Interstate 110 and State Route 110 (California)

Interstate 110 and State Route 110
Route information
Defined by Streets and Highways Code § 410
Maintained by Caltrans
Length:	31.82 mi[1] (51.21 km)
History:	Highway in 1930s, number in 1964 (SR 11), 1978-1981 as an interstate [2]
Component highways:	I‑110 from San Pedro to Los Angeles SR 110 from Los Angeles to Pasadena
Major junctions
South end:	SR 47 / Gaffey Street in San Pedro
	I‑405 in Carson SR 91 in Los Angeles I‑105 in Los Angeles I‑10 in Los Angeles US 101 in Los Angeles I‑5 in Los Angeles
North end:	Glenarm Street in Pasadena
Highway system
Interstate Highway System Main Auxiliary Suffixed Business State highways in California List Pre-1964 History Unconstructed Deleted Freeway Scenic ← SR 109 SR 111 →

Route 110, consisting of State Route 110 (SR 110) and Interstate 110 (I-110), locally referred to as the one ten, is a state highway in the Los Angeles area of the U.S. state of California, built to freeway standards. The entire length of I-110 (which ends at I-10), as well as SR 110 south of the Four Level Interchange with US 101, is the Harbor Freeway,^[3] and SR 110 north from US 101 to Pasadena is the historic Arroyo Seco Parkway, the first freeway in the western United States. The entire Route 110 connects San Pedro and the Port of Los Angeles with Downtown Los Angeles and Pasadena. I-110 is one of two 3-digit interstate designations to appear on opposite coasts, with I-280 in California and New Jersey being the other.

Route description

This route is part of the California Freeway and Expressway System.^[4]

The Harbor Freeway, signed as Interstate 110, begins at Gaffey Street in San Pedro, where it then travels mostly due north to the Santa Monica Freeway (Interstate 10) at a point south of downtown Los Angeles, where it becomes signed as State Route 110. I-110 is primarily within the city limits of Los Angeles, running right through South Central Los Angeles and the Harbor Gateway, a two-mile (3 km) wide north–south corridor that was annexed by the city of Los Angeles specifically to connect San Pedro, Wilmington and the Port of Los Angeles with the rest the city.

In addition, the Harbor Transitway, a grade-separated bus and high-occupancy vehicle corridor in the median of the 110, runs between State Route 91 (Gardena Freeway) and the south side of Downtown Los Angeles.

The Harbor Freeway, along with the Long Beach Freeway (Interstate 710), are the principal means for freight from the port of Los Angeles to rail yards and warehouses further inland. Its interchange with the Santa Monica Freeway is notoriously busy and congested, and the portions bordering Bunker Hill in northwest Downtown Los Angeles are choked with traffic at peak travel times.

Notable landmarks and attractions near the Harbor Freeway include the California State University, Dominguez Hills; Watts Towers; Exposition Park (including the Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum); the University of Southern California; Staples Center; Los Angeles Harbor College; the skyline of Downtown Los Angeles; and the Los Angeles Convention Center.

SR 110 continues north on the Arroyo Seco Parkway to Pasadena.

The Harbor Freeway is noted for its elaborate high-occupancy toll lane feature, with the HOT lanes elevated above the rest of traffic in many areas, constructed in 1994 by C.C. Myers, Inc. as HOV lanes and converted to HOT lanes in 2012. Of particular note is the Judge Harry Pregerson Interchange, which contains the most elaborate network of direct HOV/HOT connectors in Los Angeles County. It includes a 7-story ramp that connects the Century Freeway's HOV lanes to the Harbor Freeway's northbound HOT lanes and offers splendid views of the entire Los Angeles Basin and the San Gabriel Mountains.The interchange with State Route 91 (formally known as the Edmund J. Russ Interchange) is also fairly large.

