Free Expression Tunnel

The Free Expression Tunnel is the longest, widest, and most heavily used pedestrian tunnel under the railroad tracks at North Carolina State University in Raleigh, North Carolina. The special aspect of the tunnel is that anyone is permitted to decorate its walls, ceiling, and floor. The tunnel connects NCSU's North Campus with the Central Campus and provides the most direct route from The Brickyard to the Central Campus residence halls. Clubs, fraternities, sororities, and other organizations often paint the tunnel to promote events and amateur artists paint to express themselves and to promote freedom of speech. A retaining wall just outside the tunnel's south entrance is also open for free expression. The "service tunnel" itself was constructed in 1939 as a Public Works Administration project. The tunnel was first painted in 1968, when it was painted red and white to celebrate the military veterans of North Carolina