Arroyo Seco Parkway

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Source: Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.
"Pasadena Freeway" redirects here. For the freeway in Texas, see Texas State Highway 225.

Pasadena
Location
CountryUnited States
StateCalifornia
CountiesLos Angeles
Highway system
Southern California freeways
Arroyo Seco Parkway Historic District
NRHP reference No.10001198[3]
Added to NRHPFebruary 17, 2011

The Arroyo Seco Parkway, also known as the Pasadena Freeway, is one of the oldest

Los Angeles with Pasadena alongside the Arroyo Seco seasonal river. Mostly opened in 1940, it represents the transitional phase between early parkways and later freeways. It conformed to modern standards when it was built, but is now regarded as a narrow, outdated roadway.[4] A 1953 extension brought the south end to the Four Level Interchange in downtown Los Angeles
and a connection with the rest of the freeway system.

The road remains largely as it was on opening day, though the plants in its

U.S. Route 66. Between 1954 and 2010, it was designated the Pasadena Freeway. In 2010, as part of plans to revitalize its scenic value and improve safety, the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) restored the roadway's original name.[5] All of its original bridges remain, including four that predate the parkway itself, built across the Arroyo Seco before the 1930s. The road has a crash rate roughly twice the rate of other freeways, largely due to an outdated design lacking in acceleration and deceleration lanes.[6]

The Arroyo Seco Parkway is designated a

National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark, and National Scenic Byway. It was listed in the National Register of Historic Places
in 2011.

Route description

Northbound over the Los Angeles River

The six-lane Arroyo Seco Parkway (part of

rail line on each bank, and Avenue 19 and San Fernando Road on the north bank. A single onramp from San Fernando Road joins SR 110 northbound as it passes under I-5, and a northbound left exit and southbound right entrance connect to the north segment of Figueroa Street. Here the original 1940 freeway, mostly built along the west bank of the Arroyo Seco, begins as the southbound lanes curve from their 1943 alignment over the Los Angeles River into the original alignment next to the northbound lanes.[7]

The Avenue 26 Bridge

As the original freeway begins, it passes under an extension to the 1925

South Pasadena. A single northbound offramp on the Los Angeles side of the bridge curves left under the bridge to Bridewell Street, the parkway's west-side frontage road.[7]

Looking south from Marmion Way showing the passing lanes, differently-colored from using different paving materials.

As they enter South Pasadena, northbound motorists can see a "City of South Pasadena" sign constructed, in the late 1930s, of stones from the creek bed embedded in a hillside.

U.S. Route 66) and beyond to Holly Street near the Memorial Park A Line station.[7]

Route usage

According to CalTrans in 2016, the average annual daily traffic (AADT) on the Arroyo Seco Parkway was 78,000 car trips at Orange Grove Blvd, 100,000 car trips at Ave 64, and 123,000 car trips at Ave 43.

History

Planning

Photograph
Sign welcoming drivers to the parkway

The

intermittent stream that carries rainfall from the San Gabriel Mountains southerly through western Pasadena into the Los Angeles River near downtown Los Angeles. During the dry season, it served as a faster wagon connection between the two cities than the all-weather road on the present Huntington Drive.[9]

The first known survey for a permanent roadway through the Arroyo was made by T. D. Allen of Pasadena in 1895, and in 1897 two more proposals were made, one for a scenic

streetcar line, acquired the right-of-way.[12][13]

The California Cycleway, 1900

Due to the rise of the automobile, most subsequent plans for the Arroyo Seco included a roadway, though they differed as to the purpose: some, influenced by the

South Pasadena to better serve downtown Pasadena was drawn up by Pasadena City Engineer Harvey W. Hincks in 1916 and supported by the Pasadena Chamber of Commerce and ACSC. Frederick Law Olmsted Jr. and Harland Bartholomew's 1924 Major Street Traffic Plan for Los Angeles, while concentrating on traffic relief, and noting that the Arroyo Seco Parkway would be a major highway, suggested that it be built as a parkway, giving motorists "a great deal of incidental recreation and pleasure". By the mid-1930s, plans for a primarily recreational parkway had been overshadowed by the need to carry large numbers of commuters.[14]

