State highway in California, United States
State Route 2
(
SR 2
) is a
state highway
in the U.S. state of
California
. It connects the
Los Angeles Basin
with the
San Gabriel Mountains
and the
Victor Valley
in the
Mojave Desert
. The highway's southwestern end is at the intersection of Centinela Avenue at the
Santa Monica
-
Los Angeles
border and its northeastern end is at
SR 138
east of
Wrightwood
. The SR 2 is divided into four segments, and it briefly
runs concurrently
with
U.S. Route 101
(US 101) and
Interstate 210
(I-210). The southwestern section of SR 2 runs along a segment of the east–west
Santa Monica Boulevard
, an old routing of
US 66
, to US 101 in
East Hollywood
; the second section runs along segments of both the north–south
Alvarado Street
and
Glendale Boulevard
in
Echo Park
; the third section to I-210 in
Glendale
is known as the north–south
Glendale Freeway
; and the northeastern portion from I-210 in
La Canada Flintridge
to SR 138 is designated as the
Angeles Crest Highway
.
Route description
[
edit
]
SR 2 is known as the
Angeles Crest Scenic Byway
, a
National Forest Scenic Byway
,
[4]
from SR 2's east junction with I-210 in La Canada Flintridge to the
Los Angeles
?
San Bernardino
county line. The
Big Pines Highway
is routed along SR 2 from
County Route N4
(CR N4, the northwest continuation of the designation) in Big Pines to the Los Angeles?San Bernardino county line.
[5]
SR 2 is part of the
California Freeway and Expressway System
,
[6]
and except for much of the mountain portion is part of the
National Highway System
,
[7]
a network of highways that are considered essential to the country's economy, defense, and mobility by the
Federal Highway Administration
.
[8]
SR 2 is eligible to be included in the
State Scenic Highway System
;
[9]
however, only the portion of SR 2 from a point northeast of the
I-210
interchange to the San Bernardino County line is actually designated as a scenic highway by the
California Department of Transportation
(Caltrans),
[10]
meaning that it is a substantial section of highway passing through a "memorable landscape" with no "visual intrusions", where the potential designation has gained popular favor with the community.
[11]
The California Legislature has relinquished state control of various segments of SR 2 in
Santa Monica
,
Los Angeles
,
Beverly Hills
and
West Hollywood
, and turned them over to local control.
[12]
SR 1 to the southeast junction with US 101
[
edit
]
The original official southwestern terminus of SR 2 was at the junction of
Lincoln Boulevard
,
SR 1
, and
I-10
in
Santa Monica
. SR 2 then proceeded northwest on Lincoln Boulevard before turning northeast on
Santa Monica Boulevard
. Since the California Legislature relinquished segments of the highway, state control of SR 2 now officially begins at the point where Santa Monica Boulevard crosses the Santa Monica?Los Angeles city limits at Centinela Avenue.
[12]
From Centinela Avenue, SR 2 heads northeast on Santa Monica Boulevard, where it heads northeast through
West Los Angeles
,
Westwood
,
Century City
, and
Beverly Hills
before entering
West Hollywood
. Santa Monica Boulevard, as a major street, is for most of its length at least four lanes wide.
[13]
At its west end, Santa Monica Boulevard starts off
Ocean Avenue
in Santa Monica. From there until
Sepulveda Boulevard
, Santa Monica Boulevard is a densely urban commercial street. Most of the
Westside
car dealerships are located on Santa Monica Boulevard. After Sepulveda, Santa Monica Boulevard passes Century City, and intersects Wilshire Boulevard in Beverly Hills.
The south roadway of Santa Monica Boulevard, often called Little Santa Monica Boulevard in Beverly Hills, runs parallel to the state highway (north) roadway of Santa Monica Boulevard from the city's west limit to Rexford Drive. After Rexford Drive, Little Santa Monica turns east, becoming Burton Way. Burton Way merges into
San Vicente Boulevard
at its intersection with
La Cienega Boulevard
. It is noted that the south roadway of Santa Monica Boulevard in Beverly Hills is a city street while the north roadway of Santa Monica Boulevard is a California state highway, each roadway handling bi-directional traffic.