History

CA 11 used the signs in 1934 – 1978

The Harbor Freeway is often heavily congested at rush hour

Entrance to the Harbor Freeway in downtown

The Harbor Freeway southbound entering "The Slot" after emerging from the "4-level"

Carpool lanes on the upper deck of the Harbor Freeway, south of Adams Boulevard

The Judge Harry Pregerson Interchange with the Harbor Freeway (I-110) and the Century Freeway (I-105)

In the 1924 Major Street Traffic Plan for Los Angeles, a widening of Figueroa Street to San Pedro as a good road to the Port of Los Angeles was proposed.^[5] Progress was slow,^[6] and in 1933 the state legislature added the entire length to the state highway system as Route 165, an unsigned designation. This route not only extended from San Pedro north to Los Angeles, but continued through the city-built Figueroa Street Tunnels and along the northern extension of Figueroa Street to Eagle Rock, and then followed Linda Vista Avenue (via an overlap on Route 161 (SR 134) over the Colorado Street Bridge) to Route 9 (now I-210) at the Devil's Gate Reservoir.^[7][8][9] The entire length of Route 165 became Sign Route 11 in 1934.^[10] U.S. Route 6 was also assigned to the portion between SR 1 and Avenue 26 in 1937,^[11] and at about the same time US 66 was moved from Eagle Rock Boulevard to Figueroa Street, overlapping SR 11 between Sunset Boulevard (US 101) and Colorado Street (SR 134).^[12][13]

The state completed the Arroyo Seco Parkway which had been added to the state highway system in 1935 as Route 205, in early 1941, providing a faster route between SR 11 at Avenue 26 and Pasadena.^[14] US 66 was moved to the new route, while SR 11 remained on Figueroa Street and Linda Vista Avenue, the former also becoming a new U.S. Route 66 Alternate.^[15] Construction of a freeway to San Pedro was much slower, despite having been in the earliest plans for an integrated system. Initially, the Harbor Parkway was to split at the merge with the Venice Parkway northeast of the University of Southern California, with the East By-Pass and West By-Pass straddling the Los Angeles Central Business District and rejoining at the split between the Arroyo Seco Parkway and Riverside Parkway south of Dodger Stadium.^[16][17][18] The West By-Pass was soon incorporated into the Harbor Parkway,^[19] and the first short piece, by then renamed the Harbor Freeway, opened on July 30, 1952 from the Four Level Interchange south to 3rd Street.^[20] (The Arroyo Seco Parkway was completed to the Four Level Interchange on September 22, 1953, and renamed the Pasadena Freeway on November 16, 1954.^[14])

The Harbor Freeway gradually pushed south, opening to Olympic Boulevard on March 23, 1954^[21] and Washington Boulevard on May 14, 1954.^[22] On March 27, 1956, the highway was extended to 42nd Street,^[23] and on April 24, 1957 it reached temporary^[24] ramps at 88th Place.^[25] Further extensions were made to Century Boulevard on July 31, 1958,^[26] 124th Street on September 24, 1958,^[27] Alondra Boulevard (which the county widened to carry the load) on May 2, 1960,^[28] 190th Street on July 15, 1960,^[29] Torrance Boulevard on August 28, 1962,^[30] and finally Pacific Coast Highway (SR 1) on September 26, 1962.^[31] There it connected with a section that had been open since June 19, 1956, from Pacific Coast Highway south to Channel Street.^[32] Along with the Vincent Thomas Bridge to Terminal Island, the final piece in San Pedro opened on July 9, 1970, completing the Harbor Freeway to its present length.^[33][34][35]

In December 1978, the Harbor Freeway was approved as an Interstate Highway by the FHWA. In 1981, the SR 11 designation was renumbered as Interstate 110 on the Harbor Freeway, and State Route 110 on the Pasadena Freeway.^[36]

Richard Ankrom signage

In 2001, Richard Ankrom, a local artist who got lost trying to get onto Interstate 5 North from northbound I-110 because there was no clear official signage labeling access to I-5 North, solved his frustration by covertly modifying one of the overhead signs on the freeway just before the Four Level Interchange (34°03′21″N 118°15′22″W / 34.055759°N 118.256181°W / 34.055759; -118.256181). Using official government sign specifications, Ankrom fabricated two sign pieces, one being an Interstate 5 marker shield and the other with the word "NORTH", and affixed them to the left side of the sign. He performed his modifications in broad daylight, disguised as a Caltrans worker. In that district, Caltrans has three sign crews, each thinking one of the other two crews did the installation. After nine months, at Ankrom's request, the Los Angeles Downtown News broke the story.

