Hollywood Freeway
Hollywood Freeway | |
|---|---|
SR 170 highlighted in red; US 101 in blue | |
| Route information | |
| Maintained by Caltrans | |
| Length | 16.6 mi (26.7 km) |
| Component highways |  US 101 from Downtown Los Angeles to North Hollywood SR 170 from North Hollywood to Sun Valley |
| Major junctions | |
| South end |  US 101 / SR 110 in Downtown Los Angeles |
 US 101 / SR 134 / SR 170 in North Hollywood | |
| North end |  I-5 in Sun Valley |
| Location | |
| Country | United States |
| State | California |
| County | Los Angeles |
| Highway system | |
| Southern California freeways | |
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The Hollywood Freeway is one of the principal freeways of Los Angeles, California (the boundaries of which it does not leave) and one of the busiest in the United States. It is the principal route through the Cahuenga Pass, the primary shortcut between the Los Angeles Basin and the San Fernando Valley. It is considered one of the most important freeways in the history of Los Angeles and instrumental in the development of the San Fernando Valley.[1] It is the second oldest freeway in Los Angeles (after the Arroyo Seco Parkway).[1] From its southern end at the Four Level Interchange to its intersection with the Ventura Freeway in the southeastern San Fernando Valley (the Hollywood Split), it is signed as part of U.S. Route 101. It is then signed as State Route 170 (SR 170) north to its terminus at the Golden State Freeway (Interstate 5).
Route description
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The freeway runs from the Four Level Interchange in downtown Los Angeles to the Golden State Freeway in the Sun Valley district of Los Angeles in the San Fernando Valley. From the Four Level Interchange to its intersection with the Ventura Freeway in the southeastern San Fernando Valley (also known as the Hollywood Split), the freeway is signed as part of U.S. Route 101. Afterwards, it is signed as State Route 170 until its northern terminus at Interstate 5.
The intersection of the Hollywood and Pasadena Freeways, known as the Four Level Interchange, is one of the major landmarks in Los Angeles and a symbol of the city's post-World War II development.
Both this portion of US 101 and the entirety of SR 170 are part of the California Freeway and Expressway System,[2] and are part of the National Highway System,[3] a network of highways that are considered essential to the country's economy, defense, and mobility by the Federal Highway Administration.[4]
History
Plans for the Hollywood Freeway officially began in 1924 when Los Angeles voters approved a "stop-free express highway" between Downtown Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley.[1] The first segment of the Hollywood Freeway built was a one and a half mile stretch through the Cahuenga Pass. That segment opened on June 15, 1940. It was then known as the "Cahuenga Pass Freeway". Pacific Electric Railway trolleys ran down the center of this freeway until 1952. The next section of the freeway that stretched from the San Fernando Valley to Downtown Los Angeles opened on April 16, 1954 at a cost of $55 million. The final section, north of the Ventura Freeway to the Golden State Freeway was completed in 1968.[1]
A year after the Hollywood Freeway opened, it was used by an average of 183,000 vehicles a day, almost double the capacity it was designed to carry. Actor Bob Hope called it the "biggest parking lot in the world" in his routine.[1]
The segment through Hollywood was the first to be built through a heavily populated area and requiring the moving or demolition of many buildings, including Rudolph Valentino's former home in Whitley Heights. The freeway was also designed to curve around KTTV Studios and Hollywood Presbyterian Church.[1] Much of the rubble and debris from the buildings removed for the freeway's construction was dumped into Chávez Ravine, the current home to Dodger Stadium.[1]
In 1967, the Hollywood Freeway was the first freeway in California that had ramp meters.[1]
Near the Vermont Avenue exit, there's a seemingly over-wide center strip now filled with trees. This is where the never-built Beverly Hills Freeway was to merge with the Hollywood Freeway. Plans for the Beverly Hills Freeway were halted in the 1970s.[5]
The Hollywood Freeway is an expansion of the original Cahuenga Parkway, a short six-lane freeway that ran through the Cahuenga Pass between Hollywood and Studio City. The Cahuenga Parkway featured Pacific Electric Railway "Red Car" tracks in its median, but by the 1950s these tracks were out of service due to radical reductions in Red Car service. The Pacific Electric right-of-way later accommodated an additional lane in each direction.
The second location of Los Angeles High School was in the path of the freeway. The school moved to its third and current location in 1917. The school buildings were converted into a school for boys with truancy problems until 1948, when it was demolished to make way for the freeway.[6]
Exit list
Except where prefixed with a letter, postmiles were measured on the road as it was in 1964, based on the alignment that existed at the time, and do not necessarily reflect current mileage. R reflects a realignment in the route since then, M indicates a second realignment, L refers to an overlap due to a correction or change, and T indicates postmiles classified as temporary ().[7] Segments that remain unconstructed or have been relinquished to local control may be omitted. The entire route is in Los Angeles, Los Angeles County.
| Postmile [7][8] | Exit [9][10] | Destinations | Notes | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.57[a] | — |         US 101 south to I-5 south (Santa Ana Freeway) / I-10 east (San Bernardino Freeway) / SR 60 east (Pomona Freeway) | Continuation beyond SR 110 | ||||
| 1.62[a] | 3B[b] |  SR 110 (Arroyo Seco Parkway) to I-110 south (Harbor Freeway) – Pasadena, San Pedro | Signed as exit 3 northbound; south end of Hollywood Fwy; SR 110 exit 24A | ||||
| See US 101 Exits 4A–12C | |||||||
| See SR 170 | |||||||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
| |||||||
See also
References
- ^ a b c d e f g h Simon, Richard (December 19, 1994). "Hollywood Freeway Spans Magic and Might of L.A." Los Angeles Times.
- ^ "Article 2 of Chapter 2 of Division 1". California Streets and Highways Code. Sacramento: California Office of Legislative Counsel. Retrieved February 6, 2019.
- ^ Federal Highway Administration (March 25, 2015). National Highway System: Los Angeles, CA (PDF) (Map). Scale not given. Washington, DC: Federal Highway Administration. Retrieved September 17, 2017.
- ^ Natzke, Stefan; Neathery, Mike & Adderly, Kevin (June 20, 2012). "What is the National Highway System?". National Highway System. Washington, DC: Federal Highway Administration. Retrieved July 1, 2012.
- ^ "Highways From Hell". Los Angeles Magazine. December 1999.
- ^ "Problem Boys All Won't Be Sent to Belmont High School." Los Angeles Times. Sep. 3, 1948. p. A 1
- ^ a b California Department of Transportation. "State Truck Route List". Sacramento: California Department of Transportation. Archived from the original (XLS file) on June 30, 2015. Retrieved June 30, 2015.
- ^ California Department of Transportation, All Traffic Volumes on CSHS, 2005 and 2006
- ^ California Department of Transportation, California Numbered Exit Uniform System, US-101 Northbound and US-101 Southbound, accessed January 2008
- ^ California Department of Transportation, California Numbered Exit Uniform System, SR-170 Northbound and SR-170 Southbound, accessed January 2008
External links
- La Cienega Freeway
- Builders Of The Broad Highway Film showing Cahuenga Parkway c1940 construction (~4:22 onwards)
- LAistory: Pilgrimage Bridge Cahuenga Parkway completion details
- Image of the by-pass built temporarily to ease the traffic during construction of the Hollywood Freeway, California, 1949. Los Angeles Times Photographic Archive (Collection 1429). UCLA Library Special Collections, Charles E. Young Research Library, University of California, Los Angeles.