After intersecting Wilshire, Santa Monica Boulevard continues northeast toward West Hollywood, spanning
Beverly Boulevard
and
Melrose Avenue
. At Holloway Drive, in the middle of West Hollywood, Santa Monica, now north of
Melrose Avenue
turns to the east. In West Hollywood, between Fairfax Avenue and
Doheny Drive
along Santa Monica Boulevard, bronze name plaques are embedded in the sidewalks as part of the
West Hollywood Memorial Walk
. SR 2 continues east through Hollywood on Santa Monica Boulevard to the Hollywood Freeway.
Route 2 then merges onto
U.S. Route 101
(the
Hollywood Freeway
) and heads southeast leaving US 101 at the
Alvarado Street
exit.
Southeast junction with US 101 to I-210
[
edit
]
Alvarado Street and Glendale Boulevard
[
edit
]
From US 101, Route 2 heads northeast on
Alvarado Street
through the community of
Echo Park
. The route then turns north onto
Glendale Boulevard
.
Glendale Freeway
[
edit
]
After crossing Allesandro Street, Route 2 then branches northeast onto the
Glendale Freeway
, a north–south route. With five lanes each direction, the freeway is quite wide. It intersects
the 5 Freeway
(the Golden State Freeway) and then crosses the
Los Angeles River
, and runs through the communities of
Glassell Park
and
Eagle Rock
.
After its interchange with the eastern
Ventura Freeway (SR 134)
, the Glendale Freeway route follows a ridge in the
San Rafael Hills
through eastern
Glendale
. The freeway ends in the
Crescenta Valley
, at
Foothill Boulevard
in
La Canada Flintridge
. Just before reaching Foothill Boulevard, SR 2 turns off the Glendale Freeway onto the eastbound
Foothill Freeway
(Interstate 210) for a short distance until reaching the Angeles Crest Highway exit in La Canada Flintridge.
The Glendale Freeway was originally proposed to continue through Echo Park all the way to
Hollywood Freeway (101)
.
[14]
Since that plan has been scrapped, the freeway is somewhat isolated from the remainder of the LA freeway system.
I-210 to Route 138
[
edit
]
Leaving
La Canada Flintridge
at an altitude of 1,300 feet (400 m), the route turns north onto the
Angeles Crest Highway
. This route winds generally east-northeast through the canyons of the
San Gabriel Mountains
for over 80 miles (130 km), before descending through
Big Pines
and
Wrightwood
to the edge of the
Victor Valley
approximately 20 miles (32 km) west of
Hesperia
and ending at
SR 138
. The highway climbs to a high point of 7,903 feet (2,409 m) at Dawson Saddle. The eastern portions of the Angeles Crest Highway are notoriously dangerous, with many switchbacks and blind curves, and are often closed during occasions of heavy winter snowfall. The highway is generally closed between Islip Saddle and Vincent Gap from mid-December to mid-May due to snow and rockfall.
History
[
edit
]
Designation
[
edit
]
In 1964, Route 2 was defined as a single route from Santa Monica to Wrightwood with no discontinuities. The segment of former US 66 on Santa Monica Boulevard west of the Hollywood Freeway and Lincoln Boulevard was added to Route 2 at this time, since US 66 was truncated to
Pasadena
. Route 2 became discontinuous at Routes 101 and 210 in 1965 and 1990, respectively.
[15]
Before the segment of the Glendale Freeway was built between Glendale Boulevard and just west of the Los Angeles River, Route 2 began at the Hollywood Freeway on Santa Monica Boulevard, continued east to Myra Avenue, then north on Myra Avenue, east on Fountain Avenue, northeast on Hyperion Avenue, southeast on Rowena Avenue, southeast on Glendale Boulevard, and northeast on Fletcher Drive to just west of the Los Angeles River.
[
citation needed
]
From west of the Los Angeles River, Route 2 continued on the Glendale Freeway to its temporary connection with Fletcher Drive at Avenue 38 and then followed the routing described in the previous paragraph to Route 138 northeast of Wrightwood.
[
citation needed
]
Before the segment of the Glendale Freeway was built north of Glassell Park, Route 2 continued north on Fletcher Drive to Eagle Rock Boulevard, then north on Eagle Rock Boulevard to Verdugo Road, north on Verdugo to Canada, north on Canada back to Verdugo, and north and east on Verdugo to the Angeles Crest Highway (then Haskell Street).
