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Route 110, consisting of State Route 110 (SR 110) and Interstate 110 (I-110), is a
state State most commonly refers to: * State (polity), a centralized political organization that regulates law and society within a territory **Sovereign state, a sovereign polity in international law, commonly referred to as a country **Nation state, a ...
and
auxiliary Interstate Highway Auxiliary Interstate Highways (also called three-digit Interstate Highways) are a subset of highways within the United States' Interstate Highway System. The 323 auxiliary routes generally fall into three types: spur routes, which connect to or i ...
in the
Los Angeles metropolitan area Greater Los Angeles is the most populous metropolitan area in the U.S. state of California, encompassing five counties in Southern California extending from Ventura County in the west to San Bernardino County and Riverside County in the east, ...
of the
US state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its so ...
of
California California () is a U.S. state, state in the Western United States that lies on the West Coast of the United States, Pacific Coast. It borders Oregon to the north, Nevada and Arizona to the east, and shares Mexico–United States border, an ...
. The entire route connects San Pedro and the
Port of Los Angeles The Port of Los Angeles is a seaport managed by the Los Angeles Harbor Department, a unit of the Los Angeles, City of Los Angeles. It occupies of land and water with of waterfront and adjoins the separate Port of Long Beach. Promoted as "Amer ...
with
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
Pasadena Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial d ...
. The southern segment from San Pedro to
I-10 Interstate 10 (I-10) is the southernmost transcontinental highway in the Interstate Highway System of the United States. It is the fourth-longest Interstate in the country at , following I-90, I-80, and I-40. It was part of the originall ...
in downtown Los Angeles is signed as I-110, while the northern segment to Pasadena is signed as SR 110. The entire length of I-110, as well as SR 110 south of 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 ...
with US Route 101 (US 101), is the Harbor Freeway, and SR 110 north from US 101 to
Pasadena Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial d ...
is the historic
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 ...
, the first
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 ...
in the western United States.


Route description

Route 110 is defined as follows in the
California Streets and Highways Code The California Codes are 29 legal codes enacted by the California State Legislature, which, alongside uncodified acts, form the general statutory law of California. The official codes are maintained by the California Office of Legislative Counsel ...
's section 410, subdivision (a):
Route 110 is from Route 47 in San Pedro to Glenarm Street in
Pasadena Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial d ...
.
Following its renumbering from Route 11, Route 110 was originally defined as "from San Pedro to
Colorado Boulevard Colorado Boulevard (or Colorado Street in Glendale, California, Glendale and parts of Arcadia, California, Arcadia) is a major east–west street in Los Angeles County, California, United States. It runs from Griffith Park in Los Angeles east ...
in Pasadena." The conventional highway portions of the route were relinquished to the cities of Pasadena and Los Angeles in 2000 and 2009 respectively. Route 110 is 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 is 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 ...
. File:Entering Interstate 110, Harbor Gateway, Los Angeles, California (6027122768).jpg, Entering Interstate 110 in Harbor Gateway, Los Angeles File:Harborfreeway2.jpg, The Harbor Freeway is often heavily congested at rush hour. File:Harbor Freeway entrance on 6th Street.jpg, Entrance to the Harbor Freeway in Downtown Los Angeles File:I110SBndEnteringTheSlot.jpg, The Harbor Freeway southbound entering "The Slot" after emerging from the "4-level"


