California State Route 72

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State Route 72

Defined by S&HC § 372, maintained by Caltrans

South end:

SR 39 in La Habra

North end:

I-605 in Whittier

State highways in California (list - pre-1964)
County routes in California (list)
< SR 71		SR 73 >
History - Unconstructed - Deleted - Freeway - Scenic

Eastbound Route 72 on Whittier Boulevard, entering Whittier.

State Route 72 runs from State Route 39 in La Habra to Atlantic Boulevard in East Los Angeles. It forms part of El Camino Real.

1 Route description
2 History
3 See also
4 Major intersections
5 References
6 External links
- 6.1 Points of interest

[edit] Route description

Route 72 begins at the corner of Whittier Boulevard and Beach Boulevard (Route 39) in La Habra. The route follows Whittier Boulevard for its entire length, heading northwest through Whittier, as a four-lane arterial street. West of Route 605, the route goes under a railroad bridge and then over the San Gabriel River as it enters Pico Rivera and meets State Route 19 at Rosemead Boulevard. After a mile, the route crosses a much more narrow steel bridge over the Rio Hondo into Montebello. There, it continues towards Atlantic Boulevard.

The route formerly continued further down to an unusual end at Downey Road. West of Route 710, the watchful driver can spot a blue sign assembly, informing truckers of the end of Terminal Access, just before approaching the Downey Road signal. This assembly announces the route's abortive end. (Whittier Boulevard itself continues past Downey Road towards downtown Los Angeles. See below.)

It should be noted that, despite the fact that routes in California are defined from west to east and from south to north, Route 72 is actually defined in the opposite direction, from east to west. This reflects the fact that Route 72, having been derived from the longitudinal U.S. Route 101, was actually a south-north highway, pivoting at Whittier and Harbor Boulevards and continuing west before ending at a point northwest of its beginning.

[edit] History

California's historic El Camino Real, which connected the Alta California missions, ran along what was then U.S. Route 101. Before 1964, U.S. Route 101 continued past today's end near the East Los Angeles Interchange east onto Whittier Boulevard and south on Harbor Boulevard until it met its bypass in Anaheim. (What is now Route 5 from Los Angeles to Anaheim was the U.S. Route 101 Bypass.)

In 1964, the U.S. Route 101 designation was removed south of the East L.A. Interchange. Its routings on Whittier and Harbor became Route 72, and was initially defined to run from Route 5 (the former bypass) to an unbuilt State Route 245, hence the route's lackluster end at Downey Road. (Route 245 was to have been a bypass connecting Route 5 with Route 60, a function that was eventually assumed by an extended Route 710.) In 1965, with Route 245 deleted, the definition was clarified to have Route 72 end at Downey Road, which was parallel to the planned Route 245.

In 1981, the portion from Route 5 to Harbor Boulevard (current Route 39) was deleted, and the portion from Harbor Boulevard to Route 39 was transferred to State Route 39. In 1992, the portion from Atlantic Boulevard to Downey Road was deleted. Route 72 today is designated as part of El Camino Real.

Currently, a provision to relinquish Route 72 between Route 605 and Atlantic Boulevard to local cities is in effect. Portions of Route 72 within the Los Angeles County (East Los Angeles) and Montebello have since been relinquished and are no longer a state highway. It is guessed that a portion in Pico Rivera from Route 605 to Route 19 has also been relinquished. Also, Route 72 will be deleted when a Route 90 freeway is built. However, given the likeliness that such a freeway may never be built (and the fact that Route 72 today runs near several state facilities and forms part of El Camino Real), such a deletion is doubtful.

According to the California Highways website ([1]), "[a]n existing permit allows the closure of this route to all vehicular traffic, except emergency traffic, between Eastern and Atlantic Blvd on Friday, Saturday, and Sunday nights between 9:30 p.m. and 5:00 a.m.. This permit was granted to reduce the 'cruising' that was occurring on the route on those evenings." However, that permit is not routinely exercised.

[edit] See also

El Camino Real
U.S. Route 101
Route 82, Route 72's sister highway in the San Francisco Bay Area.

[edit] Major intersections

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 ^[1]^[2]^[3]	Destinations	Notes
Orange ORA 11.42-11.92	La Habra	11.42	SR 39 – Buena Park, Huntington Beach
Los Angeles LA 0.00-6.71	Whittier	4.24	Santa Fe Springs Road, Washington Boulevard
		6.28	Norwalk Boulevard
		6.66	I-605 (San Gabriel River Freeway)	Interchange
		6.71	Pioneer Boulevard	Continuation beyond I-605