The Hollywood Freeway is one of the principal

freeway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway, and expressway. Other similar terms ...

s of

Los Angeles, California Los Angeles, often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, most populous city in the U.S. state of California, and the commercial, Financial District, Los Angeles, financial, and Culture of Los Angeles, ...

(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 Cahuenga Pass (, ; Tongva: ''Kawé’nga''), also known by its Spanish name Paseo de Cahuenga, is a low mountain pass through the eastern end of the Santa Monica Mountains in the Hollywood Hills district of the City of Los Angeles, Califor ...

, the primary shortcut between the

Los Angeles Basin The Los Angeles Basin is a sedimentary Structural basin, basin located in Southern California, in a region known as the Peninsular Ranges. The basin is also connected to an wikt:anomalous, anomalous group of east–west trending chains of mountai ...

and the

San Fernando Valley The San Fernando Valley, known locally as the Valley, is an urbanized valley in Los Angeles County, Los Angeles County, California. Situated to the north of the Los Angeles Basin, it comprises a large portion of Los Angeles, the Municipal corpo ...

. 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. It is the second oldest freeway in Los Angeles (after the

Arroyo Seco Parkway The Arroyo Seco Parkway, also known as the Pasadena Freeway, is one of the oldest controlled-access highway, freeways in the United States. It connects Los Angeles, California, Los Angeles with Pasadena, California, Pasadena alongside the Arr ...

). From its southern end at the

Four Level Interchange The Four Level Interchange (officially the Bill Keene Memorial Interchange) is the first stack interchange in the world. Completed in 1949 and fully opened in 1953 at the northern edge of Downtown Los Angeles, California, United States, it con ...

to its intersection with the

Ventura Freeway The Ventura Freeway is a freeway in southern California, United States, that runs from the Santa Barbara County, California, Santa Barbara/Ventura county line to Pasadena in Los Angeles County. It is the principal east–west route (designate ...

in the southeastern San Fernando Valley (the Hollywood Split), it is signed as part of

U.S. Route 101 U.S. Route 101, or U.S. Highway 101 (US 101), is a major north–south highway that traverses the states of California, Oregon, and Washington on the West Coast of the United States. It is part of the United States Numbered Highway Syst ...

. It is then signed as State Route 170 (SR 170) north to its terminus at the

Golden State Freeway Interstate 5 (I-5) is a major north–south route of the Interstate Highway System in the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific Coast between the Mexican border and the Canadian border. The segment of I-5 in California r ...

(

Interstate 5 Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway System, Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels thro ...

Route description

The freeway runs from the

in downtown Los Angeles to the

in the Sun Valley district of Los Angeles in the

. From the Four Level Interchange to its intersection with the

in the southeastern San Fernando Valley (also known as the Hollywood Split), the freeway is signed as part of

. Afterwards, it is signed as State Route 170 until its northern terminus at

. The intersection of the Hollywood, Santa Ana, and

Harbor A harbor (American English), or harbour (Commonwealth English; see spelling differences), is a sheltered body of water where ships, boats, and barges can be moored. The term ''harbor'' is often used interchangeably with ''port'', which is ...

freeways and the

, known as the

, is one of the major landmarks in Los Angeles and a symbol of the city's post-

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

development.

California State Route 170

As of the latest amendment on October 2, 2015, the California Streets and Highways Code defines Route 170 in section 470 as follows:

Route 170 is from Route 101 near Riverside Drive to Route 5 near
Tujunga Wash Tujunga Wash is a U.S. Geological Survey. National Hydrography Dataset high-resolution flowline dataThe National Map accessed March 16, 2011 stream in Los Angeles County, California. It is a tributary of the Los Angeles River, providing about a f ...
.

In addition to the above, the original 1963 definition of Route 170 included " Route 405 near Inglewood to Route 101 in Los Angeles" in a separate subdivision. This was defined in anticipation of the Laurel Canyon Freeway, which never came to fruition. In 1970, the definition was amended to subdivide the portion south of US 101 as "(a)

Los Angeles International Airport Los Angeles International Airport is the primary international airport serving Los Angeles and its Greater Los Angeles, surrounding metropolitan area, in the U.S. state of California. LAX is located in the Westchester, Los Angeles, Westcheste ...

to Route 90." and "(b) Route 2 to Route 101 in Los Angeles," deleting the segment between SR 2 and an extension of SR 90 that was never constructed. Subdivision b would run along

Highland Avenue Highland Avenue may refer to: Historic districts *Highland Avenue Historic District (Birmingham, Alabama), listed on the National Register of Historic Places in Birmingham, Alabama *Highland Avenue Historic District (Lexington, Missouri), liste ...

