East Los Angeles Interchange

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Aerial photo of the East Los Angeles interchange complex
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Aerial photo of the East Los Angeles interchange complex
Interstate 10 westbound, facing Downtown Los Angeles. Vehicles following westbound I-10 must exit while through traffic continues on US 101.
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Interstate 10 westbound, facing Downtown Los Angeles. Vehicles following westbound I-10 must exit while through traffic continues on US 101.

The East Los Angeles Interchange complex is the busiest freeway interchange in the world. At the time of its construction in the early 1960s it was considered a civil engineering marvel. Located about one mile east of downtown Los Angeles, California along the east bank of the Los Angeles River, the interchange is comprised of six freeway segments (i.e. there are six freeway 'paths' of travel into the complex). Note that the actual number of numbered highways intersecting at this interchange is four - these freeways are:

The primary reason why the complex is so 'complex' is that the intersecting freeways 'shift' alignments and directions:

  • Interstate 5 enters the complex from the south as the Santa Ana Freeway, but exits to the north as the Golden State Freeway. The Santa Ana Freeway continues west as U.S. 101 to the Four Level Interchange in downtown Los Angeles.
  • Interstate 10 is not contiguous through the interchange. Heading west into the complex on the San Bernardino Freeway (I-10), the primary road (or trunk) heads to U.S. 101. In order to follow the I-10 alignment, one must exit the trunk road and follow a connector that merges with the alignment of southbound I-5, then exit that trunk and follow another connector to the Santa Monica Freeway (I-10); note also the change in the freeway's name.
  • Heading west into the complex on the Pomona Freeway (CA/SR-60), the primary road (or trunk) heads into the Santa Monica Freeway (I-10).

It should also be noted that there is not complete freedom of movement within the interchange either. Traffic flowing into it on certain freeways cannot leave it on all of the others. For example, there is no direct connector between the westbound Pomona Freeway (CA/SR-60) and the southbound Santa Ana Freeway (I-5); travelers wanting to make this transition must exit at the Pomona Freeway's interchange with the Long Beach Freeway (Interstate 710) located three miles to the east, head southbound, and then transition to the Santa Ana Freeway at the interchange between those two freeways. Naturally, travelers from outside the Los Angeles area may not know this and will find this confusing.

Further complication is added by the varying designs of each intersecting freeway and their related transition roads. Some have four lanes and are relatively straight and wide, while others have one lane, are narrow, and/or have curves with tighter radii or cambers. Thus, traffic congestion is exacerbated as vehicles on the newer freeways moving at high rates of speed 'transition' to the older freeways and encounter slower moving vehicles, or vice versa.

Although not commonly called such by residents and other reporters, the freeway intersection was often called "Malfunction Junction" by former KNX Traffic reporter Bill Keene, due to its complicated interchange structure.

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