Ventura Freeway

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Ventura Freeway

Signed as

Major cities/towns:	Ventura Oxnard Camarillo Thousand Oaks Westlake Village Agoura Hills Calabasas Woodland Hills Tarzana Encino Sherman Oaks Studio City Toluca Lake Burbank Glendale Pasadena
Direction:	East-West

Southern California freeways

The Ventura Freeway (the U.S. Route 101 segment is highlighted in red, the California State Route 134 segment is highlighted in blue)

The Ventura Freeway is a freeway in southern California running from Ventura to Pasadena. It is the principal east-west route through Ventura County and in the southern San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County. From Ventura 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. East of the Hollywood Freeway intersection, it is signed as State Route 134.

Prior to the construction of a new alignment in the 1970s, the portion east of the Hollywood Freeway was known as the Colorado Freeway in reference to nearby Colorado Boulevard, a historic thoroughfare in Pasadena and northeastern Los Angeles.

1 The route
2 In popular culture
3 Legal definition
- 3.1 Screaming Eagles Highway
4 Control cities
5 Communities served
6 Major intersections

[edit] The route

The freeway begins southeast of La Conchita --which alternates between a freeway, an expressway, and an ordinary divided highway previous to this point--East of this point, U.S. 101 is known as the Ventura Freeway. It travels eastward through the citrus orchards and strawberry fields of the Oxnard Plain before ascending a short, steep pass 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 405 and 5 freeways and the Los Angeles River. After passing through the Glendale civic center 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.

The Ventura Freeway suffers from severe congestion. Its intersection with the San Diego Freeway, in Sherman Oaks, is consistently rated as one of the five most congested interchanges in the nation. Where it meets the Hollywood Freeway at the Hollywood Split junction is also notably congested. During events at the Rose Bowl, the freeway's eastern portions often resemble a parking lot.

The east-west geographical alignment of the Ventura Freeway and the north-south designation of U.S. 101 on freeway signs can be confusing to visitors; the same freeway entrance can often be signed as "101 North" and "101 West"; this is most common in the San Fernando Valley.

[edit] In popular culture

Ventura Highway is the title of a 1972 hit by America. The freeway "runnin' through the yard" in Tom Petty's 1989 hit, "Free Fallin'," is most likely the Ventura Freeway.

[edit] Legal definition

Routes 101 and 134 from Route 5 to Santa Barbara County Line.

Note: Although the freeway's name had a long local usage, it did not become officially legal until Senate Concurrent Resolution 4, Chapter 62 (1973).
Also note that the legal definition does not include the portion of Route 134 between Route 5 and Route 210 (i.e., through Glendale and Eagle Rock to Pasadena). However, local usage extends the name over this portion of freeway.

Source: 2004 Named Freeways, Highways, Structures and Other Appurtenances in California (PDF)

[edit] Screaming Eagles Highway

Sign marking the "Screaming Eagles Highway"

The Ventura Freeway in Ventura County is also officially known as the "Screaming Eagles Highway", with appropriate signage at both ends, honoring the 101st Airborne Division of the United States Army. The 101st Division was formed on July 23, 1918, and subsequently has been involved in every major war that the United States has participated in since then. [1]