Interstate 105 (abbreviated
I-105, and
colloquiallyA colloquialism is an expression not used in formal speech, writing or paralinguistics. Colloquialisms are also sometimes referred to collectively as "colloquial language". Colloquialisms or colloquial language is considered to be characteristic of or only appropriate for casual, ordinary,...
referred to as
The 105 or
the one-oh-five) is an
Interstate HighwayThe Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly called the Interstate Highway System , is a network of limited-access highways in the United States that is named for President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who championed its formation...
in southern
Los Angeles County, CaliforniaLos Angeles County is a county in California and is by far the most populous county in the United States. Figures from the U.S. Census Bureau give an estimated 2008 population of 9,862,049 residents, while the California State government's population bureau lists a January 1, 2009, estimate of...
that runs east-west from near the
Los Angeles International AirportLos Angeles International Airport is the primary airport serving Los Angeles, California, the second-most populated metropolitan area of the United States. It is often referred to by its airport code LAX, with the letters usually pronounced individually...
(LAX) to
NorwalkNorwalk is a suburban city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 103,298 at the 2000 census. In 2009 the population was 107,698....
. It is officially known as the
Glenn Anderson Freeway for the
Democratic California politicianGlenn Malcolm Anderson was Lieutenant Governor of California and later a Democratic congressman.Anderson was born 1913 in Hawthorne, California. He received a Bachelor of Arts from University of California, Los Angeles in 1936...
who advocated its construction. I-105 has also been referred to as the
Century Freeway, especially during its planning stage.
This route is part of the
California Freeway and Expressway SystemThe California Freeway and Expressway System is a system of existing or planned freeways and expressways in the U.S. state of California. It is defined by the Streets and Highways Code.-List of roads in the system:*State Route 1...
.
Interstate 105, completed in 1993, begins at
Sepulveda BoulevardSepulveda Boulevard is a street in Los Angeles, California, which stretches some 42.8 miles from Rinaldi Street at the north end of the San Fernando Valley to the city limits of Hermosa Beach, where it "jumps" east and continues on to Long Beach. It generally runs north-south, passing underneath...
(
State Route 1State Route 1 , often called Highway 1, is a state highway that runs along much of the Pacific coast of the U.S. state of California...
) on the southern edge of
Los Angeles International AirportLos Angeles International Airport is the primary airport serving Los Angeles, California, the second-most populated metropolitan area of the United States. It is often referred to by its airport code LAX, with the letters usually pronounced individually...
(LAX), adjacent to the city of
El SegundoEl Segundo is a city in Los Angeles County, California on the Santa Monica Bay, incorporated on January 18, 1917. It is one of the Beach Cities of Los Angeles County and part of the South Bay Cities Council of Governments...
.
Interstate 105 (abbreviated
I-105, and
colloquiallyA colloquialism is an expression not used in formal speech, writing or paralinguistics. Colloquialisms are also sometimes referred to collectively as "colloquial language". Colloquialisms or colloquial language is considered to be characteristic of or only appropriate for casual, ordinary,...
referred to as
The 105 or
the one-oh-five) is an
Interstate HighwayThe Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, commonly called the Interstate Highway System , is a network of limited-access highways in the United States that is named for President Dwight D. Eisenhower, who championed its formation...
in southern
Los Angeles County, CaliforniaLos Angeles County is a county in California and is by far the most populous county in the United States. Figures from the U.S. Census Bureau give an estimated 2008 population of 9,862,049 residents, while the California State government's population bureau lists a January 1, 2009, estimate of...
that runs east-west from near the
Los Angeles International AirportLos Angeles International Airport is the primary airport serving Los Angeles, California, the second-most populated metropolitan area of the United States. It is often referred to by its airport code LAX, with the letters usually pronounced individually...
(LAX) to
NorwalkNorwalk is a suburban city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 103,298 at the 2000 census. In 2009 the population was 107,698....
. It is officially known as the
Glenn Anderson Freeway for the
Democratic California politicianGlenn Malcolm Anderson was Lieutenant Governor of California and later a Democratic congressman.Anderson was born 1913 in Hawthorne, California. He received a Bachelor of Arts from University of California, Los Angeles in 1936...
who advocated its construction. I-105 has also been referred to as the
Century Freeway, especially during its planning stage.
This route is part of the
California Freeway and Expressway SystemThe California Freeway and Expressway System is a system of existing or planned freeways and expressways in the U.S. state of California. It is defined by the Streets and Highways Code.-List of roads in the system:*State Route 1...
.
Route description
Interstate 105, completed in 1993, begins at
Sepulveda BoulevardSepulveda Boulevard is a street in Los Angeles, California, which stretches some 42.8 miles from Rinaldi Street at the north end of the San Fernando Valley to the city limits of Hermosa Beach, where it "jumps" east and continues on to Long Beach. It generally runs north-south, passing underneath...
(
State Route 1State Route 1 , often called Highway 1, is a state highway that runs along much of the Pacific coast of the U.S. state of California...