Debates continued on the exact location of the parkway, in particular whether it would bypass downtown Pasadena. In the late 1920s, Los Angeles acquired properties between

Wrightwood Route 186,[15][16] as the legislature had just greatly expanded the system in 1933, and the California Highway Commission opposed a further increase.[17]

Construction

Further information: Figueroa Street Tunnels
The Figueroa Street Tunnels

To connect the proposed parkway with downtown Los Angeles, that city improved and extended North

Figueroa Street Viaduct, connecting the Riverside Drive intersection with North Figueroa Street (then Dayton Avenue) across the Los Angeles River, opened in mid-1937.[22] Closer to downtown, an interchange was built at Temple Street in 1939.[23][24]

Figueroa Street Viaduct
, 1938 (Riverside Drive is to the left, and its bridge is in the left background)

Although many South Pasadena residents opposed the division of the city that the parkway would bring, the city's voters elected supporters in the 1936 elections. The state, which had the power to put the road where it wished even had South Pasadena continued to oppose it, approved the route on April 4, 1936. The route used the Arroyo Seco's west bank to near Hough Street, where it crossed to the east and cut through South Pasadena to the south end of Broadway (now Arroyo Parkway) in Pasadena. Another project, the

superelevating curves where necessary to accomplish this. (The road is now posted at 55 mph (89 km/h).[26]) Despite the freeway design, many parkway characteristics were incorporated, such as plantings of mostly native flora alongside the road.[27]

Prior to parkway construction, nine roads and two

I-5) interchange project.[28] In South Pasadena, seven streets and the Union Pacific and Santa Fe railroad lines on a double track combined bridge were carried over the parkway to keep the communities on each side connected.[31]

The Marmion Way (foreground) and York Boulevard (background) bridges in 1940

Construction on the Arroyo Seco Parkway, designed under the leadership of District Chief Engineer Spencer V. Cortelyou and Design Engineer A. D. Griffin, began with a

Rose Bowl on New Year's Day.[33] However, the highway through South Pasadena was not completed until January 30, 1941, and landscaping work continued through September. The final cost of $5.75 million, under $1 million per mile, was extremely low for a freeway project because the terrain was favorable for grade separations.[34]

Elysian Park: Figueroa Street Tunnels
at left, 1943 lanes at right

The state began upgrading the four-lane North Figueroa Street extension (then part of

Route 165) in October 1940 as a "Southerly Extension" of the parkway, even before the parkway was complete. The at-grade intersection with Riverside Drive was already a point of congestion, and the six lanes of parkway narrowing into four lanes of surface street would cause much greater problems. The two-way Figueroa Street Tunnels and Viaduct were repurposed for four lanes of northbound traffic, and a higher southbound roadway was built to the west. From the split with Hill Street south to near the existing College Street overpass, the four-lane surface road became a six-lane freeway. The extension was designed almost entirely on freeway, rather than parkway, principles, as it had to be built quickly to handle existing traffic. The new road split from the old at the Figueroa Street interchange, just south of Avenue 26, and crossed the Los Angeles River and the northbound access to Riverside Drive on a new three-lane bridge. Through Elysian Park, a five-lane open cut was excavated west of the existing northbound tunnel lanes, saving about $1 million. The extension, still feeding into surface streets just south of College Street, was opened to traffic on December 30, 1943, again allowing its use for the New Year's Day festivities.[35]

The Four Level Interchange, looking northeast along the Pasadena Freeway; the interchange at Figueroa and Temple Streets is in the right foreground

While the Arroyo Seco Parkway was being built and extended, the region's freeway system was taking shape. The short city-built

San Bernardino (Ramona), and Santa Ana Freeways were partially or fully completed to their eponymous destinations, and others were under construction.[37] The centerpiece of the system was the Four Level Interchange just north of downtown Los Angeles, the first stack interchange in the world. Although it was completed in 1949, the structure was not fully used until September 22, 1953, when the short extension of the Arroyo Seco Parkway to the interchange opened. Though the common name used by the public had become "Arroyo Seco Freeway" over the years, it was officially a "Parkway" until November 16, 1954, when the California Highway Commission changed its name to the Pasadena Freeway.[38]

Beginning in June 2010, the state began modifying interchange signs to remove the Pasadena Freeway name and reinstate the Arroyo Seco Parkway name. Signs that indicate route 110 as a "freeway" are being modified to "parkway" or its "Pkwy" abbreviation.

