Hollywood Freeway
Encyclopedia
The Hollywood Freeway is one of the principal freeways of Los Angeles, California
(the boundaries of which it does not leave) and one of the busiest in the United States
. It is the principal route over the Cahuenga Pass
, the primary shortcut between the Los Angeles Basin
and the San Fernando Valley
. It is considered one of the most important freeways in the history of Los Angeles and instrumental in the development of the San Fernando Valley. It is the second oldest freeway in Los Angeles.
and the San Fernando Valley. The first segment of the Hollywood Freeway built was a one and a half mile stretch through the Cahuenga Pass
. That segment opened on June 15, 1940. It was then known as the "Cahuenga Pass Freeway." Pacific Electric Railway
trolleys ran down the center of this freeway until 1952. The next section of the freeway that stretched from the San Fernando Valley to Downtown Los Angeles opened on April 16, 1954 at a cost of $55 million. The final section, north of the Ventura Freeway
to the Golden State Freeway was completed in 1968.
A year after the Hollywood Freeway opened, it was used by an average of 183,000 vehicles a day, almost double the capacity it was designed to carry. Actor Bob Hope
called it the "biggest parking lot in the world" in his routine.
The segment through Hollywood was the first to be built through a heavily populated area and requiring the moving or demolition of many buildings, including Rudolph Valentino
's house Falcon's Lair which was moved to Beverly Hills
. The freeway was also designed to curve around KTTV Studios
and Hollywood Presbyterian Church. Much of the rubble and debris from the buildings removed for the freeway's construction was dumped into Chávez Ravine
, the current home to Dodger Stadium
.
In 1967, the Hollywood Freeway was the first freeway in California that had ramp meters.
Near the Vermont Avenue
exit, there's a seemingly over-wide center strip now filled with trees. This is where the never-built Beverly Hills Freeway was to merge with the Hollywood Freeway. Plans for the Beverly Hills Freeway were halted in the 1970s.
district of Los Angeles in the San Fernando Valley
to the Four Level Interchange
in downtown Los Angeles. Between the Golden State Freeway and its intersection with the Ventura Freeway
in the southeastern San Fernando Valley (also known as the Hollywood Split
), it is signed as State Route 170; thereafter, it takes on the more famous designation of U.S. Route 101.
between Hollywood and Studio City. The Cahuenga Parkway featured Pacific Electric Railway
"Red Car" tracks in its median, but by the 1950s these tracks were out of service due to radical reductions in Red Car service. The Pacific Electric right-of-way later accommodated an additional lane in each direction.
The intersection of the Hollywood and Pasadena Freeways, known as the Four Level Interchange
, is one of the major landmarks in Los Angeles and a symbol of the city's post-World War II
development.
) to Route 5.
The entire route is in Los Angeles County
.
Los Angeles, California
Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California...
(the boundaries of which it does not leave) and one of the busiest in the United States
United States
The United States of America is a federal constitutional republic comprising fifty states and a federal district...
. It is the principal route over the Cahuenga Pass
Cahuenga Pass
The Cahuenga Pass is a mountain pass through the eastern end of the Santa Monica Mountains in the Hollywood district of the City of Los Angeles, California....
, the primary shortcut between the Los Angeles Basin
Los Angeles Basin
The Los Angeles Basin is the coastal sediment-filled plain located between the Peninsular and Transverse ranges in southern California in the United States containing the central part of the city of Los Angeles as well as its southern and southeastern suburbs...
and the San Fernando Valley
San Fernando Valley
The San Fernando Valley is an urbanized valley located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area of southern California, United States, defined by the dramatic mountains of the Transverse Ranges circling it...
. It is considered one of the most important freeways in the history of Los Angeles and instrumental in the development of the San Fernando Valley. It is the second oldest freeway in Los Angeles.
History
Plans for the Hollywood Freeway officially began in 1924 when Los Angeles voters approved a "stop-free express highway" between Downtown Los AngelesDowntown Los Angeles
Downtown Los Angeles is the central business district of Los Angeles, California, United States, located close to the geographic center of the metropolitan area...
and the San Fernando Valley. The first segment of the Hollywood Freeway built was a one and a half mile stretch through the Cahuenga Pass
Cahuenga Pass
The Cahuenga Pass is a mountain pass through the eastern end of the Santa Monica Mountains in the Hollywood district of the City of Los Angeles, California....