Harbor Freeway

The Harbor Freeway, signed as I-110, begins at Gaffey Street in San Pedro, where it then travels mostly due north to the
Santa Monica Freeway Interstate 10 (I-10) is a transcontinental Interstate Highway in the United States, stretching from Santa Monica, California, to Jacksonville, Florida. The segment of I-10 in California, also known as the Pearl Harbor Memorial Highway, ru ...
(
I-10 Interstate 10 (I-10) is the southernmost transcontinental highway in the Interstate Highway System of the United States. It is the fourth-longest Interstate in the country at , following I-90, I-80, and I-40. It was part of the originall ...
) at a point south of downtown
Los Angeles 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, ...
, where it becomes signed as SR 110. I-110 is primarily within the city limits of Los Angeles, running right along the South Los Angeles region and the
Harbor Gateway The Harbor Gateway, sometimes informally known as the L.A. Strip due to its shape, is a in the South Bay and Los Angeles Harbor Region, in the southern part of the City of Los Angeles. The neighborhood is narrow and long, running along a nor ...
, a wide north–south corridor that was annexed by the city of Los Angeles specifically to connect San Pedro, Wilmington, and the
Port of Los Angeles The Port of Los Angeles is a seaport managed by the Los Angeles Harbor Department, a unit of the Los Angeles, City of Los Angeles. It occupies of land and water with of waterfront and adjoins the separate Port of Long Beach. Promoted as "Amer ...
with the rest the city. North of I-10, the freeway continues as SR 110 through
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 ...
to its junction with US 101 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 ...
. The Harbor Freeway, along with the Long Beach Freeway ( I-710), are the principal means for freight from the Port of Los Angeles to railyards and warehouses further inland. Its interchange with the Santa Monica Freeway is notoriously busy and congested, and the portions bordering Bunker Hill in northwest Downtown Los Angeles are choked with traffic at peak travel times. ;Landmarks Notable landmarks and attractions near the Harbor Freeway include the
Los Angeles Harbor College Los Angeles Harbor College (LAHC) is a Public college, public community college in Wilmington, California. It is one of two community colleges serving the South Bay, Los Angeles, South Bay region of Los Angeles, California, Los Angeles. LAHC s ...
,
California State University, Dominguez Hills California State University, Dominguez Hills (CSUDH, CSU Dominguez Hills, or Cal State Dominguez Hills) is a public university in Carson, California. It was founded in 1960 and is part of the California State University (CSU) system. In 2020, ...
,
Watts Towers The Watts Towers, Towers of Simon Rodia, or ''Nuestro Pueblo'' ("our town" in Spanish) are a collection of 17 interconnected sculptural towers, architectural structures, and individual sculptural features and mosaics within the site of the arti ...
, Exposition Park (including the
Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum The Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum (also known as the Los Angeles Coliseum or L.A. Coliseum) is a multi-purpose stadium in the Exposition Park, Los Angeles, Exposition Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. Conceived as a hal ...
, the
BMO Stadium BMO Stadium (formerly Banc of California Stadium) is a soccer-specific stadium in the Exposition Park, Los Angeles, Exposition Park neighborhood of Los Angeles, California, United States. It is the home of Major League Soccer's Los Angeles FC ...
and the
Lucas Museum of Narrative Art The Lucas Museum of Narrative Art is a museum founded by filmmaker George Lucas and his wife, businesswoman Mellody Hobson. Once completed, the museum will hold all forms of visual storytelling, including painting, photography, sculpture, illus ...
), the
University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...
, Crypto.com Arena,
L.A. Live L.A. Live is an entertainment complex in the South Park District of downtown Los Angeles, California. It is adjacent to the Crypto.com Arena and the Los Angeles Convention Center. L.A. Live was developed by Anschutz Entertainment Group (AEG ...
,
Los Angeles Convention Center The Los Angeles Convention Center is a convention center located in the southwest section of Downtown Los Angeles, Downtown Los Angeles, California, United States. It hosts multiple annual conventions and has often been used as a filming locat ...
, the skyline of
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
Chinatown Chinatown ( zh, t=唐人街) is the catch-all name for an ethnic enclave of Chinese people located outside Greater China, most often in an urban setting. Areas known as "Chinatown" exist throughout the world, including Europe, Asia, Africa, O ...
. The Harbor Freeway is noted for its elaborate
high-occupancy toll lane A high-occupancy toll lane (HOT lane) is a type of traffic lane or roadway that is available to high-occupancy vehicles and other exempt vehicles without charge; other vehicles are required to pay a road pricing, variable fee that is adjusted in ...
feature, with the HOT lanes elevated above the rest of traffic in many areas, constructed in 1994 by C.C. Myers, Inc. as HOV lanes and converted to HOT lanes in 2012. Of particular note is the
Judge Harry Pregerson Interchange The Judge Harry Pregerson Interchange is a five-level stack interchange near the Athens and Watts communities of Los Angeles, California. It is the interchange of the following routes: * * The interchange permits traffic entering the interchan ...
, which contains the most elaborate network of direct HOV/HOT connectors in
Los Angeles County Los Angeles County, officially the County of Los Angeles and sometimes abbreviated as LA County, is the most populous county in the United States, with 9,663,345 residents estimated in 2023. Its population is greater than that of 40 individua ...
. It includes a seven-story ramp that connects the
Century Freeway A century is a period of 100 years or 10 decades. Centuries are numbered ordinally in English and many other languages. The word ''century'' comes from the Latin ''centum'', meaning ''one hundred''. ''Century'' is sometimes abbreviated as c. A ...
's HOV lanes to the Harbor Freeway's northbound HOT lanes and offers splendid views of the entire
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 Gabriel Mountains The San Gabriel Mountains () are a mountain range located in Los Angeles and San Bernardino counties, California, United States. The mountain range is part of the Transverse Ranges and lies between the Los Angeles Basin and the Mojave Desert ...
. The interchange with SR 91 (formally known as the Edmond J. Russ Interchange) is also fairly large.