[
citation needed
]
Beverly Hills Freeway
[
edit
]
Originally, it was to have been the Beverly Hills Freeway from Route 405 to Route 101 just east of Vermont Avenue, flowing onto the Glendale Freeway. In fact, the proposed freeway on Route 2 west of Route 101 was the original routing of the "Santa Monica Freeway" (a name which subsequently went to the distantly parallel
Route 10
). However, for a variety of political reasons, the department never reached agreement with
Beverly Hills
to build the segment through that city. At one time, the department considered building a
cut-and-cover
tunnel under Beverly Hills, but even this proved a non-starter, and the freeway plan west of Route 101 was quietly cancelled in 1975. Currently, the Glendale Freeway begins as a stub at Glendale Boulevard. A freeway-wide bridge was built over Glendale Boulevard in hopes that the freeway would be built further west. Today, the bridge serves as the westbound lanes of Route 2, connecting the southwestbound freeway lanes to southbound Glendale Boulevard. A more modest freeway/expressway extension to Route 101 has been discussed.
[16]
Planners originally intended for it to connect to the
Hollywood Freeway
with Route 101 near the Vermont Avenue interchange, but community opposition killed the project by the 1960s (which is why there is a huge median around the cancelled interchange today). The Glendale Freeway offers stunning vistas of the eastern
San Fernando Valley
, the
Verdugo Mountains
, the
Crescenta Valley
, and the
San Gabriel Mountains
.
[17]
In the 1960s, the city of
Beverly Hills
had begun a transition from a quasi-
exurban
retreat for the
entertainment industry
to its current status as one of the world's premier shopping and culinary destinations. Building a freeway along Santa Monica Boulevard, the northwestern border of the city's emergent "Golden Triangle" shopping district, did not fit into city fathers' vision for Beverly Hills' development. Moreover, it was feared that a freeway would exacerbate the already evident divisions between the fabulously wealthy residents of the hilly areas north of Santa Monica Boulevard and the merely affluent ones to the south. A proposed
cut-and-cover
tunnel for the freeway failed to generate sufficient political support, and by the mid-1970s the project was essentially dead.
California State Senator (later Congressman)
Anthony Beilenson
was one of the leading opponents of the project.
Caltrans
' decision not to build the freeway was both harmful and beneficial to the areas along its proposed route. The massive
Century City
high-rise commercial development just west of the Beverly Hills city limits was built with freeway access in mind. For many Century City workers who live in Los Angeles' eastern suburbs, the quickest way home takes them through the residential district of
Cheviot Hills
, which has caused consternation among its well-heeled residents. For Beverly Hills, the decision helped preserve much of its emergent downtown, but at the cost of creating gridlock on
Wilshire Boulevard
and I-10.
[
dubious
–
discuss
]
Further construction
[
edit
]
The first segment of freeway was built in the 1950s and ran from just west of the Los Angeles River to Avenue 38 in
Glassell Park
. This portion was at one time named the
Allesandro Freeway
, because it runs next to Allesandro Street. The last segment of freeway, from
Route 134
to Route 210, was built between 1972 and 1975.
[18]
Starting in July 1964, Route 2 began in Santa Monica at its junction with Routes 1 and
10
. After heading a few blocks northwest on
Lincoln Boulevard
, the route turned northeast on Santa Monica Boulevard, just several blocks from the
Pacific Ocean
. The route continued on
Santa Monica Boulevard
to
Centinela Avenue
.
[19]
For its entire length, until the tracks were removed, Santa Monica Boulevard followed the tracks of the
Pacific Electric Railway
. In the portion from Holloway Drive in West Hollywood to
Sepulveda Boulevard
in West Los Angeles, the tracks were in a separate right-of-way, with two roadways, one on each side of the tracks. For the rest of the route, the tracks ran in the traffic lanes.
[20]
Except for a short portion at its eastern end, Santa Monica Boulevard was adopted as a state highway in 1933. From 1934 to 1936, it was signed as State Route 2. Then it became
U.S. Route 66
. When
U.S. Route 66
was truncated to
Pasadena
in 1964, Santa Monica Boulevard once again became State Route 2 as far east as the
Hollywood Freeway
. Today, the State Route 2 portion of Santa Monica Boulevard is defined from the Santa Monica/Los Angeles city limits to
US 101
.
