The last leg out of the Headlands runs through a narrow single-lane bore on Bunker Road, where signals at each end take turns letting one direction through at a time. Named for the two forts it connects, Baker and Barry, it's your eastbound way toward Alexander Avenue and the road up to US-101. Obey the light, never enter against a red, and watch for signs about an occasional weekend one-way trial.
Well, this is how you get home. Ahead of you on Bunker Road is the Baker-Barry Tunnel, and if the light's red, don't take it personally. It just isn't your turn yet.
Here's the thing about this tunnel. It's a single lane. Just one. It runs straight through the ridge, roughly a third of a mile, and there isn't room inside for two cars to pass. So the park solved it the simplest way anyone could think of. A signal at each end takes turns. For a stretch of a few minutes, traffic flows one direction; then it stops, waits a beat, and flows the other way. Once you've sat through a cycle, you understand the rhythm of the place.
So watch that light and honor it. When it's green for your direction, you go. When it's red, you hold right where you are and let the far side clear. Never, ever nose in against a red, because somewhere in that darkness a car is coming the other way, wanting the same single lane you want. Patience here isn't a courtesy. It's the whole design.
As for the name, Baker-Barry. It links two of the old Army posts out here, Fort Baker and Fort Barry, on either side of the ridge. The road you're riding, Bunker Road, carries a name of its own from those fort days. The bore itself goes back to the era when the Army was digging into these headlands and fortifying the coast, and it's been kept up since, even though that one narrow lane never changed.
One thing to keep in your back pocket. On some weekends the park has looked at running the tunnel one direction only, as a trial. That may or may not be in effect the day you're here, so just read the signs and follow whatever the signals and the rangers tell you on the spot. The light is always right.
Take it slow through the middle, keep your headlights on, and when the daylight opens up on the far end, you'll come out toward Alexander Avenue. From there it's a short run up to Highway 101 and the bridge. That's your way out of the Headlands, and I'd say you've earned the drive. Thanks for riding along.
Photo: Bjorn · CC BY-SA 2.0
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