. That segment opened on June 15, 1940. It was then known as the "Cahuenga Pass Freeway." Pacific Electric Railway
Pacific Electric Railway
The Pacific Electric Railway , also known as the Red Car system, was a mass transit system in Southern California using streetcars, light rail, and buses...
trolleys ran down the center of this freeway until 1952. The next section of the freeway that stretched from the San Fernando Valley to Downtown Los Angeles opened on April 16, 1954 at a cost of $55 million. The final section, north of the Ventura Freeway
Ventura Freeway
The Ventura Freeway is a freeway in southern California running from Ventura to Pasadena. It is the principal east-west route 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...
to the Golden State Freeway was completed in 1968.
A year after the Hollywood Freeway opened, it was used by an average of 183,000 vehicles a day, almost double the capacity it was designed to carry. Actor Bob Hope
Bob Hope
Bob Hope, KBE, KCSG, KSS was a British-born American comedian and actor who appeared in vaudeville, on Broadway, and in radio, television and movies. He was also noted for his work with the US Armed Forces and his numerous USO shows entertaining American military personnel...
called it the "biggest parking lot in the world" in his routine.
The segment through Hollywood was the first to be built through a heavily populated area and requiring the moving or demolition of many buildings, including Rudolph Valentino
Rudolph Valentino
Rudolph Valentino was an Italian actor, and early pop icon. A sex symbol of the 1920s, Valentino was known as the "Latin Lover". He starred in several well-known silent films including The Four Horsemen of the Apocalypse, The Sheik, Blood and Sand, The Eagle and Son of the Sheik...
's house Falcon's Lair which was moved to Beverly Hills
Beverly Hills, California
Beverly Hills is an affluent city located in Los Angeles County, California, United States. With a population of 34,109 at the 2010 census, up from 33,784 as of the 2000 census, it is home to numerous Hollywood celebrities. Beverly Hills and the neighboring city of West Hollywood are together...
. The freeway was also designed to curve around KTTV Studios
Metromedia Square
Metromedia Square was a radio and television studio facility located at 5746 Sunset Boulevard in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California, on the southeastern corner of Sunset and Van Ness Avenue. For decades it was recognizable by the white, ladder-like snake on the building's roof...
and Hollywood Presbyterian Church. Much of the rubble and debris from the buildings removed for the freeway's construction was dumped into Chávez Ravine
Chávez Ravine
Chavez Ravine is an area in Sulfir Canyon that is the current site of Dodger Stadium in Los Angeles, California.It was named after Julian Chavez, a Los Angeles Councilman in the 19th century.-History:...
, the current home to Dodger Stadium
Dodger Stadium
Dodger Stadium, also sometimes called Chavez Ravine, is a stadium in Los Angeles. Located adjacent to Downtown Los Angeles, Dodger Stadium has been the home ballpark of Major League Baseball's Los Angeles Dodgers team since 1962...
.
In 1967, the Hollywood Freeway was the first freeway in California that had ramp meters.
Near the Vermont Avenue
Vermont Avenue
Vermont Avenue is one of the longest running north/south streets in Los Angeles, California with a length of about . Located just west of the Harbor Freeway for the major portion south of Downtown Los Angeles, it starts in Griffith Park at the Greek Theatre in the Los Feliz neighborhood as a...
exit, there's a seemingly over-wide center strip now filled with trees. This is where the never-built Beverly Hills Freeway was to merge with the Hollywood Freeway. Plans for the Beverly Hills Freeway were halted in the 1970s.
The route
The freeway runs from the Golden State Freeway in the Sun ValleySun Valley, Los Angeles, California
Sun Valley is a district in the San Fernando Valley region of the city of Los Angeles, California, about 15 miles away from Downtown Los Angeles....
district of Los Angeles in the San Fernando Valley
San Fernando Valley
The San Fernando Valley is an urbanized valley located in the Los Angeles metropolitan area of southern California, United States, defined by the dramatic mountains of the Transverse Ranges circling it...
to the Four Level Interchange
Four Level Interchange
The Four Level Interchange was the first stack interchange in the world. Completed in 1949 and fully opened in 1953 at the northern edge of downtown Los Angeles, California, USA, it connects U.S...
in downtown Los Angeles. Between the Golden State Freeway and its intersection with the Ventura Freeway
Ventura Freeway
The Ventura Freeway is a freeway in southern California running from Ventura to Pasadena. It is the principal east-west route 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...
in the southeastern San Fernando Valley (also known as the Hollywood Split
Hollywood Split
The Hollywood Split is a freeway interchange in the San Fernando Valley area of Los Angeles, California...
), it is signed as State Route 170; thereafter, it takes on the more famous designation of U.S. Route 101.
