1960 Los Angeles freeway construction/planning map

[TheStranger]

https://www.flickr.com/photos/walkingsf/7546251554/in/photostream/

This map to me is notable because it shows 1. basically routes that would eventually built, even down to short segments (i.e. the portions of Route 90 that DID get upgraded) and 2. how long some of the proposals for what has been built recently have existed.

Some comments:

- How many years did the Long Beach Freeway end at the Santa Ana Freeway, without continuing north? 

- This seems to be around the time that 99 bypassed downtown LA and took 5 south to 10 east (concurrent with both).

- Interesting to see nothing adopted for the 710 gap south of Pasadena, though the surface road then adopted (but never built) would have run about a mile north of Valley Boulevard.

- The Terminal Island Freeway had already been completed all the way to Willow Street by then!?

- Neat to see the old Route 134 Colorado Freeway and Route 118 Foothill Freeway segments there as "completed"

- Wonder why even then, what is now 91 west of 110 (what was then State Route 14) was not on the fast-track for upgrading (and ultimately has remained a surface road) - was it considered redundant with the nearby east-west portion of 405?

- Amazing that 210 east of 57 was shown as proposed that far back (and 57 at the time wasn't marked to continue north to 210), even though construction for much of it would not begin until about 14-15 years ago.

[sdmichael]

The Terminal Island Freeway was complete in 1948.

[nexus73]

Watching the evolution of the SoCal freeway system is one of the great pleasures I have had.  My first time there was 1974 and it was so amazing to see such a modern network compared to what we had in the entire state of Oregon.  I would go out at night just to drive on what was mostly empty roads just because it was a thrill to see those Bott's Dots light up with the high beams.  I didn't need to wait for video games to show up when there was such a magnificent series of these roads to drive on!

Thank you for sharing the 1960 map Stranger!

Rick

[andy3175]

Thanks to TheStranger for finding this collection of maps. Very nice indeed; I also liked the I-980 planning map options.

[TheStranger]

The Terminal Island Freeway was complete in 1948.

Hmm, didn't know it was that old!  Was Willow Street chosen as the terminus for any particular reason?

I know (based on planning maps, the configuration at 405/710, my 1967 Rand McNally, and still unused right of way reserved northeast from Willow) that at one point, the freeway was to be extended to the 405/710 junction.

[hm insulators]

Thanks to TheStranger! Highly interested, especially because I watched the freeway system evolve myself, especially the 210.

[TheStranger]

Thanks to TheStranger for finding this collection of maps. Very nice indeed; I also liked the I-980 planning map options.

No problem!  With regards to 980...it's interesting how the finished product is only half of what the route could've been (a connector to the never-built Southern Crossing that would have started along Army (Cesar Chavez) Street in SF, as well as a connector to the unbuilt Route 61)

Highly interested, especially because I watched the freeway system evolve myself, especially the 210.

This makes me ask: Why wasn't the original Route 118 freeway (now Oak Grove Drive) alignment used for the eventual 210 in northern Pasadena?

[Desert Man]

The L.A. freeway system in the embryonic stage over 50 years ago. At the time, L.A. was served by a large-scale trolley system before its end a few years later in the mid 1960s. They say L.A. is a city of freeways and the map shown the plan of becoming one back then. 

[Henry]

The L.A. freeway system in the embryonic stage over 50 years ago. At the time, L.A. was served by a large-scale trolley system before its end a few years later in the mid 1960s. They say L.A. is a city of freeways and the map shown the plan of becoming one back then. 

A fact that everyone outside the city seems to ignore, especially since they tend to associate trolleys with San Francisco. And they had to see all those freeways coming, with L.A. having more cars than any other city in North America, and quite possibly, the entire world.

[hm insulators]

Highly interested, especially because I watched the freeway system evolve myself, especially the 210.

This makes me ask: Why wasn't the original Route 118 freeway (now Oak Grove Drive) alignment used for the eventual 210 in northern Pasadena?

Much of it was; when the 210 was built, the only re-alignment of the route was the new bridge over the Arroyo Seco built in 1973 (about half a mile south of the 1950s-era Foothill Freeway bridge), otherwise, the 210 between Pasadena and La Canada Flintridge pretty much follows the old alignment of California 118, not all of which was freeway. The stretch of Oak Grove Drive past La Canada High School and on up to the Jet Propulsion Laboratory was always surface street. In other words, before the present-day 210 was built, the high school grounds were always tucked in between Oak Grove Drive on the east and the old Foothill Freeway (California 118) on the west; the present-day 210 simply lies atop the old 118 alignment by the school. I should know; both my older brother and I went to La Canada High School in the 1970s. I still remember the outdoor racketball courts on the west side of the school property that butted up against the freeway (which at this point climbs a hill overlooking the school so that people using the freeway are almost level with the lamps atop the poles that light the football field) and me and my buddy Joe trying to hit racketballs onto the freeway when the PE teacher wasn't looking instead of actually playing racketball.

[sdmichael]

Highly interested, especially because I watched the freeway system evolve myself, especially the 210.

This makes me ask: Why wasn't the original Route 118 freeway (now Oak Grove Drive) alignment used for the eventual 210 in northern Pasadena?