Hollywood Hollywood usually refers to: * Hollywood, Los Angeles, a neighborhood in California * Hollywood, a metonym for the cinema of the United States Hollywood may also refer to: Places United States * Hollywood District (disambiguation) * Hollywood ...

. In 2015, the state relinquished Highland Avenue to the city of Los Angeles, and the legislature amended the definition to reflect that as well as remove the final unconstructed freeway segment. SR 170 begins its northbound route at the junction with the Ventura Freeway, continuing the freeway northwards. US 101 leaves the freeway, merging onto the Ventura Freeway and heads west. SR 134 continues the Ventura Freeway, heading east. On the southbound side, a sign indicates "END Route 170". Curiously, there is no interchange from SR 134 west to US 101 south. This connector route was put on hold pending the construction of the Laurel Canyon Freeway. Motorists intending to go in that direction must exit SR 134 at

Cahuenga Boulevard Cahuenga Boulevard () is a major boulevard in Los Angeles, California, US. It connects the Los Angeles Basin to the San Fernando Valley, with a southern terminus at Rosewood Avenue in Hancock Park. It simultaneously transitions into Ventura Bo ...

, make a left, continue on Lankershim Boulevard and follow the signs near

Universal Studios Universal Studios may refer to: * Universal Studios, Inc., an American media and entertainment conglomerate ** Universal Pictures, an American film studio ** Universal Studios Lot, a film and television studio complex * Various theme parks operat ...

to re-enter on US 101. Likewise, there is no interchange from US 101 north to SR 134 east. Motorists intending to go in that direction must exit US 101 at Vineland Avenue, make a right, make another right on Riverside Drive and enter SR 134 on the left. This interchange is also known as the "Hollywood Split". SR 170 then continues through the northeastern portion of the

, finally merging onto northbound I-5. There is no connector route to I-5 south because the angle between the two freeways is too acute. There are

HOV A high-occupancy vehicle lane (also known as an HOV lane, carpool lane, diamond lane, 2+ lane, and transit lane or T2 or T3 lanes) is a restricted traffic lane reserved for the exclusive use of vehicles with a driver and at least one passenger, ...

lanes in operation 24 hours a day in each direction of SR 170 between I-5 and the Hollywood Split interchange. There is a direct connection from the northbound SR 170 HOV lanes onto the northbound I-5 HOV lanes, as well as from the southbound I-5 HOV lanes onto the southbound SR 170 HOV lanes. This makes it possible to connect with the I-5 HOV lanes as well as the SR 14 HOV lanes (from the I-5) without merging into regular lanes. Both this portion of US 101 and the entirety of SR 170 are part of the

California Freeway and Expressway System The California Freeway and Expressway System is a system of existing or planned freeways and expressways in the U.S. state of California. It encompasses both state highways and federal highways in California. It was defined by Article 2 (comme ...

, and are part of the National Highway System, a network of highways that are considered essential to the country's economy, defense, and mobility by the

Federal Highway Administration The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is a division of the United States Department of Transportation that specializes in highway transportation. The agency's major activities are grouped into two programs, the Federal-aid Highway Program a ...

. As of 2018, Caltrans is planning to add soundwalls to SR 170 in both directions between

Sherman Way Sherman Way, nicknamed "The Way", is a major east–west arterial road that runs for across the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles and Burbank, California, Burbank, California. Name Sherman Way was named after Moses Sherman, a major developer ...

and the Hollywood Split. There are currently some neighborhoods located near the freeway, which cause noise pollution. Now that soundwalls are in place, it can reduce the noise and reduces smog.

History

Plans for the Hollywood Freeway officially began in 1924 when Los Angeles voters approved a "stop-free express highway" between

Downtown Los Angeles Downtown Los Angeles (DTLA) is the central business district of the city of Los Angeles. It is part of the Central Los Angeles region and covers a area. As of 2020, it contains over 500,000 jobs and has a population of roughly 85,000 residents ...

and the San Fernando Valley. The first segment of the Hollywood Freeway built was a one and a half mile stretch through the

. That segment opened on June 15, 1940. It was then known as the "Cahuenga Pass Freeway".

Pacific Electric Railway The Pacific Electric Railway Company, nicknamed the Red Cars, was a privately owned mass transit system in Southern California consisting of electrically powered streetcars, interurban cars, and buses and was the largest electric railway system ...

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

to the

was completed in 1968. 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 Leslie Townes "Bob" Hope (May 29, 1903 – July 27, 2003) was an American comedian, actor, entertainer and producer with a career that spanned nearly 80 years and achievements in vaudeville, network radio, television, and USO Tours. He appeared ...

called it the "biggest parking lot in the world" in his routine. 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 Rodolfo Pietro Filiberto Raffaello Guglielmi di Valentina d'Antonguella (May 6, 1895 – August 23, 1926), known professionally as Rudolph Valentino and nicknamed The Latin Lover, was an Italian actor who starred in several well-known sile ...

