When You Can Expect To See Waldo Tunnel Renamed After Robin Williams
MARIN COUNTY (CBS SF) -- Almost a year after his death, the rainbow tunnel that connects San Francisco with Marin County will soon be named after actor and comedian Robin Williams.
The proposal from Assemblyman Marc Levine, D-San Rafael, to change the name of the Waldo Tunnel moved through the state Assembly in April and cleared the state Senate last Thursday. The bill does not need a signature from Gov. Jerry Brown since it's a resolution.
"Robin Williams grew up and attended Redwood High School in Larkspur, went to College of Marin," Levine said. "Also, of course, launched his comedy career in the clubs of San Francisco. This tunnel really connects the San Francisco and Marin communities and is a perfect way of tying those parts of his life together."
It will cost about $3,000 for Caltrans to make new signs, according to the Marin Independent Journal. That money would have to come from donations, which Tiburon Peninsula resident Julie Wainwright said she and her consignment company, The Real Real, will underwrite.
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Wainwright started a Change.org petition to rename of the portal "The Robin Williams Tunnel" shortly after his death. The petition has collected almost 62,000 electronic signatures since then.
Supporters spoke of the importance in changing the tunnel's name.
"I'm an SF native. I'd ran into Robin from time to time, he was always just so normal, not a celebrity," Loreen Bernardini wrote. "The Rainbow tunnel, his suspenders, and his love for Marin & SF. It just clicks."
"I want to honor the man who always made me smile," said Virginia Carroll
"Robin Williams was a great comedian, dramatic actor but above all he was a great humanitarian and was involved in his community in S.F." said Mary Palmer. "He should be honored in the Bay Area for all the things he did!!"
Williams died at his home in Tiburon in August of 2014. The coroner ruled his death a suicide that resulted from asphyxia caused by hanging. He was 63.
The tunnel is currently named after the mid-19th century Whig Party candidate William Waldo.
A Levine spokesman told the Marin IJ the name change could happen as soon as the fall.