Notable Features
The Hollywood Freeway is an expansion of the original Cahuenga Parkway, a short six-lane freeway that ran through the Cahuenga PassCahuenga Pass
The Cahuenga Pass is a mountain pass through the eastern end of the Santa Monica Mountains in the Hollywood district of the City of Los Angeles, California....
between Hollywood and Studio City. The Cahuenga Parkway featured Pacific Electric Railway
Pacific Electric Railway
The Pacific Electric Railway , also known as the Red Car system, was a mass transit system in Southern California using streetcars, light rail, and buses...
"Red Car" tracks in its median, but by the 1950s these tracks were out of service due to radical reductions in Red Car service. The Pacific Electric right-of-way later accommodated an additional lane in each direction.
The intersection of the Hollywood and Pasadena Freeways, known as the Four Level Interchange
Four Level Interchange
The Four Level Interchange was the first stack interchange in the world. Completed in 1949 and fully opened in 1953 at the northern edge of downtown Los Angeles, California, USA, it connects U.S...
, is one of the major landmarks in Los Angeles and a symbol of the city's post-World War II
World War II
World War II, or the Second World War , was a global conflict lasting from 1939 to 1945, involving most of the world's nations—including all of the great powers—eventually forming two opposing military alliances: the Allies and the Axis...
development.
Legal definition
The Hollywood Freeway is Routes 101 and 170 from Route 110 (Four Level InterchangeFour Level Interchange
The Four Level Interchange was the first stack interchange in the world. Completed in 1949 and fully opened in 1953 at the northern edge of downtown Los Angeles, California, USA, it connects U.S...
) to Route 5.
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 entire route is in Los Angeles County
Los Angeles County, California
Los Angeles County is a county in the U.S. state of California. As of 2010 U.S. Census, the county had a population of 9,818,605, making it the most populous county in the United States. Los Angeles County alone is more populous than 42 individual U.S. states...
.
| Location | Postmile |
# Exit number An exit number is a number assigned to a road junction, usually an exit from a freeway. It is usually marked on the same sign as the destinations of the exit, as well as a sign in the gore.... |
Destinations | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles Los Angeles, California Los Angeles , with a population at the 2010 United States Census of 3,792,621, is the most populous city in California, USA and the second most populous in the United States, after New York City. It has an area of , and is located in Southern California... |
1.57 | Continuation beyond SR 110 | ||
| 1.62 | 3B | Signed as exit 3 northbound | ||
| 2.48 | 4A | Glendale Boulevard Glendale Boulevard Glendale Boulevard is a north–south street in Los Angeles that starts off as Lucas Avenue at 7th Street west of Downtown LA. The name changes at Beverly Boulevard. Echo Park is located north of the 101 at Bellevue Avenue. State Route 2 runs from Alvarado Street until the freeway entrance... , Echo Park Avenue, Union Avenue, Belmont Avenue |
||
| 2.86 | 4B | South end of SR 2 overlap | ||
| 3.34 | 5A | Rampart Boulevard, Benton Way | ||
| 3.76 | 5B | Silver Lake Boulevard | ||
| 4.40 | 6A | Vermont Avenue Vermont Avenue Vermont Avenue is one of the longest running north/south streets in Los Angeles, California with a length of about . Located just west of the Harbor Freeway for the major portion south of Downtown Los Angeles, it starts in Griffith Park at the Greek Theatre in the Los Feliz neighborhood as a... |
||
| 4.85 | 6B | Melrose Avenue Melrose Avenue Melrose Avenue is an internationally renowned shopping, dining and entertainment destination in Los Angeles that starts from Santa Monica Boulevard at the border between Beverly Hills and West Hollywood and ends at Lucille Avenue in Silver Lake... , Normandie Avenue Normandie Avenue Normandie Avenue is one of Los Angeles County's longest north-south streets. With a stretch of about 22.5 miles , it lies between Vermont Avenue and Western Avenue, starting off north of Franklin Avenue. At Wilshire Boulevard, the Metro Purple Line intersects at an underground subway station. ... |
||
| 5.55 | 7 | North end of SR 2 overlap | ||
| 6.25 | 8A | Sunset Boulevard Sunset Boulevard Sunset Boulevard is a street in the western part of Los Angeles County, California, that stretches from Figueroa Street in downtown Los Angeles to the Pacific Coast Highway at the Pacific Ocean in the Pacific Palisades... |
No northbound entrance | |
