www.cahighways.org	California Highways The History of Southern California Freeway Development (Part 1 — 1940s)   powered by FreeFind

The freeway era in Southern California started with the construction of the Arroyo Seco Parkway in 1940. This route, which was part of US 66, is now the Pasadena Freeway, Route 110. Since the creation of the route, regional planners have been working towards the goal of a comprehensive regional freeway and expressway system.

(Click on image for the full size map. Full-size image size: 174K.)		(Click on image for the full size map. Full-size image size: ~370K.)
Figure 1-1. 1947 Master Plan of Metropolitan Los Angeles Freeway adopted by the Regional Planning Commission		Figure 1-2. 1949 Proposed Parkway Plan—Automobile Club of Southern California (ACSC)
(Click on image for the full size map. Full-size image size: ~880K.)
Figure 1-3. 1946 Proposed Parkway Plan—Los Angeles

Figure 1-1 shows the 1947 Master Plan as developed by the Regional Planning Commission. Others also were preparing plans at this time; Figure 1-2 shows the proposed Parkway System developed by the Auto Club of Southern California. There was also a complete 1946 Report: "Interregional, Regional, Metropolitan Parkways in the Los Angeles Metro Area" This plan (Figure 1-3) recognized the upcoming freeway system. The interstates were referred to as the "United States Interregional Highway System", and included five Southern California routes:

The State Regional System was also acknowledged. It noted of the routes listed, 67 miles were included in the State Division of Highway's list of critical parkway projects needed in the immediate future:

The 1946 Plan proposed the following local routes:

As one can see, the plans were roughly similar, but had some distinct differences. Some of the routes on these plans correspond to existant highways today; some correspond to highways still on the books (as of 2000) but never constructed, and still others were only dreams of the planners. Even when planned, not all routes were in the state system. Here are some comments on how these plans compare to today's routes, as a baseline (alphabetical order):

• Alamitos Parkway. North of I-405, this corresponds to the unconstructed Route 47 freeway. South of I-405, it does not correspond to any state highways.

• Allesandro Parkway. This corresponds to present-day Route 2 between US 101 and I-5.

• Appian Parkway: from Long Beach to the Orange County line

  Arroyo Seco Parkway. The first freeway, now the Pasadena Freeway, Route 110.

• Artesia Parkway. Former US 91, now Route 91.

• Eaton Canyon Parkway. This corresponds to the unconstructed Route 164.

• East By-Pass. This route was never constructed. It was still on the state highway maps in 1963 (see LRN 222), and was briefly Route 241.

• Concord Parkway. The northern portion of this (i.e., N of Pasadena) corresponds to the I-210. The portion S of Pasadena corresponds to present-day I-710, the Long Beach Freeway (including the unconstructed I-710 portion between I-10 and I-210).

• San Bernardino (Colorado) Freeway. No, this doesn't correspond to the present-day San Bernardino Freeway. Rather, this is the present-day Foothill Freeway, I-210. Note that, even back in 1947, the route was planned to continue to San Bernardino (the "new" I-210, "former" Route 30, portion)

• Olympic Parkway. This is close to present-day I-10, until the merge with the Venice Parkway.

• Venice Parkway. Although Venice Blvd is Route 187, it was never planned as freeway, so the parkway notion must have been a regional planner's idea.

• Glendale Parkway. This corresponds to the present-day Route 2 freeway between I-5 and I-210.

• Harbor Parkway. This corresponds to the present-day Harbor Freeway, I-110.

• Hollywood Parkway. This corresponds to the present-day constructed portion of Route 170, and the portion of US 101 between the Route 170/Route 134/US 101 merge and the I-5/US 101 merge.

• Inglewood Parkway. This was never constructed, and connected with the Slauson Parkway. This eventually morphed into I-105.

• La Brea/Crenshaw Parkway. A parkway that would replace La Brea Boulevard between Hollywood and Inglewood. For the most part, this corresponds to the unconstructed portion of Route 170, which was originally planned as freeway down Laurel Canyon, La Break, and Crenshaw. The portion of this parkway between the Ventura Parkway (US 101) and the Hollywood Parkway (Route 170) was not on the state books.

• La Habra Parkway. This corresponds to a planned Route 39 freeway that was never constructed as such.

• Long Beach Freeway. This is the present-day Long Beach Freeway.

• Los Angeles River Parkway. This coresponds to the portion of I-5 in downtown Los Angeles.

• Los Coyotes Parkway. The correspondence of this route to a present-day state highway is unknown, although portions might correspond to Route 39.

• Manhattan Parkway. Connecting Manhattan Beach to the Sepulveda Parkway (now I-405). Another parkway that was never constructed or added to the state highway system.

• Marina Parkway. This correspodns to the present-day constructed portion of Route 90.

• Normandie Parkway. A Midtown north-south connector along Normandie. This is another odd amalgam. Until it reaches the Harbor Parkway, this plausably corresponds to present-day unconstructed Route 258. However, Route 258 continued down to I-405, whereas this parkway merges into the Harbor Parkway. What's interesting is the 1963 map shows only the San Pedro to I-405 portion of Route 258 (LRN 291); the remainder, which shows on the 1996 map, appears not to have been on the books.

• Ocean/Coast Parkway. This is a portion of the original planned Route 1 freeway (which would also have continued N up the coast).

• Pacific Parkway. This appears to correspond to Route 107.

• Rio Hondo Parkway. This was also part of the proposed Route 164 freeway.

• Riverside Parkway. Based on the position on the map, this corresponds to present-day I-5.

• San Gabriel River Parkway. This is the present-day San Gabriel River Freeway, I-605. It also includes what was originally planned as Route 243.

• Santa Monica Parkway. This one is confusing. For some of the route, it appears to correspond to the unbuilt Route 2 "Beverly Hills" Freeway. However, the western portion might correspond to present-day I-10. It appears that present-day I-10 was constructed between the Santa Monica Parkway and the Olympic Parkway.

• Seaside Parkway. Present-day constructed Route 47.

• Sepulveda Parkway. This corresponded to pre-1964 Route 7, and is present-day I-405.

• Slauson Parkway. The Slauson Parkway ran from the Inglewood and Harbor Parkway (now Route 110) junction to the Santa Ana (Route 5) and Rio Honda (Route 164) junction. The Metropolitan Planning Commission had the route continuing to Yorba Linda. The roughly corresponds to today's Route 90. Never constructed.

• Temescal Parkway. This corresponds to the present-day day Route 57 (former I-210) freeway and Route 71 soon-to-be-freeway.

• Terminal Island Freeway. Present-day constructed Route 103, although at one time part of Route 47. The route also shows some unconstructed portions. Portions of this would have been the "Industrial" freeway.

• Ventura Parkway. This is the present day Ventura Freeway, US 101 and Route 134 between points west and Glendale.

• Whitnall Freeway. Across the San Fernando Valley from Burbank to Chatsworth. This is still on the books as Route 64, but was never constructed. Note that this route turns south after the Hollywood Parkway and connects with the Normandie Parkway. There was also a continuation of the route to the west, and then south along Malibu Canyon, but this is not shown on the map.

Part 2 continues with how these routes morphed in the 1950s.

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