Iconic tunnel in California gets renamed in honor of Robin Williams

California State Legislature just passed a bill to officially rename a rainbow-themed tunnel on U.S. Highway 101 after the late iconic comedic figure, Robin Williams.

The tunnel is located north of the Golden Gate Bridge, which connects San Francisco and Marin County and it averages 100,000 motorists daily.

According to NBC Los Angeles, the bill’s architects, Assemblyman Marc Levine and Belvedere resident Julie Wainwright, tweeted out a photo of the new sign to honor Williams, who lived in Marin County, North of San Francisco.

Both Levine and Wainwright gathered close to 700 signatures from the surrounding area’s residents in August of 2014 to change the tunnel’s name. The piece of legislation took nearly two years to make its way through the state’s legislative body until finally passing in a sweeping resolution.

“Because Robin Williams has brought a smile to my face so many times in this life! Let’s honor what he did, not how he left!” said one resident in 2014.

Wainwright explained the reason behind the name change as “ to remember and honor the very important citizen and world renowned entertainer, Robin Williams, for the joy he brought to the world and to bring awareness to the silent illness that eventually took his life.”

The tunnel’s new sign cost approximately $3,000 and was paid for with private donations.

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