasses across Los Angeles that have fallen into disrepair and disrepute –– attracting the homeless and illegal activities.

Chain-link fences and gates have been installed to block off the tunnels, but trespassers continue to break through. Inside, the passageways are littered with feces, urine, drugs, food, clothing, furniture and even sex toys.

The tunnel system, constructed about a century ago to help schoolchildren safely cross busy streets, has evolved into a haven for homeless individuals, criminals and drug addicts.

District 14 City Councilmember Ysabel Jurado, who represents Boyle Heights, said that the tunnel is a threat to public safety as it continues to attract trash and filth.

“For years, the tunnel has presented persistent public health and safety concerns, including accumulated trash and debris, flooding and debris-flow hazards during adverse weather, and activity inside the passageway that has disrupted nearby school operations,” Jurado told KTLA in a statement.

The tunnel was previously covered in fencing to prevent squatters from entering, but Jurado wants it to be closed permanently.

“A permanent closure requires an engineering evaluation, coordination among the relevant City departments, identification of funding, and approval through the City Council process,” she told the outlet.

Jurado had also filed a motion in February 2026 to get the pedestrian tunnel shuttered permanently.

“As previous efforts to adequately close the tunnel have been unsuccessful, there is an urgent need for the City to develop a permanent solution to close the tunnel,” the councilmember said in the motion. “This endeavor will advance safer, more accessible streets for our students, educators, workers, families, and surrounding community.”

Jurado’s predecessor, Kevin De Leon, also had the tunnel on this radar and filed a similar motion in 2024.

“Rather than providing safe passage for the Soto Street Elementary students and parents, this pedestrian tunnel has provided harbor for illicit activity and dangerous conditions,” he argued at the time. “The City should take the steps necessary to permanently close this tunnel and abate ongoing public safety hazards that are taking place at this site.”

Around 220 tunnels like the one in Boyle Heights were constructed in the 1920s and 1930s, funded by more than $1 million in bond measures approved by LA voters, according to the Los Angeles Times.

But by the late 1960s, the passageways were already falling out of use. In 1968, public works officials adopted a formal policy for closing pedestrian tunnels after the LA Board of Education raised alarms that many had become unsafe, unsanitary corridors that attracted criminal activity.

The policy led to the closure of several tunnels across Los Angeles but the ones that still exist remain a safety concern for locals.