Prior to Ankrom's work, the only signage directing motorists to the 5 North off-ramp came at a quarter-mile before the exit, thus forcing many to merge across multiple lanes in a very short distance. The signs were inspected by Caltrans to ensure they would not fall off onto the road below. Ankrom was never charged, despite statements from officials that his actions were illegal. Ankrom referred to his sign project as "Guerilla Public Service".^[37]

Caltrans later added an additional "5 North" sign over the left northbound lane at the entrance to the Figueroa Street Tunnels, as well as new electric signage, which will note when an additional lane is available for those wishing to transition to northbound Interstate 5 (converting the current single lane transition to dual lanes)

In 2009, Caltrans replaced all signage along this segment with newer, more reflective versions. These new signs include Ankrom's original improvements.^[38]

Future

Despite the increased traffic in Los Angeles, including trucks shipping products from the Port of Los Angeles in San Pedro to Pasadena, there are currently no plans to upgrade the rest of 110 from I-10 to Pasadena to Interstate standards. Instead, the recent push has been to restore and preserve the Pasadena Freeway as a historic landmark. The state legislature designated the original section, north of the Figueroa Street Viaduct, as a "California Historic Parkway" (part of the State Scenic Highway System reserved for freeways built before 1945) in 1993;^[39] the only other highway so designated is the Cabrillo Freeway (SR 163) in San Diego. The American Society of Civil Engineers named it a National Civil Engineering Landmark in 1999,^[40] and it became a National Scenic Byway in 2002.^[41]

Exit list

Except where prefixed with a letter, postmiles were measured on the road as it was in 1964, based on the alignment that existed at the time, and do not necessarily reflect current mileage. R reflects a realignment in the route since then, M indicates a second realignment, L refers an overlap due to a correction or change, and T indicates postmiles classified as temporary (for a full list of prefixes, see the list of postmile definitions).^[1] Segments that remain unconstructed or have been relinquished to local control may be omitted. The entire route is in Los Angeles County.