Post-construction

Golden State Freeway
interchange, looking northeast

Despite a quadrupling of traffic volumes, the original roadway north of the Los Angeles River largely remains as it was when it opened in 1940.

median with a steel and now concrete guard rail. Los Angeles paid for reconstruction of the interchange at Hill Street, south of Elysian Park, in the early 1960s to serve the new Dodger Stadium.[39]
An interchange with Amador Street once had both left and right exits and entrances, it now only has a right exit and entrance.

The parkway's design is now outdated, and includes tight "

LAist noted that many motorists find the act of merging onto the parkway to be "terrifying".[40]

The Arroyo Seco Parkway was the first freeway in the Western United States.

I-110.[45]

ArroyoFest, 2003

Despite its flaws, the Arroyo Seco Parkway remains the most direct car route between downtown Los Angeles and Pasadena; the only freeway alternate (which trucks must use) is the

National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark in 1999,[47] and it became a National Scenic Byway in 2002[48] and was added to the National Register of Historic Places in 2011.[3] Occidental College hosted the "ArroyoFest Freeway Walk and Bike Ride" on Sunday, June 15, 2003, closing the freeway to motor vehicles to "highlight several ongoing or proposed projects within the Arroyo that can improve the quality of life for everyone in the area".[49] The event was held again twenty years later, in October 2023.[50] Over 50,000 attended the event.[51]

Exit list

Mileage is measured from Route 110's southern terminus in San Pedro.

The entire route is in Los Angeles County.

Locationmi[52][53]kmExit[52]DestinationsNotes
Downtown Los Angeles
Continuation beyond US 101
24A
Hollywood, Ventura
Four Level Interchange; US 101 north exit 3, south exit 3B
24.4939.4124BSunset BoulevardSouthbound exit and northbound entrance
24.6639.6924C
Civic Center
No southbound entrance; signed as exit 24B northbound; left exit southbound
24DStadium Way – Dodger StadiumSigned as exit 24B northbound
24.9040.07Figueroa Street Tunnel No. 1 (northbound)
25.0240.2725Solano Avenue / Academy Road
25.14–
25.37		40.46–
40.83		Figueroa Street Tunnels No. 2-4 (northbound)
25.6841.3326A
Golden State Freeway) – Sacramento
Northbound left exit and southbound entrance; I-5 south exit 137B
25.7141.3826B
SR 159
25.8441.5926AAvenue 26Southbound exit and northbound entrance; former
SR 163
26B
Golden State Freeway) – Santa Ana, Sacramento
Southbound exit and northbound entrance; I-5 north exit 137B, south exit 137A
27.0543.5327Avenue 43
27.9845.0328AAvenue 52
28.3145.5628BVia MarisolFormerly Hermon Avenue
28.6946.1729Avenue 60
29.4347.3630AMarmion Way / Avenue 64Northbound exit and southbound entrance
30York BoulevardSouthbound exit and entrance
30.0148.3030BBridewell StreetNorthbound exit only
South Pasadena30.5249.1231AOrange Grove Avenue
31.1050.0531B
South Pasadena
No northbound entrance
Pasadena31.8451.24Northern terminus of freeway and state maintenance
31.9151.35–Glenarm Street
At-grade intersection
32.4752.26–California BoulevardAt-grade intersection
33.0553.19–
 Green Street to
I-210
At-grade intersection
33.1553.35–
SR 248
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi

