Ventura Freeway

Ventura Freeway
Route information
Maintained by Caltrans
Major junctions
West end: SR 1 near Ventura
  SR 23 in Thousand Oaks
I-405 in Sherman Oaks
US 101 / SR 134 / SR 170 in North Hollywood
SR 2 in Glendale
To: I-210 / I-710 in Pasadena
Highway system
Southern California freeways

State highways in California(list • pre-1964)
History • Unconstructed • Deleted • Freeway • Scenic

← SR 133 134 SR 135 →

The Ventura Freeway is a freeway in southern California running from Ventura to Pasadena. It is the principal east-west route (designated north-south) 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 which was built in the late 1950s and opened on April 5, 1960.[1] East of the Hollywood Freeway intersection, it is signed as State Route 134 which was built by 1971.

Prior to the construction of a new alignment in 1971, the portion east of the Golden State Freeway was known as the Colorado Freeway in reference to nearby Colorado Boulevard, a historic thoroughfare in Pasadena and northeastern Los Angeles.

Contents

Route description

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 Downtown Glendale 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, it 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 overall north-south (Washington-to-California) 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.

California State Route 134

State Route 134 is part of the California Freeway and Expressway System.[2]

The road is the main connector from the San Fernando Valley and points north to the San Gabriel Valley and points east. Presently, future Interstate 710 dead-ends at California Blvd and is signed as State Route 710. Residents of South Pasadena have blocked efforts to extend Interstate 710 north to California Boulevard from its current end at Valley Boulevard north of Interstate 10 near the Alhambra/Los Angeles city limit. Signs on SR 134 and I-210 refer to the SR 710 stub in Pasadena as TO State Route 110, because exiting left from the Route 710 stub onto California Blvd and turning right on Arroyo Parkway will take you directly to SR 110, which is Pasadena's only direct freeway link to Downtown Los Angeles.

The Interstate 5 offramp at Colorado St. is actually old SR 134, and there are still mileposts that refer to it as such. Old SR 134 followed Colorado St. through Glendale and Colorado Boulevard in Eagle Rock to the ramp connecting Colorado Boulevard and Figueroa Street to the Ventura Freeway. Old SR 134 continued onto the ramp and then onto what is presently the Ventura Freeway to Orange Grove Boulevard in Pasadena. The Colorado Boulevard/Figueroa Street ramps plus the segment of freeway between the ramps and just east of Orange Grove Boulevard were previously known as the Colorado Freeway.

History

The interchange of SR 134 and Interstate 5 is dedicated "Gene Autry Memorial Interchange". Autry's Museum of the American West is located near the interchange in Griffith Park.

In popular culture

The group America had a top 10 hit in 1972 with the song "Ventura Highway" which the group said was about their dreams of moving to Southern California while living in Nebraska.

The song "A Sorta Fairytale" by Tori Amos begins with the line "On my way up north, up on the Ventura". Later in the song, Amos writes of the "Things you said that day up on the 101."

Michael Jackson wrote the song Billie Jean while driving down the Ventura Freeway.[3]

A dog, named Terry, who played Toto in the 1939 film, The Wizard of OZ, was buried in 1945 somewhere beneath today's Ventura Freeway.

Legal definition

The Ventura Freeway is Routes 101 and 134 from Route 5 to the Santa Barbara County line.[4] This does not include the portion of Route 134 between Route 5 and Route 210 even though local usage extends the name over this portion of freeway. Starting at the 210 junction in Pasadena, highway signs indicate "Ventura" as the destination.

Assembly Concurrent Resolution 54, Chapter 85 in 2003 also designated Route 101 in Ventura County as the "Screaming Eagles Highway".[5] This honors the 101st Airborne Division of the United States Army, which formed on July 23, 1918 and subsequently has been involved in every major war that the United States has participated in since then.[6]


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.

This exit list proceeds from east to west, since the majority of the freeway is the north-south US 101.

