Early 1960s Sepulveda Pass (I-405) photo looking north towards US 101

[TheStranger]

Just found this via Google Image Search...is this one of the only times an outline US highway shield was used on 405?

http://2.bp.blogspot.com/-G92aF1ocVI8/UTBQB_9SYEI/AAAAAAAAHVk/ouggI2pxLCs/s1600/San_Diego_Freeway.jpg
http://sanfernandovalleyblog.blogspot.com/2013/02/freeways-postcards.html

[hm insulators]

If I recall correctly, that outline US 101 shield was there all the way until they widened the freeway a few years back. I think the southbound 405 also had outline US 101 shields on the guide signs.

Amazing, seeing the 405 through the Sepulveda Pass with little traffic during the daytime hours!

[nexus73]

Amazing, seeing the 405 through the Sepulveda Pass with little traffic during the daytime hours!

Yup, there was a time when driving on SoCal freeways was fun instead of being frustrating.  I sure enjoyed my time down there in the Seventies.  Those were the days! 

Rick

[JustDrive]

Up until the mid-90s when Caltrans added "Skirball Center Drive" to all Mulholland Drive signs, the advance exits signs on NB 405 had the outlined US 101 shield. Now, the only one I can think of in District 7 is at Rancho Road in Thousand Oaks. 

[Otto Yamamoto]

This is not a 1960's picture. The reservation guard is a Jersey Barrier-CalTrans didn't start installing them until the 1970's. Prior to that a single strand cable barrier was quite popūlar as a reservation guard in California.

[briantroutman]

I was about to say–from the cars visible in the picture, this is definitely mid '70s if not later. I believe the bronze-colored car just behind and to the left of the school bus in the northbound lanes is an early Volkswagen Dasher, which would date this at 1974 at the earliest.

Basically, this could be a still from a first-season episode of CHiPs.

[Desert Man]

What a neat blog about the san Fernando Valley: it's roads, highways and freeways are widely featured among other SFV topics: past history and present day. If only the SFV can become its own city (almost did a decade ago, except most of L.A. voters blocked the secession). Those postcards are from a time when freeways were relatively new (1950s?) and motorists or drivers looked forward to using them to get from one point to another.

[Henry]

What a neat blog about the san Fernando Valley: it's roads, highways and freeways are widely featured among other SFV topics: past history and present day. If only the SFV can become its own city (almost did a decade ago, except most of L.A. voters blocked the secession). Those postcards are from a time when freeways were relatively new (1950s?) and motorists or drivers looked forward to using them to get from one point to another.

Those are probably the best-looking freeway postcards you'll ever see!

[Gulol]

Ah - the old style call boxes that were identified by the 2 letter freeway name (SD) then 3 digits afterwards.  Forgot about the old format until seeing this picture with one in front of the 405 shield.

[mrsman]

Here is a video of a motorcycle driving along Sepulveda Blvd near the Pass in the 1960's (at 0:33)

I didn't realize that Sepulveda was a reversible roadway then!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i72S7gfTatM

[DTComposer]

It's hard for me to tell from the video quality, but it appears that the BGS's at 2:25 and 3:45 have CA-11 shields, but the BGS at 3:21 might have a US-6 shield?

Also at 1:25 - car tooling along, left turn signal blinking while he changes lanes to the right. The more things change...

[Road Hog]

Here is a video of a motorcycle driving along Sepulveda Blvd near the Pass in the 1960's (at 0:33)

I didn't realize that Sepulveda was a reversible roadway then!

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=i72S7gfTatM

Very cool! A GoPro video 50 years ahead of its time.

I would love it if somebody could shoot the same scenes today and split-screen them to show all the changes.

[roadfro]

Neat to see white on black speed limit signs in that video.

[sdmichael]

Very cool! A GoPro video 50 years ahead of its time.

I would love it if somebody could shoot the same scenes today and split-screen them to show all the changes.

Well, with little exception, that portion of Sepulveda Blvd didn't look that different until the recent construction along the 405, which affected Sepulveda. Even the 110 doesn't look that different, except more traffic.

[SignBridge]

Great old photo in the first post of the 405 looking north from the Mulholland Dr. overpass. I thought the original divider on that road was the chain-link fence type used in Calif. back then.

I saw Sepulveda Blvd. one-way operation in the 1964 (?) movie Sex and the Single Girl starring Natalie Wood. But I thought it was staged for the movie. Was that road really run reversible?

[mrsman]

Great old photo in the first post of the 405 looking north from the Mulholland Dr. overpass. I thought the original divider on that road was the chain-link fence type used in Calif. back then.

I saw Sepulveda Blvd. one-way operation in the 1964 (?) movie Sex and the Single Girl starring Natalie Wood. But I thought it was staged for the movie. Was that road really run reversible?

I am wondering that also.  I've never seen the movie, but I found the above clip on Vintage Los Angeles.  Is that a clip from the movie?

Maybe it was staged for the movie.  I'm aware of several streets that have reversible lanes and usually (a) at least one lane still goes in the reverse commute direction or (b) if all lanes are one-way, it's usually in a place where there are other alternates like a grid of streets.  Sepulveda is kind of isolated in this stretch.  And it would mean that folks who live on the Pass would have to go all the way to a freeway entrance and use the freeway to go in the reverse direction.

But if someone knows the real answer, please enlighten us.