Volunteers Clean Filthy Santa Monica Canyon Tunnel

For months, sand and waste accumulated in the Roosevelt Tunnel, the underground walkway that connects West Channel Road to Will Rogers State Beach, and no clean-up scheduling came from the city or county.

So instead of waiting for local government to do the job, volunteers from the BOCA Neighborhood Association and Santa Monica Canyon Civic Association (SMCCA) teamed up to clean it up and split the costs.

BOCA member Sharon Kilbride and four other volunteers spent about five hours removing 800 to 900 buckets of sand that had accumulated in the tunnel, which is used year-round by beachgoers and cyclists.

Kilbride told the Post they plan to return to repaint the tunnel on Wednesday, June 25. This will bring the combined costs between BOCA and the SMCCA to $1,500 for the work.

Kilbride, serving as the clean-up captain, and BOCA Environmental Committee Chairman Wes Hough spearheaded the project after months of inaction between the city and county over which had responsibility for the tunnel’s maintenance.

The windswept sand used to be cleared by a local transient simply known as “Ice,” according to BOCA members, but he stopped showing up to the area. The level of sand in the tunnel reached unprecedented levels and people using the tunnel were regularly slipping and falling.

What’s worse, according to BOCA members, the homeless on the beach began using the wall next to the Roosevelt Tunnel as an outdoor toilet. Kilbride said her volunteers handled removal of the human waste and toilet paper as well.

She credited Councilmember Mike Bonin’s office for trying to get city departments to move on the cleanup but was unsuccessful. Palisadian Norm Kulla, senior counsel to Bonin, sent a letter of apology to BOCA for letting communication hang for four months.

“There’s a lot of things that need to be addressed,” Kilbride said.

Kilbride said they plan to paint the tunnel a shade of yellow, and Kilbride added they are also concerned about the nearby walkway simply known as the “little tunnel” that connects to the volleyball courts.

For more information on BOCA, visit bocaneighbors.com.