California State Route 23

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State Route 23
Moorpark Freeway
Defined by S&HC § 323, maintained by Caltrans
Length: 32 mi[1] (51 km)
South end: SR 1 in Malibu
Major
junctions:		 US 101 in Thousand Oaks
SR 118 in Moorpark
North end: SR 126 in Fillmore
State highways in California (list - pre-1964)
County routes in California (list)
< SR 22 SR 24 >
History - Unconstructed - Deleted - Freeway - Scenic

State Route 23 in the U.S. state of California is a state highway mostly in Ventura County that runs roughly from south to north from Fillmore to Malibu. This route is part of the California Freeway and Expressway System[2].

Contents

[edit] Route description

Major cities
Bolded cities are officially-designated control cities for signs

Route 23 consists of three distinct sections. The southern section begins as Decker Canyon Road near Trancas in Malibu, where Route 23 intersects with State Route 1. This portion provides numerous beautiful vistas of the Santa Monica Mountains and the Pacific Ocean during daytime, but extreme caution is advisable, especially as the road nears PCH. It is a notoriously dangerous road, and the rusted chassis of cars that have gone over the side can still be seen. Bassist Philip Taylor Kramer of the rock band Iron Butterfly allegedly committed suicide by driving his van over the side along this route. During its steep and winding path through the Santa Monica Mountains as an increasingly windy canyon road until its intersection with Potrero Road, Route 23 becomes Westlake Boulevard, where it departs Los Angeles County for Ventura County and heads roughly two miles northeast through the Westlake section of Thousand Oaks, a developed residential community. SR 23 then merges with U.S. Route 101 and runs concurrently with US 101 north to the Moorpark Freeway.

The middle section, known as the Moorpark Freeway, is a major route for traffic headed between Thousand Oaks and Moorpark. It starts in Thousand Oaks, splitting off from the concurrency with U.S. Route 101 and heading north, with two lanes in both directions, terminating at the exit for Los Angeles Avenue when the freeway turns east to become State Route 118. Funding for widening of the freeway was approved August 18, 2005, with construction to begin in February 2006, to be completed in 2009. Officially, this portion is named the Military Intelligence Memorial Freeway, in honor of the U.S. 100th Infantry Battalion and 442nd Regimental Combat Team, composed entirely of Japanese Americans. Traffic along this freeway during rush hour is extremely congested, particularly near the intersection with the 101.

The northernmost section begins at State Route 118 in Moorpark (called Los Angeles Avenue in Moorpark), and heads north as Grimes Canyon Road through orange groves and sandstone cliffs. In Fillmore, it terminates at State Route 126. The road in Fillmore actually continues past Route 126 up to the foot of the Los Padres National Forest.

Route 23 is known as the Military Intelligence Service Memorial Highway from US 101 to California Route 118.[3]

[edit] History

State Route 23 has been designated as such since 1934. However, at this time it was also designated as Legislative Route 155. The freeway portion of SR 23 opened in several phases between 1971 and 1994.[4] Before then, SR 23 intersected with U.S. 101 near Newbury Park, although it still ran concurrently with U.S. 101, which was then an expressway.[5]

SR 23 was designated as part of the Freeway and Expressway System in 1959.[4]

[edit] Major intersections and exit list

Note: Except where prefixed with a letter, postmiles were measured in 1964, based on the alignment as it existed at that time, and do not necessarily reflect current mileage. The numbers reset at county lines; the start and end postmiles in each county are given in the county column.
County Location Postmile
[6][7][8]		 #[9] Destinations Notes
Los Angeles
LA 0.00-8.90		 Malibu 0.00 SR 1 (Pacific Coast Highway) – Oxnard, Los Angeles South end of SR 23
Ventura
VEN 0.00-24.17		 Thousand Oaks R3.32
101 0.70		 US 101 south (Ventura Freeway) / Westlake Boulevard – Los Angeles South end of US 101 overlap; interchange
South end of freeway
101 1.62 41 Hampshire Road
101 3.11
R3.34		 12B US 101 north (Ventura Freeway) – Ventura North end of US 101 overlap; no exit number northbound
R3.70 13 Hillcrest Drive, Thousand Oaks Boulevard – Thousand Oaks Southbound exit and northbound entrance
R5.06 14 Janss Road
R6.03 15 Avenida de los Arboles
R7.17 16 Sunset Hills Boulevard
R8.21 17 Olsen Road – Simi Valley
Moorpark R10.16 19 Tierra Rejada Road
North end of freeway
R11.43
118 T18.21		 20B SR 118 east (Ronald Reagan Freeway) – Simi Valley South end of SR 118 overlap
118 R17.49
R12.90		 SR 118 west – Saticoy North end of SR 118 overlap
Fillmore 24.17 SR 126 (Ventura Street) – Santa Clarita, Ventura

[edit] References

  1. ^ January 1, 2006 California Log of Bridges on State Highways
  2. ^ CA Codes (shc:250-257)
  3. ^ 2007 Named Freeways, Highways, Structures and Other Appurtenances in California. Caltrans, 126. Retrieved on 2007-03-28. 
  4. ^ a b California Highways
  5. ^ Shell Oil Company. Shell California [map]. Cartography by The H.M. Gousha Company. (1965) Section R3.
  6. ^ California Department of Transportation, State Truck Route List (XLS file), accessed February 2008
  7. ^ California Department of Transportation, Log of Bridges on State Highways, July 2007
  8. ^ California Department of Transportation, All Traffic Volumes on CSHS, 2005 and 2006
  9. ^ California Department of Transportation, California Numbered Exit Uniform System, SR-23 Northbound and SR-23 Southbound, accessed February 2008

[edit] External links

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