Ventura Freeway
Ventura Freeway | |
|---|---|
SR 134 highlighted in red; US 101 in blue | |
| Route information | |
| Maintained by Caltrans | |
| Component highways |  US 101 from the Santa Barbara/Ventura county line[1] to North Hollywood SR 134 from North Hollywood to Pasadena |
| Major junctions | |
| West end | US 101 at the Santa Barbara/Ventura county line |
 SR 33 in Ventura SR 126 in Ventura SR 23 in Thousand Oaks I-405 in Sherman Oaks US 101 / SR 134 / SR 170 in North Hollywood I-5 in Los Angeles SR 2 in Glendale | |
| East end |  I-210 in Pasadena |
| Location | |
| Country | United States |
| State | California |
| Counties | Ventura, Los Angeles |
| Highway system | |
| Southern California freeways | |
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The Ventura Freeway is a freeway in southern California, United States, running from the Santa Barbara/Ventura county line[1] to Pasadena in Los Angeles County. It is the principal east-west route (designated north-south) through Ventura County and in the southern San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County. From the Santa Barbara County line to its intersection with the Hollywood Freeway in the southeastern San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles (the Hollywood Split), it is signed as U.S. Route 101 (US 101), which was built in the late 1950s and opened on April 5, 1960.[2] East of the Hollywood Freeway intersection, it is signed as State Route 134 (SR 134) which was built by 1971.
Prior to the construction of a new alignment in 1971, the portion east of the Golden State Freeway was known as the Colorado Freeway in reference to nearby Colorado Boulevard, a historic thoroughfare in Pasadena and northeastern Los Angeles.
Route description
U.S. Route 101
The Ventura Freeway begins at the Santa Barbara/Ventura county line, west of La Conchita, as US 101. It travels eastward through the citrus orchards and strawberry fields of the Oxnard Plain before ascending the short, steep Conejo Grade into the Conejo Valley. Continuing eastward through the northern Santa Monica Mountains, it crosses the Ventura/Los Angeles county line before entering the San Fernando Valley. The freeway continues eastward along the valley's southern rim, crossing the San Diego Freeway (Interstate 405) near Sherman Oaks at an interchange consistently rated as one of the five most congested in the nation. It then reaches an interchange with the Hollywood Freeway known as the Hollywood Split. Here, the US 101 designation switches to the southeast-bound Hollywood Freeway, while the Ventura Freeway becomes SR 134 as it continues eastward. The northwest-bound portion of the Hollywood Freeway is designated as SR 170.
The portion of the Ventura Freeway signed as US 101 is signed as a north-south route by CalTrans despite the freeway's actual alignment being east-west. This is due to the fact that US 101 as a whole has a north-south alignment. The apparent inconsistency can be confusing to visitors, as the same freeway entrance can often be signed as "101 North" and "101 West." This is most common in the San Fernando Valley.
California State Route 134
Continuing eastward from the Hollywood Split as SR 134, the Ventura Freeway, now signed as east-west, skirts the northern edge of Griffith Park before intersecting the Golden State Freeway (I-5) and crossing the Los Angeles River. After passing through Downtown Glendale south of the Verdugo Mountains, it continues along the southern slope of the San Rafael Hills between Glendale and Eagle Rock before entering Pasadena near the Arroyo Seco and terminating at the Foothill Freeway (I-210).
Both the SR 134 and US 101 portions of the freeway are part of the California Freeway and Expressway System,[3] and is part of the National Highway System,[4] a network of highways that are considered essential to the country's economy, defense, and mobility by the Federal Highway Administration.[5]
History
Legal definitions
The official Ventura Freeway designation is Routes 101 and 134 from Route 5 to the Santa Barbara County line.[1] This does not include the portion of Route 134 between Route 5 and Route 210 even though local usage extends the name over this portion of freeway. At the freeway's eastern terminus with Interstate 210 in Pasadena, highway signs indicate "Ventura" as the destination direction for Route 134.
Assembly Concurrent Resolution 54, Chapter 85 in 2003 also designated Route 101 in Ventura County as the "Screaming Eagles Highway".[6] This honors the 101st Airborne Division of the United States Army, which formed on July 23, 1918 and has been involved in every major war that the United States has participated in since then.[7]
Projects
The proposed Wallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing is a vegetated overpass spanning the Ventura Freeway and Agoura Road at Liberty Canyon in Agoura Hills. When built, it will be one of the largest urban wildlife crossing in the United States, connecting the Simi Hills and the Santa Monica Mountains over a busy freeway with ten traffic lanes (including exit lanes).[8][9]
Ventura Freeway currently carries the Los Angeles Metro express bus route 501 between Pasadena and North Hollywood. Portions of SR 134 are also being considered as part of a Bus Rapid Transit project.[10]
Exit list
This exit list proceeds from east to west, since the majority of the freeway is the north-south US 101. 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 ().[13] Segments that remain unconstructed or have been relinquished to local control may be omitted. The numbers reset at county lines; the start and end postmiles in each county are given in the county column.
| County | Location | Postmile [11][12] | Exit | Destinations | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| See SR 134 | |||||||
| See US 101 Exits 13A–83 | |||||||
| Ventura–Santa Barbara county line | | R43.62[a] | — |  US 101 north – Santa Barbara, San Francisco | Western terminus of Ventura Freeway; continuation into Santa Barbara County | ||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
| |||||||
See also
References
- ^ a b c California Department of Transportation; California State Transportation Agency (January 2022). 2021 Named Freeways, Highways, Structures and Other Appurtenances in California (PDF). Sacramento: California Department of Transportation. p. 109. Archived from the original (PDF) on January 26, 2024.
- ^ Kevin Starr, Golden Dreams: California in an Age of Abundance, 1950-1963 (New York: Oxford University Press, 2009), p. 3.
- ^ "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 29, 2017.
Federal Highway Administration (March 25, 2015). National Highway System: Oxnard, CA (PDF) (Map). Scale not given. Washington, DC: Federal Highway Administration. Retrieved September 29, 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.
- ^ Ib. at 76
- ^ "California Highways (www.cahighways.org): Routes 97 through 104". www.cahighways.org. Retrieved 2012-11-07.
- ^ "Freeway wildlife corridor is feasible, study says". Visalia Times Delta. Associated Press. September 3, 2015. Retrieved 2021-05-26.
{{cite news}}: CS1 maint: url-status (link) - ^ Guldimann, Suzanne (February 9, 2015). "Liberty Canyon wildlife crossing granted $1 million by SCC". Malibu Surfside News. Retrieved September 12, 2015.
- ^ Chilland, Elijah (July 17, 2019). "Eagle Rock split on Colorado Boulevard". Curbed Los Angeles. Retrieved December 20, 2019.
- ^ California Department of Transportation (July 2007). "Log of Bridges on State Highways". Sacramento: California Department of Transportation.
- ^ California Department of Transportation (2016). Postmile Services (Map). California Department of Transportation. Retrieved September 12, 2016.
- ^ 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.
External links