See also

References

  1. ^ a b California Department of Transportation. "State Truck Route List". Sacramento: California Department of Transportation. Archived from the original on September 5, 2015. Retrieved June 30, 2015.
  2. ^ Legal Truck Size & Weight Work Group (March 2, 2011). "Special Route Restriction History: Route 110". Sacramento: California Department of Transportation. Retrieved May 28, 2015.
  3. ^ a b National Park Service (February 4, 2011). "National Register of Historic Places Weekly Action List". National Register of Historic Places. National Park Service. Retrieved July 27, 2012.
  4. Historic American Engineering Record
    . pp. 4–5. Retrieved July 29, 2011.
  5. ^ Pool, Bob (June 25, 2010). "Pasadena Freeway Getting a New Look and a New Name". Los Angeles Times. Retrieved July 29, 2011.
  6. ^ a b Stein, William J.; Neuman, Timothy R. (July 2007). "Case Study 4: State Route 110 (The Arroyo Seco Parkway)". Mitigation Strategies For Design Exceptions (PDF) (Report). Federal Highway Administration. p. 146. FHWA-SA-07-011. The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) conducted a 3-year crash analysis for the corridor. The data indicated a crash rate about twice the average rate for similar highway types. There were 1,217 total crashes over this time period. Of these, 324 crashes involved the median barrier, resulting in 111 injuries and 1 fatality. The analysis also showed concentrations of crashes at entrance and exit ramps and concluded that a primary causal factor is the limited acceleration and deceleration lengths.
  7. ^ a b c Google & United States Geological Survey. Street Maps and Topographic Maps (Map). ACME Mapper. Archived from the original on January 2, 2008. Retrieved January 15, 2008. {{cite map}}: |author1= has generic name (help)
  8. ^ Gruen & Lee (1999), pp. 9, 51.
  9. ^ Gruen & Lee (1999), pp. 9–10.
  10. ISBN 978-0-7385-3024-6
    .
  11. ^
    ISBN 978-0-7385-4748-0
    .
  12. ^ "Dash into Pasadena in Twelve Minutes". Los Angeles Times. January 1, 1909. p. II1.
  13. ^ Gruen & Lee (1999), pp. 17–18, 23.
  14. ^ Gruen & Lee (1999), pp. 18–26.
  15. ^ California State Assembly. "An act to add section 612 to, and to repeal section 486 of, the Streets and Highways Code, relating to secondary State highways". Fifty-first Session of the Legislature. Statutes of California. State of California. Ch. 426 p. 288, 1480. "A new route or portion of route is hereby added to the State highway system from Route 165 [Figueroa Street] near Los Angeles River in Los Angeles to Route 161 [Colorado Boulevard] in Pasadena at Broadway Avenue."
  16. ^ California State Assembly. "An act to amend sections 251, 308, 340, 344, 351, 352, 361, 368, 369, 374, 377, 404 and 425 of, to add four two sections to be numbered 503, 504, 505 and 506 to, and to repeal sections 603, 611..." Fifty-second Session of the Legislature. Statutes of California. State of California. Ch. 841 p. 2361. "Route 205 is from Route 165 near Los Angeles River in Los Angeles to Route 161 in Pasadena at Broadway Avenue."
  17. ^ Gruen & Lee (1999), pp. 29–34.
  18. ^ "By-pass Route Through Elysian Park Tunnels Opened to Automobile Traffic". Los Angeles Times. November 1, 1931. p. E1.
  19. ^ "Shaw Opens New Tunnel". Los Angeles Times. August 5, 1936. p. A1.
  20. ^ "Street Job Bids Will Be Opened". Los Angeles Times. August 15, 1938. p. A10.
  21. ^ Prejza, Paul (donor) (1940). Aerial view of Chavez Ravine in Los Angeles, looking west, ca. 1940 (Photograph). Los Angeles: University of Southern California Libraries Digital Archive. chs-m2270. Archived from the original on January 23, 2008. Retrieved January 14, 2008.
  22. ^ "New Bridge Dedicated". Los Angeles Times. July 7, 1937. p. A2.
  23. ^ "Traffic Project Work Pushed". Los Angeles Times. May 11, 1939. p. A1.