) on the southern edge of
Los Angeles International AirportLos Angeles International Airport is the primary airport serving Los Angeles, California, the second-most populated metropolitan area of the United States. It is often referred to by its airport code LAX, with the letters usually pronounced individually...
(LAX), adjacent to the city of
El SegundoEl Segundo is a city in Los Angeles County, California on the Santa Monica Bay, incorporated on January 18, 1917. It is one of the Beach Cities of Los Angeles County and part of the South Bay Cities Council of Governments...
. It proceeds generally eastward from there on, crossing the
Los AngelesThe Los Angeles River starts in San Fernando Valley, San Gabriel Mountains, and Santa Susana Mountains and flows through Los Angeles County, California, from Canoga Park in the west end of the San Fernando Valley, 51 miles southeast to its mouth in Long Beach...
and
San GabrielThe San Gabriel River flows through southern Los Angeles County, California. It rises in the San Gabriel Mountains, flowing southwest into and through the western San Gabriel Valley before turning southward at the Whittier Narrows to enter the Los Angeles Basin...
Rivers before terminating just east of the San Gabriel River Freeway (Interstate 605) in western
NorwalkNorwalk is a suburban city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 103,298 at the 2000 census. In 2009 the population was 107,698....
.
The freeway stops short of intersecting with the
Santa Ana FreewayThe Santa Ana Freeway is one of the principal freeways in Southern California, connecting Los Angeles and its southeastern suburbs. The freeway begins at the four level Bill Keene Memorial Interchange complex in downtown Los Angeles, signed as U.S. Route 101...
(
Interstate 5In the U.S. state of California, Interstate 5 , a major north-south route of the Interstate Highway System, has its southern terminus at the United States-Mexico border at the San Ysidro crossing...
), its parent interstate. Instead, the primary lanes of I-105 terminate at an
at-grade intersectionthumb|right|300px|An unusual at-grade intersection with mixed [[transportation modalities|modalities]] at [[London]] [[Heathrow Airport]], [[England]]...
with Studebaker Road.
Most of the Metro Green Line of the LACMTA, with the exception of the segment west of the 405 interchange, operates in the median of the Century Freeway.
History
Interstate 105 was an integral part of Caltrans' 1960s master plan for the
Southern California freeway systemThe freeways of southern California, along with beaches, palm trees, and movie studios, are one of the major trademarks of this region. Perhaps no other urban areas in the world have embraced the automobile as passionately as have Greater Los Angeles , the Inland Empire , and San...
, but did not open until 1993. Many factors contributed to the delay. The growth of the
environmentalEnvironmentalism is a broad philosophy and social movement regarding concerns for environmental conservation and improvement of the state of the environment...
movement in the 1960s created resistance to new freeway construction. Fiscal difficulties brought about by the 1971
Sylmar earthquakeThe 1971 San Fernando earthquake struck the San Fernando Valley near Sylmar at 6:00:55 a.m. PST on February 9 1971, with a magnitude of 6.6....
and the California
tax revoltA tax revolt is a political struggle to repeal, limit, or roll back a government-imposed tax.-1930s, The Great Depression:In the United States, it is often used to refer to a series of anti-tax state initiative campaigns. The first significant wave of these campaigns was during the 1930s. The...
of the late 1970s further hampered Caltrans' construction efforts.
However, the major source of resistance to the freeway's construction was
community oppositionA grassroots movement is one driven by the politics of a community. The term implies that the creation of the movement and the group supporting it is natural and spontaneous, highlighting the differences between this and a movement that is orchestrated by traditional power structures...
, and the side effects of these demands. By the early 1970s, most of the areas in the freeway's path (and thus slated to be demolished) were predominantly African-American. Resentment over previous freeway projects' effects on other black communities resulted in significant modifications to the original route. Most cities along the way, weary of the noise and visual blight created by elevated freeways, demanded that the route be built far below grade in a "trench." Also another source for resistance to the freeway's construction was that much of the areas along the I-105 path was going to be built in low income, high crime neighborhoods, which also delayed the freeway's construction until the crime in the areas went down. For his city at the center of the route,
LynwoodLynwood is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States of America. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 69,845...
Councilman John D. Byork fought tirelessly for the completion of the Freeway, for which he was called the "Father of the Century Freeway". His efforts, markedly at the Southern California Association of Governments had assured that the homes demolished in Lynwood had resulted in better transportation for all in Los Angeles.
After construction began in the 1980s, failure to perform a full survey of the area's
groundwaterGroundwater is water located beneath the ground surface in soil pore spaces and in the fractures of lithologic formations. A unit of rock or an unconsolidated deposit is called an aquifer when it can yield a usable quantity of water. The depth at which soil pore spaces or fractures and voids in...
deposits, combined with the 20-30 foot below-grade trench through the city of
DowneyDowney is a city located in southeast Los Angeles County, California, United States, 21 km southeast of downtown Los Angeles. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 107,323.-History:...
, resulted in buckling and cracking along the eastern portions of the route. At one point a large sinkhole opened in the Bellflower Boulevard on-ramp. This resulted in construction of an elaborate pump system along the freeway between the interchanges with I-710 and I-605.