Arroyo Seco Parkway

SR 110 continues north as 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 US 101 to
Pasadena Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial d ...
. From downtown, it passes through
Elysian Park Elysian Park is one of the largest parks in Los Angeles, California, United States, at 600 acres (240 ha). Most of Elysian Park falls in the neighborhood of the same name, but a small portion of the park falls in Echo Park. The park was created ...
, where the northbound lanes pass through the four Figueroa Street Tunnels and the higher southbound lanes pass through a cut and over low areas on bridges. Then after crossing the
Los Angeles River The Los Angeles River (), historically known as by the Tongva and the by the Spanish, is a major river in Los Angeles County, California. Its headwaters are in the Simi Hills and Santa Susana Mountains, and it flows nearly from Canoga Park ...
and 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 ...
( I-5), the parkway runs alongside the Arroyo Seco seasonal river towards Pasadena.


Harbor Transitway

The
Harbor Transitway The Harbor Transitway (also known as the I-110 Express Lanes) is a shared-use express bus corridor (known as a busway or transitway) and High occupancy toll lane, high occupancy toll (HOT) lanes running in the median (road), median of Intersta ...
is a grade-separated, shared-use
express bus Public transport bus services are generally based on regular operation of transit buses along a route calling at agreed bus stops according to a published public transport timetable. History of buses Origins While there are indications o ...
and
high-occupancy toll A high-occupancy toll lane (HOT lane) is a type of traffic lane or roadway that is available to high-occupancy vehicles and other exempt vehicles without charge; other vehicles are required to pay a road pricing, variable fee that is adjusted in ...
(HOT) corridor, running in the
median The median of a set of numbers is the value separating the higher half from the lower half of a Sample (statistics), data sample, a statistical population, population, or a probability distribution. For a data set, it may be thought of as the “ ...
of I-110, between SR 91 (
Gardena Freeway State Route 91 (SR 91, locally referred to as the 91) is a major east–west state highway in the U.S. state of California that serves several regions of the Greater Los Angeles urban area. A freeway throughout its entire length, it offici ...
) and
Adams Boulevard Adams may refer to: * For persons, see Adams (surname) Places United States *Adams, California *Adams, California, former name of Corte Madera, California * Adams, Decatur County, Indiana *Adams, Kentucky *Adams, Massachusetts, a New England to ...
in the south side of Downtown Los Angeles. The southern end of the HOT lanes also includes dedicated ramps connecting to the
Harbor Gateway Transit Center Harbor Gateway Transit Center, formerly Artesia Transit Center, is a large bus station at the southern end of the Harbor Transitway that serves as a transport hub (known locally as a transit center) for the South Bay (Los Angeles County), South B ...
. , the HOT lanes are a
24/7 service In commerce and industry, 24/7 or 24-7 service (usually pronounced "twenty-four seven") is Service (economics), service that is available at any time and usually, every day. An alternate orthography for the numerical part includes 24×7 (usuall ...
. Solo drivers are tolled using a
congestion pricing Congestion pricing or congestion charges is a system of surcharging users of public goods that are subject to congestion through excess demand, such as through higher peak charges for use of bus services, electricity, metros, railways, tel ...
system based on the real-time levels of traffic. Carpools with two or more people and motorcycles are not charged. All tolls are collected using an
open road tolling Open road tolling (ORT), also called all-electronic tolling, cashless tolling, or free-flow tolling, is the collection of tolls on toll roads without the use of tollbooths. An electronic toll collection system is usually used instead. The major ...
system, and therefore there are no toll booths to receive cash. Each vehicle using the HOT lanes is required to carry a
FasTrak FasTrak is the electronic toll collection (ETC) system used in the state of California in the United States. It operates statewide on all toll roads, toll bridges, and high-occupancy toll lanes that are part of the California Freeway and Expr ...
''Flex'' transponder with its switch set to indicate the number of the vehicle's occupants (1, 2, or 3+). Those with clean air vehicles need to apply to get a 15 percent discount. Solo drivers may also use the FasTrak standard tag without the switch. Drivers without any FasTrak tag will be assessed a toll violation regardless of whether they qualified for free.