County Location Postmile
[7][8][9]		 Exit
[10]		 Destinations Notes
Los Angeles
LA 134 R13.34-0.00
101 11.75-38.19		 Pasadena R13.34 I-210 east (Foothill Freeway) – San Bernardino Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
Fair Oaks Avenue, Marengo Avenue Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
R13.34 13B I-210 west (Foothill Freeway) – San Fernando Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
R13.34 13B To SR 110 (SR 710 south) / Del Mar Boulevard, California Boulevard
R12.97 13A Colorado Boulevard, Orange Grove Boulevard Former SR 248
See State Route 134
Los Angeles 0.86 1D Cahuenga Boulevard – Hollywood Signed as exit 1 eastbound; no westbound entrance
0.51 1C Lankershim Boulevard – North Hollywood Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
0.35 Vineland Avenue No westbound exit
134 0.00
101 11.75		 1B SR 170 north (Hollywood Freeway) – Sacramento West/northbound exit and east/southbound entrance
West/north end of SR 134; east/south end of US 101 overlap
US 101 south (Hollywood Freeway) – Los Angeles East/southbound exit and west/northbound entrance
11.83 13A Tujunga Avenue Southbound exit and northbound entrance
12.85 14 Laurel Canyon Boulevard – Studio City
13.88 15 Coldwater Canyon Avenue
14.89 16 Woodman Avenue
15.91 17 Van Nuys Boulevard
16.94 18 Sepulveda Boulevard Northbound exit and southbound entrance
17.17 19A I-405 (San Diego Freeway) – Santa Monica, Sacramento
17.50 19B Haskell Avenue No southbound entrance
18.61 20 Hayvenhurst Avenue Northbound exit and southbound entrance
19.22 21 Balboa Boulevard – Encino
20.23 22 White Oak Avenue
21.25 23 Reseda Boulevard
22.25 24 Tampa Avenue
23.26 25 Winnetka Avenue – Woodland Hills
24.31 26A De Soto Avenue, Serrania Avenue Signed as exit 26 southbound
24.85 26B Canoga Avenue Northbound exit and southbound entrance
25.34 27 SR 27 (Topanga Canyon Boulevard) / Ventura Boulevard Signed as exits 27A (north) and 27B (south) northbound
25.76 27C Shoup Avenue Northbound exit and southbound entrance
26.45 28 Fallbrook Avenue Southbound exit only
26.86 28 Woodlake Avenue Northbound exit and entrance
27.36 29 Mulholland Drive, Valley Circle Boulevard
Calabasas 28.29 30 Parkway Calabasas
31.06 32 Las Virgenes Road – Malibu Canyon
31.92 33 Lost Hills Road
Agoura Hills 32.79 34 Liberty Canyon Road
33.69 35 Chesebro Road – Agoura Hills
35.04 36 Kanan Road
36.18 38 Reyes Adobe Road
Westlake Village 37.54 39 Lindero Canyon Road
Ventura
VEN 0.00-R43.62		 Thousand Oaks 0.70 40 SR 23 south (Westlake Boulevard) South end of SR 23 overlap
1.62 41 Hampshire Road
3.02 43A Rancho Road Signed as exit 43B northbound
3.11 43B SR 23 north (Moorpark Freeway) – Fillmore North end of SR 23 overlap; signed as exit 43A northbound
4.06 44 Moorpark Road – Thousand Oaks
5.05 45 Lynn Road
6.19 46 Ventu Park Road – Newbury Park
7.02 47A Rancho Conejo Boulevard, Borchard Road Signed as exits 47A (Rancho Conejo Boulevard) and 47B (Borchard Road) northbound
7.89 47B Wendy Drive – Newbury Park Signed as exit 47C northbound
Camarillo 10.74 50 Camarillo Springs Road – Camarillo Grove County Park
12.30 52 Santa Rosa Road, Pleasant Valley Road
13.75 53A Flynn Road, Dawson Drive
13.85 53B SR 34 (Lewis Road)
14.80 54 Carmen Drive – Camarillo
15.89 55 Las Posas Road
17.75 57 Central Avenue
Oxnard 19.17 59 Del Norte Boulevard
20.08 60 Santa Clara Avenue, Rice Avenue
21.01 61 Rose Avenue
22.01 62A SR 232 (Vineyard Avenue) – Oxnard
22.73 62B SR 1 south (Oxnard Boulevard) South end of SR 1 overlap
63A Wagon Wheel Road Southbound exit only
Ventura R23.45 63B Johnson Drive – Montalvo Signed as exit 63 northbound
R24.65 64 Victoria Avenue – Channel Islands Harbor
25.97 65 Telephone Road
26.39 66A SR 126 east (Santa Paula Freeway) – Santa Paula Signed as exit 66 southbound; no southbound entrance
26.72 66B Main Street (US 101 Bus. north) – Ventura No southbound exit
28.45 68 Seaward Avenue
29.45 69 Vista del Mar Drive, Sanjon Road Northbound exit and southbound entrance
30.15 70A California Street, Ventura Avenue
30.91 70B SR 33 north (Ojai Freeway) – Ojai
31.50 71 Main Street (US 101 Bus. south) – Ventura Southbound exit and northbound entrance
R32.70 72 State Beaches (SR 1 north) North end of SR 1 overlap; northbound exit and southbound entrance
R38.98 78 Seacliff (SR 1 south) South end of SR 1 overlap
T40.61 North end of freeway
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
     Concurrency terminus •      Closed/Former •      Incomplete access •      Unopened