[2]
From 1936 to 1964,
U.S. Route 66
ran along Lincoln Boulevard from its junction with Alternate U. S. 101 (now California Route 1) and California Route 26 (now replaced by Interstate 10) to Santa Monica Boulevard and along Santa Monica Boulevard from Lincoln Boulevard to the Hollywood Freeway. US 66 turned southeast on the Hollywood Freeway with US 101. At that time, Route 2 began on Alvarado Street at the Hollywood Freeway. As is today, Route 2 traversed Alvarado Street and Glendale Boulevard to the Glendale Freeway. Route 2 continued on the Glendale Freeway to a temporary connection with Fletcher Drive at Avenue 38 in the Atwater district of Los Angeles. From the temporary connection, the route ran northeast on Fletcher Drive, and north on Verdugo Road to its south intersection with Canada Boulevard in Glendale. From the south intersection, Route 2 headed north on Canada Boulevard to its north intersection with Verdugo Road, north on Verdugo Road, and east on Verdugo Boulevard, before reaching Foothill Boulevard in La Canada Flintridge. Route 2 continued approximately one mile southeast on Foothill Boulevard with California Route 118 to Angeles Crest Highway. From Foothill Boulevard, Route 2 continued north on Angeles Crest Highway, where it continues to this day.
[2]
Today, the
California Transportation Commission
is
relinquishing
the
street
-running parts of Route 2 to local cities which it runs through. In 1996, state law was changed to permit the relinquishment of Route 2 in Santa Monica and West Hollywood. When the relinquishment in Santa Monica went through in 1998, the portion from Route 1 to Centinela Avenue was deleted. The law was changed again in 2001 to allow Route 2 from Route 405 to Moreno Drive to be relinquished to the City of
Los Angeles
. In 2003
California
Senate Bill 315 was chaptered, acknowledging the relinquishments within Santa Monica, West Hollywood, and from Route 405 to Moreno Drive in Los Angeles, and permitting the relinquishment of Route 2 in Beverly Hills. Whether Route 2 west of Route 101 will stay as a paper route after relinquishment is yet to be determined.
[
citation needed
]
Since the 1950s, proposals have been made to extend the Glendale Freeway to the
Antelope Valley Freeway
via a
tunnel
under the San Gabriels, relieving some of the latter freeway's notorious congestion. The difficulty of designing and building such a route through the mountains (designated
SR 249
) and the cost of insuring it against
earthquakes
and
terrorism
would undoubtedly make perpetually cash-strapped
Caltrans
unable to undertake such an ambitious project.
[
citation needed
]
In popular culture
[
edit
]
The section of freeway between the
Ventura Freeway
(
134
) and the
Foothill Freeway
(
210
) was largely completed in late 1972, but not fully finished until late spring 1978. During this five year period, the section from just north of the 134 Ventura freeway to approximately Mountain St (Glendale College) was not built. During this time, the closed freeway and an on/off ramp at Verdugo Blvd in Montrose were used as a location for several films due to its relatively complete construction status, and its proximity to major movie studios in
Southern California
. Some of these productions included
Coffy
,
Corvette Summer
,
The Gumball Rally
,
Death Race 2000
,
Cannonball
,
Hardcore
, and several American
television series
including
Adam-12
,
Emergency!
and
CHiPs
. The transition overpass from the eastbound
Ventura Freeway
to the northbound Glendale Freeway was prominently featured in the notorious
disaster film
Earthquake
when a livestock truck and two cars crash over the side of the overpass (a shot completed in miniature special effects). Ever since it was opened in 1978, this section of freeway is still relatively lightly traveled (especially on weekends), and is still utilized as a filming location, with filming typically done early on weekend mornings.
Major intersections
[
edit
]
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 to an overlap due to a correction or change, and T indicates postmiles classified as temporary (
for a full list of prefixes, see
California postmile § Official postmile definitions
).
[1]
Segments that remain unconstructed or have been relinquished to local control may be omitted. The numbers reset at county lines; the start and end postmiles in each county are given in the county column.
- ^
a
b
Postmiles are measured from SR 2's original southwestern end at the I-10/SR 1, before that segment east to Centinela Ave. was deleted and relinquished to local control.
- ^
a
b
c
d
e
f
Indicates that the postmile represents the distance along
US 101
rather than SR 2.
- ^
a
b
Indicates that the postmile represents the distance along
I-210
rather than SR 2.
See also
[
edit
]
References
[
edit
]
- ^
a
b
c
California Department of Transportation.