History

In the 1924 Major Street Traffic Plan for Los Angeles, a widening of
Figueroa Street Figueroa Street is a major north-south street in Los Angeles County, California, spanning from the Los Angeles neighborhood of Wilmington, Los Angeles, Wilmington north to Eagle Rock, Los Angeles, Eagle Rock. A short, unconnected continuation of ...
to San Pedro as a good road to the
Port of Los Angeles The Port of Los Angeles is a seaport managed by the Los Angeles Harbor Department, a unit of the Los Angeles, City of Los Angeles. It occupies of land and water with of waterfront and adjoins the separate Port of Long Beach. Promoted as "Amer ...
was proposed. Progress was slow, and, in 1933, the state legislature added the entire length to the state highway system as Route 165, an unsigned designation. This route not only extended from San Pedro north to Los Angeles, but continued through the city-built Figueroa Street Tunnels and along the northern extension of Figueroa Street to
Eagle Rock Eagle is the common name for the golden eagle, bald eagle, and other birds of prey in the family of the Accipitridae. Eagles belong to several groups of Genus, genera, some of which are closely related. True eagles comprise the genus ''Aquila ( ...
, and then followed Linda Vista Avenue (via an
overlap Overlap may refer to: * In set theory, an overlap of elements shared between sets is called an intersection, as in a Venn diagram. * In music theory, overlap is a synonym for reinterpretation of a chord at the boundary of two musical phrases * Ove ...
on Route 161 ( SR 134) over the Colorado Street Bridge) to Route 9 (now I-210) at the Devil's Gate Reservoir. The entire length of Route 165 became Sign Route 11 in 1934. US Route 6 was also assigned to the portion between SR 1 and Avenue 26 in 1937, and, at about the same time, US 66 was moved from Eagle Rock Boulevard to Figueroa Street, overlapping SR 11 between
Sunset Boulevard Sunset Boulevard is a boulevard in the central and western part of Los Angeles, California, United States, that stretches from the Pacific Coast Highway (California), Pacific Coast Highway in Pacific Palisades, Los Angeles, Pacific Palisad ...
( US 101) and Colorado Street ( SR 134). The state completed 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 ...
which had been added to the state highway system in 1935 as Route 205, in early 1941, providing a faster route between SR 11 at Avenue 26 and Pasadena.
Historic American Engineering Record Heritage Documentation Programs (HDP) is a division of the U.S. National Park Service (NPS). It administers three programs established to document historic places in the United States: Historic American Buildings Survey (HABS), Historic American E ...
(J. Philip Gruen and Portia Lee)
Arroyo Seco Parkway (HAER No. CA-265) written historical and descriptive data
August 1999, pp. 34, 57, 65, 67
US 66 was moved to the new route, while SR 11 remained on Figueroa Street and Linda Vista Avenue, the former also becoming a new US Route 66 Alternate. Construction of a freeway to San Pedro was much slower, despite having been in the earliest plans for an integrated system. Initially, the Harbor Parkway was to split at the merge with the Venice Parkway northeast of the
University of Southern California The University of Southern California (USC, SC, or Southern Cal) is a Private university, private research university in Los Angeles, California, United States. Founded in 1880 by Robert M. Widney, it is the oldest private research university in ...
, with the East By-Pass and West By-Pass straddling the Los Angeles Central Business District and rejoining at the split between the Arroyo Seco Parkway and Riverside Parkway south of
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 ...
.