's former home in Whitley Heights. The freeway was also designed to curve around KTTV Studios and Hollywood Presbyterian Church. 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 Dodger Stadium is a ballpark in the Elysian Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. It is the home of the Los Angeles Dodgers of Major League Baseball (MLB). Opened in 1962, it was constructed in less than three years at a ...

. In 1967, the Hollywood Freeway was the first freeway in California that had ramp meters. Near the

Vermont Avenue Vermont Avenue is one of the longest running north–south streets in City of Los Angeles and Los Angeles County, California. With a length of , is the third longest of the north–south thoroughfares in the region. For most of its length be ...

exit, there's a seemingly over-wide center strip now filled with trees. This is where the never-built

Beverly Hills Freeway State Route 2 (SR 2) is a state highway in the U.S. state of California. It connects the Los Angeles Basin with the San Gabriel Mountains and the Victor Valley in the Mojave Desert. The highway's southwestern end is at the intersection of C ...

was to merge with the Hollywood Freeway. Plans for the Beverly Hills Freeway were halted in the 1970s. The Hollywood Freeway is an expansion of the original Cahuenga Parkway, a short six-lane freeway that ran through the

between Hollywood and Studio City. The Cahuenga Parkway featured

" 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 Los Angeles High School is the oldest public high school in the Southern California region and in the Los Angeles Unified School District. Its colors are royal blue and white and the teams are called the Romans. Los Angeles High School is a publ ...

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 habitually truant boys until 1948, when it was demolished to make way for the freeway. SR 170 was originally supposed to run from the I-5 interchange to I-405 near the

as the Laurel Canyon Freeway under the

Laurel Canyon Boulevard Laurel Canyon Boulevard is a major street in the city of Los Angeles. It starts off at Polk Street in Sylmar in the northern San Fernando Valley near the junction of the San Diego ( Interstate 405) and the Golden State (I-5)) freeways. Laurel ...

, Crescent Heights Boulevard and

La Cienega Boulevard La Cienega Boulevard is a major north–south arterial road in the Los Angeles metropolitan area that runs from the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood in the north to El Segundo Boulevard in Hawthorne in the south. It was named for Rancho Las ...

alignments of today. In fact, much of La Cienega Boulevard between

Manchester Avenue Manchester () is a city and the metropolitan borough of Greater Manchester, England. It had an estimated population of in . Greater Manchester is the third-most populous metropolitan area in the United Kingdom, with a population of 2.92&nbs ...

and

Venice Boulevard Venice Boulevard is a major east–west thoroughfare in Los Angeles, running from the ocean in the Venice district into downtown Los Angeles. It was originally known as West 16th Street under the Los Angeles numbered street system. A segment o ...

was constructed to

standards, with several grade-separated interchanges, although it is now an expressway maintained by Los Angeles County. California's legislature has relinquished state control of the segment of SR 170 along

, and thus that portion is now maintained by the City of Los Angeles. Despite the relinquishment, the exit numbers on SR 170 still correlate to when the route started at its junction with SR 2 (the intersection of

Santa Monica Boulevard Santa Monica Boulevard is a major west–east thoroughfare in Los Angeles County, California, United States. It runs from Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica near the Pacific Ocean to Sunset Boulevard at Sunset Junction in Los Angeles. It passes t ...

and Highland Avenue), thus the route's first exit northbound at Magnolia Boulevard is numbered as exit 6 instead of exit 1, while the last two southbound exits with SR 134 east and US 101 south are numbered as exits 5B and 5A instead of exits 1B and 1A, respectively (although as of 2022, signage has not yet been updated with exit numbers).

Exit list

References

External links

{{CASR external links
California @ AARoads - State Route 170La Cienega FreewayBuilders 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 The ''Los Angeles Times'' is an American Newspaper#Daily, daily newspaper that began publishing in Los Angeles, California, in 1881. Based in the Greater Los Angeles city of El Segundo, California, El Segundo since 2018, it is the List of new ...

Photographic Archive (Collection 1429). UCLA Library Special Collections,

Charles E. Young Research Library The Charles E. Young Research Library is one of the largest libraries on the campus of the University of California, Los Angeles in Westwood, Los Angeles, California. It initially opened in 1964, and a second phase of construction was completed ...

University of California, Los Angeles The University of California, Los Angeles (UCLA) is a public university, public Land-grant university, land-grant research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Its academic roots were established in 1881 as a normal school the ...