Lafayette was at the crossroads of four towns: Oakland, Martinez, Walnut Creek, and Canyon/Moraga. Lafayette residents traveled to Oakland for its many stores and amenities, for medical care, and to sell hay, fruits, and vegetables. The first roads to Oakland went over the top of the hills, a 1,000 foot climb. The Kennedy Tunnel was opened in 1903, 320 feet below the top of Summit Road.
Roads in the early days were dusty in summer and full of ruts, sometimes impassable, in winter. All year long there were pot holes. The county paved Tunnel Road from the tunnel to Walnut Creek in 1916. Slowly other roads were rocked and paved.
In 1937, a new tunnel, the Broadway Low Level Tunnel, opened 310 feet below the Kennedy Tunnel. A third bore opened in 1964, a fourth bore in 2013. Today all four bores are collectively called the Caldecott Tunnel.
By 1926, the road through town was still a dirt road but there were now automobiles in the area driving on Mt. Diablo Boulevard (previously named Tunnel Road as it was the road to/from the Kennedy Tunnel connecting Contra Costa and Alameda counties).
In the 1920s, cattle were still driven through town by local farmers down the main road, through the old tunnel to Berkeley and on to the slaughter house in Emeryville.
The corner of Mt. Diablo Boulevard and Moraga Road looking west as seen in 1937. The main streets were now paved and the roads marked with lane lines and but there were no stop lights or stop signs!
Looking east on Mt. Diablo Boulevard in the 1930s near Johnny’s Roundup Saloon. There were now many more cars in the town (perhaps patrons at Johnny’s?)
Heading east on Mt. Diablo Boulevard in the 1960s near today’s Postino Restaurant. Safeway can be seen on the left. The street is now four lanes with a median strip in the center (also notice the ugly light fixtures above the street).
Near the corner of Mt. Diablo Boulevard and Dewing Avenue in the 1970s (before the City of Lafayette passed a sign ordinance), the downtown streets were blanketed with a blight of business signs.