Automobile Club of Southern California The Automobile Club of Southern California is the Southern California affiliate of the American Automobile Association (AAA) federation of motor clubs. The Auto Club was founded on December 13, 1900, in Los Angeles as one of the nation's first mo ...
, map from Traffic Survey, Los Angeles Metropolitan Area, 1937, reproduced in Janet L. Abu-Lughod, New York, Chicago, Los Angeles: America's Global Cities, 1999, p. 256
Transportation Engineering Board, map from A Transit Program for the Los Angeles Metropolitan Region, 1939, reproduced in Gerrylynn K. Roberts, Philip Steadman, American Cities and Technology: Wilderness to Wired City, 1999, p. 79 The West By-Pass was soon incorporated into the Harbor Parkway, Los Angeles County Regional Planning District
Master Plan of Metropolitan Los Angeles Freeways
adopted August 6, 1947
and the first short piece, by then renamed the Harbor Freeway, opened on July 30, 1952, from 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 ...
south to 3rd Street. (The Arroyo Seco Parkway was completed to the Four Level Interchange on September 22, 1953, and renamed the Pasadena Freeway on November 16, 1954.) The Harbor Freeway gradually pushed south, opening to Olympic Boulevard on March 23, 1954, and Washington Boulevard on May 14, 1954. On March 27, 1956, the highway was extended to 42nd Street, and on April 24, 1957, it reached temporary ramps at 88th Place. Further extensions were made to
Century Boulevard Century Boulevard is a major east–west thoroughfare in the southern portion of Los Angeles, California. Century Boulevard acts as a continuation of Tweedy Boulevard at Alameda Street in South Gate in its east end (Tweedy Boulevard in its ...
on July 31, 1958, 124th Street on September 24, 1958,
Alondra Boulevard Alondra Boulevard is a west–east thoroughfare in the counties of Los Angeles and Orange. Route description Alondra Boulevard's western terminus is at Vermont Avenue and 161st Street in the city of Gardena just west of the Los Angeles city l ...
(which the county widened to carry the load) on May 2, 1960, 190th Street on July 15, 1960, Torrance Boulevard on August 28, 1962, and finally Pacific Coast Highway ( SR 1) on September 26, 1962. There it connected with a section that had been open since June 19, 1956, from Pacific Coast Highway south to Channel Street. Along with the
Vincent Thomas Bridge The Vincent Thomas Bridge is a suspension bridge, crossing Los Angeles Harbor in Los Angeles, California, linking San Pedro with Terminal Island. It is the only suspension bridge in the Greater Los Angeles area. The bridge is part of State ...
to
Terminal Island Terminal Island, historically known as , is a largely artificial island located in Los Angeles County, California, between the neighborhoods of Wilmington, Los Angeles, Wilmington and San Pedro, Los Angeles, San Pedro in the city of Los Angeles ...
, the final piece in San Pedro opened on July 9, 1970, completing the Harbor Freeway to its present length. In December 1978, the Harbor Freeway was approved as an
Interstate Highway The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly known as the Interstate Highway System, or the Eisenhower Interstate System, is a network of controlled-access highways that forms part of the National Hi ...
by the
FHWA 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 ...
. In 1981, the SR 11 designation was renumbered as I-110 on the Harbor Freeway, and SR 110 on the
Pasadena Freeway Pasadena ( ) is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, northeast of downtown Los Angeles. It is the most populous city and the primary cultural center of the San Gabriel Valley. Old Pasadena is the city's original commercial d ...
. The I-110 designation had been previously applied to what is now a spur of I-10 from 1958 to 1968.


