Driving in Los Angeles County freeways · Freeways in Driving in Los Angeles County
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Freeways in Driving in Los Angeles County
Freeways in Driving in Los Angeles County
Each freeway is identified by a number, and usually one or two names.
When giving directions, most locals refer to a freeway by its number, "the 405 freeway" or "the 101 freeway", or just "the 101". The redundant "the" seems to be a local construction: "Take the 405 to the 101" rather than just "Take 405 to 101." Although both are acceptable, you may encounter momentary confusion when using the latter with locals.
Local radio station traffic reports, on the other hand, often refer to freeways by name, leading to confusion.
Names usually identify where the freeway goes; but since they go in two different directions, the freeway may have two names. For example, the 110 runs from Pasadena in the north to the LA harbor in the south, and is therefore called both the Pasadena Freeway and the Harbor Freeway. On the other hand, the 405 is known as the San Diego Freeway despite the fact that it doesn't go to San Diego. The Hollywood Freeway is unusual in that it consists of both the 101 Freeway in the south, and the 170 Freeway in the north, and runs through Hollywood rather than to it.
1 - Pacific Coast Highway or more commonly PCH: Not really a freeway per se. But convenient for the beach towns as it sticks to the coast most of the way through the county, and one of the scenic ways to tour the Los Angeles coast. Usually slower than the 405, it is riddled with traffic signals.
2 - Glendale Freeway: This freeway connects the 210 in La Crescenta/La Cañada to the 134 and 5 freeways before petering out in Silver Lake/Echo Park. Convenient for getting to the Angeles National Forest and Dodger Stadium.
5 - Golden State Freeway/Santa Ana Freeway: The main north/south freeway through central LA. It passes through downtown LA and heads north through the east end of the San Fernando Valley. Continuing north it is the fastest route to San Francisco. Heading south it will take you to Anaheim, through Orange County, to San Diego and the Mexican border. Although this is one of the busiest and most direct freeways in the region, it is also one of the oldest and is often only two lanes in either direction. This freeway originates at the US border in San Diego and goes all the way to the Canadian border in Washington.
10 - Santa Monica Freeway/San Bernadino Freeway: The main east/west freeway. It passes by downtown LA and is the main route between LA and Santa Monica. Going east, it is, along with the 60, the main escape from LA to Riverside County, Palm Springs, and eventually Phoenix and the rest of the country. As a sign near the beginning notes, this is also the "Christopher Columbus Transcontinental Highway" and runs all the way through Phoenix, Houston and New Orleans to Jacksonville, Florida.
14 - Antelope Valley Freeway: This is a freeway starting from the 5 in the south and moves its way to Palmdale and Lancaster (in Northern Los Angeles County).
57 - Orange Freeway: Most of this freeway is in Orange County. But it does connect the 210 in La Verne to the 71, 10 and 60 freeways before heading out of the county to the South (straight on to Anaheim and Disneyland). Convenient if you are in the East of the county for Raging Waters, Disneyland or Cal Poly Pomona.
60 - Pomona Freeway: Runs parallel to the 10 from downtown to beyond Riverside, after which it merges again with the 10.
71 - Chino Valley Freeway: Starts at the 10/57/71 interchange in Pomona in the west and ends at the 91 in Corona. Convenient for getting from Los Angeles County out to Corona and even San Diego (using the 15).
91 - Artesia Freeway: An east/west freeway that connects the 110, 5, 605 and 57 freeways. Be careful about it being a 'beach freeway'. It ends long before it ever gets to a beach, much smarter to take other freeway routes to the beaches. When you reach the end of the elevated freeway, the road becomes a highway until it hits PCH (1). Although you may use it to get to either Manhattan or Hermosa beaches, you will wait at many traffic signals.
101 - Hollywood Freeway/Ventura Freeway: Runs northwest from downtown LA, past Hollywood, and into the San Fernando Valley, where it turns abruptly west and becomes the Ventura Freeway. It then continues to the Central Coast through Santa Barbra and San Luis Obispo and then onwards to the San Francisco Bay Area, Oregon, and ends in Olympia, Washington. The 170 continues northwest as the Hollywood Freeway. Do not be confused by the fact that sometimes the signs indicate 101 South or East and 101 North or West depending on the stretch of freeway. There is no interchange or visible border when these switch.
105 - Glenn Anderson Freeway: An east/west route, a few miles south of the 10. Also known as the Century Freeway. Important because it takes you straight to the LA airport. On the east end, terminates at the 605.
110 - Pasadena Freeway/Harbor Freeway: Runs from Pasadena in the north to the LA harbor area in the south. Unusual in that the southern part of the 110 is an Interstate, while the northern part is a state highway. Probably this is because the northern part, the Pasadena Freeway, would never pass code as an Interstate. Ironically, this portion, also known as the "Arroyo Parkway" was the nation's first limited access "freeway". Designed in the 1930s, when it was assumed cars would be travelling at most 35 miles per hour (60 km/h), the Pasadena Freeway is noted for its extremely short offramps, while its onramps give you just a few car lengths to accelerate from a complete stop before merging with oncoming traffic. *134 - Ventura Freeway: Connects the 210 in Pasadena to the 101 in Burbank. Cuts right through Glendale and Eagle Rock along the way. Convenient for getting to Griffith Park, Disney studios and most of Glendale.
210 - Foothill Freeway: a 'bypass' interstate , running from the valley, intersecting the 5 and the major north/south freeways. The Foothill Freeway parallels the 10 and 60 out of eastern LA county and was recently extended from San Dimas past the I-15 to Rialto.
405 - San Diego Freeway: The main north/south freeway for West LA. It is often the road you take to the Los Angeles airport. The 405 runs north through the San Fernando Valley. It runs south from the airport towards Long Beach, and turns east until merging with the 5 in Orange County. The 405 is the most congested freeways in the world, and should be avoided during rush hour.
605 - San Gabriel River Freeway: A north/south alternative in east LA county, running from near Long Beach north up to the 210, intersecting the 5 and the major east/wast freeways.
710 - Long Beach Freeway: A north/south artery from East LA to Long Beach. This freeway is almost always full of trucks heading in and out of the harbor, so be careful near them..
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Driving in Los Angeles County Travel Guide from Wikitravel. Many thanks to all Wikitravel contributors. Text is available under Creative Commons Attribution-ShareAlike 3.0, images are available under various licenses, see each image for details.