Location	Postmile [1][42][43]	Exit [44]	Destinations	Notes
San Pedro	R0.93		Gaffey Street – San Pedro	South end of I-110/Harbor Freeway[45]
	R0.93	1A	SR 47 (Vincent Thomas Bridge) – Terminal Island, Long Beach	SR 47 exit 1B
	R1.23	1B	Channel Street, Pacific Avenue	No southbound entrance
Wilmington	2.77	3A	C Street
	3.26	3B	Anaheim Street
	4.06	4	SR 1 (Pacific Coast Highway)
Carson	5.45	5	Sepulveda Boulevard
	6.52	7A	223rd Street	Northbound exit is via exit 7
	7.02	7B	Carson Street	Signed as exit 7 northbound
	7.74	8	Torrance Boulevard
Carson–Los Angeles line	8.78– 9.07	—	I‑405 (San Diego Freeway) / 190th Street – Santa Monica, Long Beach	190th St. not signed northbound; I-405 is former SR 7; I-405 north exit 37, south exit 37A
Los Angeles	9.87	—	SR 91 (Gardena Freeway)	Signed as exits 10A (east) and 10B (west) northbound; SR 91 exit 6
		—	I-110 Express Lanes – Harbor Gateway Transit Center	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
	11.24	11	Redondo Beach Boulevard
	11.89	12	Rosecrans Avenue
	12.90	13	El Segundo Boulevard
	13.82	14A	I‑105 (Glenn Anderson Freeway) – Norwalk, LAX Airport	Signed as exits 14A (east) and 14B (west) northbound; I-105 exit 7B
		—	I‑105 east	Southbound exit and northbound entrance for Express Lanes only
	13.97	14B	Imperial Highway
		—	I‑105 west – LAX Airport	Southbound exit and northbound entrance for Express Lanes only
	14.97	15	Century Boulevard	No southbound entrance
	15.98	16	Manchester Avenue	Former SR 42
	16.98	17	Florence Avenue
			I-110 Express Lanes / 39th Street – Coliseum / Adams Boulevard / Figueroa Street	Last access point from main northbound I-110 lanes
	17.51	18A	Gage Avenue
	17.98	18B	Slauson Avenue
	18.50	19A	51st Street	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
	19.00	19B	Vernon Avenue	Signed as exit 19 northbound
	19.50	20A	Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard – Exposition Park, Los Angeles Memorial Coliseum
			I-110 Express Lanes	North end of Express Lanes; first access point from main southbound I-110 lanes
	20.00	20B	37th Street / Exposition Boulevard
	20.71	20C	Adams Boulevard
	21.44	21	I‑10 (Santa Monica Freeway) / Washington Boulevard – Santa Monica, San Bernardino	North end of I-110; south end of SR 110; no northbound exit to Washington Blvd; I-10 exits 13A-B
	21.76– 22.12	22A	Pico Boulevard, Olympic Boulevard – Downtown Los Angeles	Northbound exit is part of exit 21
	22.36	22B	9th Street, 8th Street – Downtown Los Angeles	Signed as exit 22 northbound
	22.83	23A	6th Street, Wilshire Boulevard
	23.04	23B	4th Street
	23.04	23C	3rd Street
	23.73	24A	US 101 to I‑5 south (Santa Ana Freeway) / I‑10 east (San Bernardino Freeway) / SR 60 east (Pomona Freeway) – Hollywood, Santa Ana, San Bernardino, Pomona	Four Level Interchange; north end of Harbor Freeway; south end of Arroyo Seco Parkway; US 101 north exit 3, south exit 3B
	23.96	24B	Sunset Boulevard	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
	24.55	24C	Hill Street – Chinatown, Civic Center	No southbound entrance; signed as exit 24B northbound; left exit southbound
	24.73	24D	Stadium Way – Dodger Stadium	Signed as exit 24B northbound
	25.04	25	Solano Avenue, Academy Road
		Figueroa Street Tunnels Northbound only
	25.48	26A	I‑5 north (Golden State Freeway) – Sacramento	Northbound left exit and southbound entrance; I-5 south exit 137B
	25.78	26B	Figueroa Street	Northbound left exit and southbound entrance; former SR 159
	25.91	26A	Avenue 26	Southbound exit and northbound entrance; former SR 163
	26.12	26B	I‑5 (Golden State Freeway) – Santa Ana, Sacramento	Southbound exit and northbound entrance; I-5 north exit 137B, south exit 137A
	27.12	27	Avenue 43
	28.05	28A	Avenue 52
	28.38	28B	Via Marisol
	28.76	29	Avenue 60
	29.28	30A	Marmion Way, Avenue 64	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
	29.50	30	York Boulevard	Southbound exit and entrance
	30.10	30B	Bridewell Street	Northbound exit only
South Pasadena	30.59	31A	Orange Grove Avenue
	31.17	31B	Fair Oaks Avenue – South Pasadena	No northbound entrance
Pasadena	31.91		Glenarm Street	At-grade intersection; north end of SR 110/Arroyo Seco Parkway[45]
	31.91		Arroyo Parkway	Continuation beyond Glenarm Street
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       ETC       Incomplete access       Route transition

See also

California Roads portal

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Interstate 110 and State Route 110 (California).

Route map: Bing / Google

• A written account of Richard Ankrom's sign modification
• Ankrom's Web page about the signs
• California Highways - Interstate 110
• Harbor Freeway @ Asphaltplanet.ca

Auxiliary routes of Interstate 10 California 110 1101 210 710 Business Arizona 4101 5101 7103 Business New Mexico Business Texas 110 410 610 Business Louisiana 110 210 310 3103 4103 4103 510 610 9104 Mississippi 110 3102 Alabama 2101 Florida 110 1Former 2Proposed 3Unbuilt 4Unsigned