| 6.52 | 8B | Hollywood Boulevard Hollywood Boulevard -Revitalization:In recent years successful efforts have been made at cleaning up Hollywood Blvd., as the street had gained a reputation for crime and seediness. Central to these efforts was the construction of the Hollywood and Highland shopping center and adjacent Kodak Theatre in 2001... |
||
| 6.91 | 8C | Gower Street Gower Street (Hollywood) Gower Street is a street in Los Angeles, California that has played an important role in the ongoing evolution of Hollywood, particularly as the home to several prominent Poverty Row studios during the area's Golden Age... |
||
| 7.06 | 9A | Vine Street Vine Street Vine is a street in Hollywood, Los Angeles, California that runs north-south from Melrose Avenue up past Hollywood Boulevard. The intersection of Hollywood and Vine was once a symbol of Hollywood itself... |
Southbound exit only | |
| 7.46 | 9B | Cahuenga Boulevard – Hollywood Bowl Hollywood Bowl The Hollywood Bowl is a modern amphitheater in the Hollywood area of Los Angeles, California, United States that is used primarily for music performances... |
No northbound entrance; signed as exit 9A northbound | |
| 7.84 | 9C | Highland Avenue Highland Avenue (Los Angeles) Highland Avenue is a major north/south road that runs from Cahuenga Boulevard & the U.S. Route 101 in Hollywood, Los Angeles from the north end to Olympic Boulevard in Mid-City Los Angeles on the south end. Highland Avenue is a major north/south road that runs from Cahuenga Boulevard & the U.S.... (SR 170 south) – Hollywood Bowl Hollywood Bowl The Hollywood Bowl is a modern amphitheater in the Hollywood area of Los Angeles, California, United States that is used primarily for music performances... |
South end of SR 170 overlap; signed as exit 9B northbound | |
| 9.22 | 11A | Barham Boulevard – Burbank Burbank, California Burbank is a city in Los Angeles County in Southern California, United States, north of downtown Los Angeles. The estimated population in 2010 was 103,340.... |
Signed as exit 11 southbound | |
| 9.60 | 11B | Universal Studios Boulevard | Northbound exit and entrance; serves Universal Studios Hollywood Universal Studios Hollywood Universal Studios Hollywood is a movie studio and theme park in the unincorporated Universal City community of Los Angeles County, California, United States. It is one of the oldest and most famous Hollywood movie studios still in use... |
|
| 10.34 | 12A | Lankershim Boulevard Lankershim Boulevard -Geography:Lankershim Boulevard starts off at San Fernando Road in the Sun Valley portion of the San Fernando Valley. In addition to Sun Valley, it runs through North Hollywood and Universal City. It runs for about 7.3 miles before ending directly south of Ventura Boulevard... – Universal City Universal City, California Universal City is a community in the San Fernando Valley region of Los Angeles County, California, that encompasses the 415 acre property of Universal Studios... |
||
| 10.56 | 12B | Ventura Boulevard Ventura Boulevard Ventura Boulevard is one of the primary east–west thouroughfares in the San Fernando Valley, USA; as it was originally a part of the El Camino Real , Ventura Boulevard is one of the oldest routes in the San Fernando Valley. It was also U.S... |
No southbound exit | |
| 11.11 | 12C | Vineland Avenue | Signed as exit 12B southbound | |
| 101 11.75 170 R14.50 |
Northbound exit and southbound entrance | |||
| North end of US 101 overlap | ||||
| 5B | Northbound exit is via exit 12C | |||
| R14.78 | 6A | Riverside Drive Riverside Drive (Los Angeles, California) Riverside Drive is a northeast-southwest road connecting the San Fernando Valley and Downtown Los Angeles, California. It follows the course of the Los Angeles River.-Overview:... |
Southbound exit and northbound entrance | |
| R15.37 | 6B | Magnolia Boulevard – North Hollywood | Signed as exit 6 northbound | |
| R15.99 | 7 | Burbank Boulevard | ||
| R16.63 | 8A | Oxnard Street | ||
| R17.25 | 8B | Victory Boulevard Victory Boulevard (Los Angeles) Victory Boulevard is a major east-west arterial road that runs traversing the entire length of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County. Through much of the San Fernando Valley, Victory Boulevard divides the affluent communities at the southern end of the Valley , from the less affluent... |
||
| R18.27 | 9 | Sherman Way | ||
| R19.72 | 10 | Roscoe Boulevard | ||
| R20.10 | 11A | Sheldon Street | Northbound exit and southbound entrance | |
| R20.55 | 11B | Northbound exit and southbound entrance | ||
See also
- Hollywood Freeway chickensHollywood Freeway chickensThe Hollywood Freeway chickens are a colony of feral chickens that live under the Vineland Avenue off-ramp of the Hollywood Freeway in Los Angeles, California...
- Suggestion of rail transit along freeway, 1948