Richard Ankrom signage

In 2001, Richard Ankrom, a local artist who got lost trying to get onto I-5 North from northbound SR 110 because there was no clear official signage labeling access to I-5 North, solved his frustration by covertly modifying one of the overhead signs on the freeway just before 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 ...
(). Using official government sign specifications, Ankrom fabricated two sign pieces, one being an I-5 marker shield and the other with the word "NORTH", and affixed them to the left side of the sign. He performed his modifications in broad daylight, disguised as a
Caltrans The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) is an Executive (government), executive department of the U.S. state of California. The department is part of the Government of California#State agencies, cabinet-level California State Tran ...
worker. In that district, Caltrans has three sign crews, each thinking one of the other two crews did the installation. After nine months, at Ankrom's request, the ''
Los Angeles Downtown News The ''Los Angeles Downtown News'' is a free weekly newspaper in Los Angeles, California, serving the Downtown Los Angeles area. The newspaper focuses on general news with an emphasis on real estate and business along with coverage of the arts s ...
'' broke the story. Prior to Ankrom's work, the only signage directing motorists to the I-5 North off-ramp came at a quarter-mile (0.4 km) before the exit, thus forcing many to merge across multiple lanes in a very short distance. The signs were inspected by Caltrans to ensure they would not fall off onto the road below. Ankrom was never charged, despite statements from officials that his actions were illegal. Ankrom referred to his sign project as "Guerilla Public Service". In 2009, Caltrans replaced all signage along this segment with newer, more reflective versions. These new signs include Ankrom's original improvements.


Preservation

Despite the increased traffic in Los Angeles, including trucks shipping products from the
Port of Los Angeles The Port of Los Angeles is a seaport managed by the Los Angeles Harbor Department, a unit of the Los Angeles, City of Los Angeles. It occupies of land and water with of waterfront and adjoins the separate Port of Long Beach. Promoted as "Amer ...
in San Pedro, there are no plans to upgrade the rest of I-110 from I-10 to Pasadena to Interstate standards. Instead,
Caltrans The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) is an Executive (government), executive department of the U.S. state of California. The department is part of the Government of California#State agencies, cabinet-level California State Tran ...
has pushed for a protected status alternative to preserve 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 ...
as a historic landmark. The state legislature designated the original section, north of the Figueroa Street Viaduct, as a "California Historic Parkway" (part of the State Scenic Highway System reserved for freeways built before 1945) in 1993; the only other highway so designated is the Cabrillo Freeway ( SR 163) in
San Diego San Diego ( , ) is a city on the Pacific coast of Southern California, adjacent to the Mexico–United States border. With a population of over 1.4 million, it is the List of United States cities by population, eighth-most populous city in t ...
. The
American Society of Civil Engineers The American Society of Civil Engineers (ASCE) is a tax-exempt professional body founded in 1852 to represent members of the civil engineering profession worldwide. Headquartered in Reston, Virginia, it is the oldest national engineering soci ...
named it a
National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark __NOTOC__ The following is a list of Historic Civil Engineering Landmarks as designated by the American Society of Civil Engineers since it began the program in 1964. The designation is granted to projects, structures, and sites in the United Stat ...
in 1999, and it became a
National Scenic Byway A National Scenic Byway is a road recognized by the United States Department of Transportation for one or more of six "intrinsic qualities": archeological, cultural, historic, natural, recreational, and scenic. The program was established by Co ...
in 2002.
U.S. Department of Transportation The United States Department of Transportation (USDOT or DOT) is one of the executive departments of the U.S. federal government. It is headed by the secretary of transportation, who reports directly to the president of the United States a ...

U.S. Transportation Secretary Mineta Names 36 New National Scenic Byways, All-American Roads
June 13, 2002


Exit list


See also

* *


References


External links


Metro ExpressLanes
– includes toll information on the I-110 Express Lanes
A written account of Richard Ankrom's sign modification






{{I-10 aux 1 (California) 10-1 Interstate 10-1 Southern California freeways 10-1 California Transportation in Los Angeles State Route 110 Carson, California
110 110 may refer to: *110 (number), natural number *AD 110, a year *110 BC, a year *110 film, a cartridge-based film format used in still photography * 110 (MBTA bus), Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority bus route *110 (song), 2019 song by Cap ...
South Los Angeles
110 110 may refer to: *110 (number), natural number *AD 110, a year *110 BC, a year *110 film, a cartridge-based film format used in still photography * 110 (MBTA bus), Massachusetts Bay Transportation Authority bus route *110 (song), 2019 song by Cap ...