"State Truck Route List"
. Sacramento: California Department of Transportation. Archived from
the original
(
XLS file
)
on September 5, 2015
. Retrieved
June 30,
2015
.
- ^
a
b
c
"State Route 2"
.
California Highways
. Retrieved
November 29,
2011
.
[
self-published source
]
- ^
"Vehicle Code Section 35655.6 - State Route 2 Prohibited Vehicles"
. California Department of Motor Vehicles
. Retrieved
July 21,
2014
.
- ^
Staff.
"Angeles Crest Scenic Byway (Route 2)"
.
America's Byways
.
Federal Highway Administration
. Archived from
the original
on October 11, 2011
. Retrieved
October 11,
2011
.
- ^
2007 Named Freeways, Highways, Structures and Other Appurtenances in California
(PDF)
.
California Department of Transportation
. p. 116
. Retrieved
March 28,
2007
.
- ^
"Article 2 of Chapter 2 of Division 1"
.
California Streets and Highways Code
. Sacramento: California Office of Legislative Counsel
. Retrieved
February 6,
2019
.
- ^
Federal Highway Administration (March 25, 2015).
National Highway System: Los Angeles, CA
(PDF)
(Map). Scale not given. Washington, DC: Federal Highway Administration
. Retrieved
October 21,
2017
.
- ^
Natzke, Stefan; Neathery, Mike & Adderly, Kevin (June 20, 2012).
"What is the National Highway System?"
.
National Highway System
. Washington, DC: Federal Highway Administration
. Retrieved
July 1,
2012
.
- ^
"Article 2.5 of Chapter 2 of Division 1"
.
California Streets & Highways Code
. Sacramento: California Office of Legislative Counsel
. Retrieved
February 6,
2019
.
- ^
California Department of Transportation (August 2019).
"Officially Designated State Scenic Highways and Historic Parkways"
(XLSX)
. Sacramento: California Department of Transportation
. Retrieved
October 21,
2017
.
- ^
California Department of Transportation (2012).
Scenic Highway Guidelines
(PDF)
. Sacramento: California Department of Transportation. p. 5
. Retrieved
June 8,
2017
.
- ^
a
b
"CA Codes (shc:305-635)"
. Leginfo.ca.gov. Archived from
the original
on October 6, 2014
. Retrieved
October 16,
2013
.
- ^
"Santa Monica Blvd. Transition map"
. Lacity.org. April 12, 2005. Archived from
the original
on August 5, 2011
. Retrieved
November 29,
2011
.
- ^
"Los Angeles-Orange County Maps 1963"
. Retrieved
November 29,
2011
.
- ^
"Los Angeles-Orange County Maps 1963"
. Retrieved
November 29,
2011
.
- ^
LAtimes Blog-Beverly Hills Frwy
Archived
May 28, 2008, at the
Wayback Machine
- ^
"Southern California Highways"
. Socalregion.com. August 15, 2010
. Retrieved
November 29,
2011
.
- ^
"2007 Named Freeways, Highways, and Other Appurtenances In California"
(PDF)
. Business, Transportation, and Housing Agency. May 2008. Archived from
the original
(PDF)
on October 14, 2012
. Retrieved
August 20,
2008
.
- ^
"Marina Del Ray, California"
. May 10, 2007. Archived from
the original
on July 22, 2012
. Retrieved
August 20,
2008
.
- ^
"Motorways Plan Revealed: System of Roads Designed to Cure Traffic Ills"
.
Los Angeles Times
. June 15, 1938
. Retrieved
August 20,
2008
.
- ^
California Department of Transportation (July 2007).
"Log of Bridges on State Highways"
. Sacramento: California Department of Transportation.
- ^
California Department of Transportation
,
All Traffic Volumes on CSHS
, 1997, 2005, and 2006
- ^
California Department of Transportation
,
California Numbered Exit Uniform System
,
State Route 2 Freeway Interchanges
, Retrieved on February 5, 2009.
- ^
California Department of Transportation
,
California Numbered Exit Uniform System
,
U.S. Route 101 Freeway Interchanges
, Retrieved on April 17, 2009.
- ^
"Elevation and Location of Summits and Passes in California"
. California Department of Transportation. Archived from
the original
on March 1, 2017.
External links
[
edit
]
KML is from Wikidata