The Arroyo Seco realignment was done due to the proximity of the Devils Gate Dam. The newer alignment is also straighter.
http://www.socalregion.com/highways/socal_unsigned/foothill_fwy/


Mod Note: Fixed quoting. --roadfro

[Interstate Trav]

https://www.flickr.com/photos/walkingsf/7546251554/in/photostream/

This map to me is notable because it shows 1. basically routes that would eventually built, even down to short segments (i.e. the portions of Route 90 that DID get upgraded) and 2. how long some of the proposals for what has been built recently have existed.

Some comments:

- How many years did the Long Beach Freeway end at the Santa Ana Freeway, without continuing north? 

- This seems to be around the time that 99 bypassed downtown LA and took 5 south to 10 east (concurrent with both).

- Interesting to see nothing adopted for the 710 gap south of Pasadena, though the surface road then adopted (but never built) would have run about a mile north of Valley Boulevard.

- The Terminal Island Freeway had already been completed all the way to Willow Street by then!?

- Neat to see the old Route 134 Colorado Freeway and Route 118 Foothill Freeway segments there as "completed"

- Wonder why even then, what is now 91 west of 110 (what was then State Route 14) was not on the fast-track for upgrading (and ultimately has remained a surface road) - was it considered redundant with the nearby east-west portion of 405?

- Amazing that 210 east of 57 was shown as proposed that far back (and 57 at the time wasn't marked to continue north to 210), even though construction for much of it would not begin until about 14-15 years ago.

Cool map.  Wasn't the 210 originally planed to be the San Bernardino Freeway?  The 10 was Originally the Ramona Freeway.

[sdmichael]

210 was always the Foothill Freeway. The naming convention back then (pre-1955) was normally "Road being replaced" Freeway. So, the modern Route 210 Freeway replaced Foothill Blvd (for the most part). The Golden State Freeway and Harbor Freeway didn't follow this convention.

[TheStranger]

210 was always the Foothill Freeway. The naming convention back then (pre-1955) was normally "Road being replaced" Freeway. So, the modern Route 210 Freeway replaced Foothill Blvd (for the most part). The Golden State Freeway and Harbor Freeway didn't follow this convention.

The Golden State Freeway at least derived its name from the US 99 corridor as a whole (Golden State Highway).

Kinda surprised the Harbor Freeway wasn't the "Figueroa Freeway" at some point (in comparison to Ramona/Sepulveda/Colorado/Foothill).

[sdmichael]

210 was always the Foothill Freeway. The naming convention back then (pre-1955) was normally "Road being replaced" Freeway. So, the modern Route 210 Freeway replaced Foothill Blvd (for the most part). The Golden State Freeway and Harbor Freeway didn't follow this convention.

The Golden State Freeway at least derived its name from the US 99 corridor as a whole (Golden State Highway).

Kinda surprised the Harbor Freeway wasn't the "Figueroa Freeway" at some point (in comparison to Ramona/Sepulveda/Colorado/Foothill).

Oh, I'm aware of where the Golden State name came from. The point was that the roads it replaced weren't called that. The Golden State Freeway replaced San Fernando Road/Blvd in the Los Angeles area. The Harbor Freeway could have been named something else, but by the time construction happened, it was always Harbor Freeway/Parkway.

[TheStranger]

210 was always the Foothill Freeway. The naming convention back then (pre-1955) was normally "Road being replaced" Freeway. So, the modern Route 210 Freeway replaced Foothill Blvd (for the most part). The Golden State Freeway and Harbor Freeway didn't follow this convention.

The Golden State Freeway at least derived its name from the US 99 corridor as a whole (Golden State Highway).

Kinda surprised the Harbor Freeway wasn't the "Figueroa Freeway" at some point (in comparison to Ramona/Sepulveda/Colorado/Foothill).

Oh, I'm aware of where the Golden State name came from. The point was that the roads it replaced weren't called that. The Golden State Freeway replaced San Fernando Road/Blvd in the Los Angeles area. The Harbor Freeway could have been named something else, but by the time construction happened, it was always Harbor Freeway/Parkway.

Of the LA freeways that were constructed through the 1940s/mid-1950s, the Santa Ana, Arroyo Seco, Harbor and Los Angeles River corridors are the only ones that weren't named after a street (that I can think of). 

[SSOWorld]

Golden State Freeway?  Where is Golden State Ave/Street/whatever?

[TheStranger]

Golden State Freeway?  Where is Golden State Ave/Street/whatever?

Bakersfield. (And yes, that's an oversight on my part that was already addressed earlier in the thread)

Basically US 99 from Sacramento to LA was the Golden State Highway, of which portions of the bypassed stretch from Turlock to Bakersfield still has that name or a variant of it, most notably in Fresno County.

But wasn't the Golden State Freeway a late-1950s project? Which is why I specifically didn't mention it in that post.

[sdmichael]

Golden State Freeway?  Where is Golden State Ave/Street/whatever?

This is also specific to Los Angeles, not greater California. Yes, US 99 was/is the Golden State Highway from Los Angeles to Sacramento, hence the freeway name. The point was that it wasn't the name of the roads it bypassed in Los Angeles.