On State Route 134

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 entire route is in Los Angeles County.

Location Postmile
[7][8][9]		 Exit
[11]		 Destinations Notes
Los Angeles 0.00 1A US 101 north (Ventura Freeway) – Ventura Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
0.00 1B SR 170 north (Hollywood Freeway) – Sacramento Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
Vineland Avenue Eastbound exit and entrance only
0.51 1C Lankershim Boulevard – North Hollywood Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
0.86 1D Cahuenga Boulevard Signed as exit 1 eastbound; no westbound entrance
Burbank 1.82 2 Pass Avenue – Burbank Eastbound exit only
2.11 2 Hollywood Way No eastbound exit
2.90 3 Bob Hope Drive, Buena Vista Street
Los Angeles 3.81 4 Forest Lawn Drive
4.81 5A Victory Boulevard Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
Glendale R5.47 5B I-5 south (Golden State Freeway) – Los Angeles Signed as exit 5 westbound
R5.47 5 I-5 north (Golden State Freeway) – Sacramento, Burbank Airport Eastbound exit is via exit 5A
R6.18 6 San Fernando Road
R6.57 7A Pacific Avenue
R6.96-
R7.13		 7B Central Avenue, Brand Boulevard
R7.87 8 Glendale Avenue
R8.81 9A Harvey Drive Signed as exit 9B eastbound
R8.96 9B SR 2 (Glendale Freeway) Signed as exit 9A eastbound
Los Angeles R11.44 11 Figueroa Street, Colorado Boulevard Figueroa Street was former SR 159 south; Colorado Boulevard was former SR 248 east; westbound exit and eastbound entrance for Colorado Boulevard only
Pasadena R12.36 12 San Rafael Avenue, Linda Vista Avenue Linda Vista Avenue was former SR 159 north
R12.97 13A Colorado Boulevard, Orange Grove Boulevard Colorado Boulevard was former SR 248 west
R13.34 13B I-210 west (Foothill Freeway) – San Fernando Eastbound exit and westbound entrance; former SR 118 west
R13.34 13B Del Mar Boulevard, California Boulevard (SR 710 south) to SR 110 south No exit number westbound
Fair Oaks Avenue, Marengo Avenue Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
I-210 east (Foothill Freeway) – San Bernardino Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
     Concurrency terminus •      Closed/Former •      Incomplete access •      Unopened

See also

References

  1. ^ Kevin Starr, Golden Dreams: California in an Age of Abundance, 1950-1963 (New York: Oxford University Press, 2009), p. 3.
  2. ^ CA Codes (shc:250-257)
  3. ^ Moonwalk (1988), p. 79
  4. ^ 2007 Named Freeways, Highways, Structures and Other Appurtenances in California. Caltrans. p. 78. http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/tsip/hseb/products/Named_Freeways.pdf. Retrieved 2007-03-28. 
  5. ^ Ib. at 76
  6. ^ http://www.cahighways.org/097-104.html#101
  7. ^ a b California Department of Transportation, State Truck Route List (XLS file). Retrieved February 2008.
  8. ^ a b California Department of Transportation, Log of Bridges on State Highways, July 2007
  9. ^ a b California Department of Transportation, All Traffic Volumes on CSHS, 2005 and 2006
  10. ^ California Department of Transportation, California Numbered Exit Uniform System, US-101 Northbound and US-101 Southbound. Retrieved February 2008.
  11. ^ California Department of Transportation, California Numbered Exit Uniform System, SR-134 Eastbound and SR-134 Westbound. Retrieved February 2008.

External links

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