  24. ^ Gruen & Lee (1999), pp. 27–28, 53–54.
  25. ^ Gruen & Lee (1999), pp. 60, 69.
  26. ^ Gruen & Lee (1999), p. 68.
  27. ^ Gruen & Lee (1999), pp. 34–51.
  28. ^ a b California Department of Transportation (July 2015). "Log of Bridges on State Highways". Sacramento: California Department of Transportation.
  29. ^ Traffic and Vehicle Data Systems Unit (2006). "All Traffic Volumes on CSHS". California Department of Transportation. Archived from the original on July 21, 2011. Retrieved July 29, 2011.
  30. ^ National Bridge Inventory database, 2006[full citation needed]
  31. ^ Gruen & Lee (1999), pp. 51–55.
  32. ^ "New Highway Opens Saturday". Los Angeles Times. July 17, 1940. p. A12.
  33. ^ "History of the Arroyo Seco Parkway Preserved in Museum's Archives". Pasadena Museum of History. April 11, 2016. Retrieved July 18, 2020.
  34. ^ Gruen & Lee (1999), pp. 55–59.
  35. ^ Gruen & Lee (1999), pp. 59–64.
  36. ^ City of Los Angeles (December 22, 2005). "Cahuenga Parkway" (PDF). Transportation Topics & Tales. City of Los Angeles. Archived from the original (PDF) on February 28, 2008. Retrieved January 14, 2008.
  37. ^ Rand McNally (1959). Los Angeles and Vicinity (Map). Chicago: Rand McNally. Archived from the original on July 25, 2011. Retrieved July 29, 2011.
  38. ^ Gruen & Lee (1999), pp. 64–67.
  39. ^ Gruen & Lee (1999), pp. 67–72.
  40. ^ a b Washington, Aaricka (February 7, 2024). "Yes, Merging Onto The 110's Arroyo Seco Parkway Is Terrifying. We Have Pictures And Stories". LAist. Retrieved April 13, 2024.
  41. ^ Fisher, Jay (August 15, 2008). "Shabby Road: The Ills and Charms of California's First Freeway". The New York Times. Retrieved November 16, 2011.
  42. ^ Faigin, Daniel P. "Correspondence between the Division of Highways and American Association of State Highway Officials". California Highways. Archived from the original on June 28, 2011. Retrieved July 29, 2011.
  43. ^ California Division of Highways (1944). Los Angeles and Vicinity (Map). Sacramento: California Division of Highways. Archived from the original on July 22, 2011. Retrieved July 29, 2011 – via American Roads.
  44. ISSN 0008-1159
    . Retrieved March 8, 2012 – via Archive.org.
  45. ^ California State Assembly. "An act to amend...the Streets and Highways Code, relating to state highways". 1981–1982 Session of the Legislature. Statutes of California. State of California. Ch. 292 p. 1418. "Route 110 is from San Pedro to Colorado Boulevard in Pasadena."
  46. ^ California State Assembly. "An act to add Sections 280, 281, 282, and 283 to the Streets and Highways Code, relating to highways". 1993–1994 Session of the Legislature. Statutes of California. State of California. Ch. 179.
  47. ^ Gruen & Lee (1999), p. 4.
  48. ^ Irving, Lori (June 13, 2002). "U.S. Transportation Secretary Mineta Names 36 New National Scenic Byways, All-American Roads" (Press release). Federal Highway Administration. Retrieved July 29, 2011.
  49. ^ "Frequently Asked Questions". ArroyoFest. Archived from the original on July 3, 2008. Retrieved January 15, 2008.
  50. ^ "Cyclists took over the 110 Freeway: Here's what they had to say biking in LA". Los Angeles Times. October 29, 2023. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
  51. ^ "Tens of thousands take to the 110 Freeway for ArroyoFest event". Pasadena Star News. October 29, 2023. Retrieved October 30, 2023.
  52. ^ a b Chand, AS (August 26, 2016). "Interstate and State Route 110 Freeway Interchanges" (PDF). California Numbered Exit Uniform System. California Department of Transportation. Archived from the original (PDF) on October 2, 2017. Retrieved October 21, 2017.
  53. ^ Traffic and Vehicle Data Systems Unit (2002). "All Traffic Volumes on CSHS". California Department of Transportation.[permanent dead link‍]
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