NorwalkNorwalk is a suburban city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 103,298 at the 2000 census. In 2009 the population was 107,698....
, opposed to the freeway's proposed route through the center of the city, blocked the route from reaching its intended terminus at the (
Interstate 5In the U.S. state of California, Interstate 5 , a major north-south route of the Interstate Highway System, has its southern terminus at the United States-Mexico border at the San Ysidro crossing...
); however, Caltrans had already decided to abandon that section due to the inability of the severely congested Santa Ana Freeway to accommodate any more traffic. The freeway eventually replaced Manchester Avenue and Firestone Boulevard (both
State Route 42State Route 42 was a state highway in southern region of the U.S. State of California, running along Manchester Avenue, Manchester Boulevard and Firestone Boulevard in Los Angeles and the cities south of it. After 1968, it ran from State Route 1 west of Inglewood east to Interstate 5 in Norwalk...
), which were roads roughly parallel to the freeway.
The family home of
Brian WilsonBrian Douglas Wilson is an American musician, best known as the leader and chief songwriter of the rock group The Beach Boys...
and his brothers
DennisDennis Carl Wilson was an American rock and roll musician best known as a founding member and the drummer of The Beach Boys...
and
CarlCarl Dean Wilson was an American rock and roll singer and guitarist, best known as a founding member, lead guitarist and sometime lead vocalist of The Beach Boys. He was inducted into the Rock and Roll Hall of Fame in 1988.-Beach Boys career:Wilson played the Chuck Berry-esque guitar parts on...
, founding members of the highly successful Beach Boys rock band, was demolished in the mid 1980s to make way for the freeway. A
California Historic LandmarkThe Beach Boys Historic Landmark commemorates the site of the childhood home of Brian, Carl, and Dennis Wilson of the Beach Boys. The monument, located at 3701 W...
marks the site of the former home.
Throughout the difficulties, Congressman
Glenn M. AndersonGlenn Malcolm Anderson was Lieutenant Governor of California and later a Democratic congressman.Anderson was born 1913 in Hawthorne, California. He received a Bachelor of Arts from University of California, Los Angeles in 1936...
(
DThe Democratic Party is one of the two major contemporary political parties in the United States, along with the Republican Party. It is the oldest political party in continuous operation in the United States and it is one of the oldest parties in the world. In the U.S...
-San Pedro) tirelessly advocated for the route's construction, touting its possibilities for congestion relief along
CenturyCentury Boulevard is a street in South Los Angeles, extending from Wilmington Avenue in the east to the passenger terminals at Los Angeles International Airport in the west ....
, Manchester, and Firestone Boulevards and the
Imperial HighwayImperial Highway is a road in Orange and Los Angeles counties in California. It begins at the Anaheim-Orange boundary and runs through several cities until it stops at Dockweiler State Beach in Los Angeles near the Los Angeles International Airport. For much of the way, Imperial Highway is signed...
; it has succeeded in these tasks, as well as relieving pressure on the Santa Monica (
I-10In the U.S. state of California, Interstate 10 , is the major east-west Interstate Highway in the Southern United States, runs east from Santa Monica, California, on the Pacific Ocean, through Los Angeles and San Bernardino to the border with Arizona...
) and
San DiegoThe San Diego Freeway is a named freeway in Southern California. It refers to the following two segments:*Interstate 5 in California, from the Mexico – United States border at the San Ysidro district of San Diego to Interstate 405 in Irvine...
(
I-405Interstate 405 is a major north-south Interstate Highway in Southern California. It is a bypass of Interstate 5, running along the western areas of the Greater Los Angeles Area from Irvine to near San Fernando...
) Freeways for travelers between
Downtown Los AngelesDowntown Los Angeles is the central business district of Los Angeles, California, United States, located close to the geographic center of the metropolitan area...
and LAX. After Anderson's death in 1994, Caltrans honored him by renaming the freeway in his honor. However, the route's original name, "Century Freeway", is still used on a number of maps.
Another important figure in the freeway's history was
Harry PregersonHarry Pregerson serves as a judge on the United States Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit. He was appointed to the Ninth Circuit in 1979 by President Jimmy Carter...
, a
United States federal judgeIn the United States, the title of federal judge is usually given to a judge appointed by the President of the United States and confirmed by the United States Senate in accordance with Article III of the United States Constitution....
who presided over the lawsuit concerning the freeway's construction and chose to continue presiding over the case despite being promoted to a higher level court. The interchange with Interstate 110 is named the
Judge Harry Pregerson InterchangeThe Judge Harry Pregerson Interchange is a stack interchange near the Athens and Watts communities of Los Angeles, California. It is the interchange of the following routes:...
in his honor.
The freeway was originally signed with El Segundo as its westbound
control cityA control city is a city or locality posted on a traffic sign indicating forward destinations on a certain route. These destinations aid motorists using the highway system to reach destinations along the various routes...
; however, in recent years, many of the El Segundo signs have been replaced and/or covered with "LAX Airport" signage due to the western terminus' proximity to
Los Angeles International AirportLos Angeles International Airport is the primary airport serving Los Angeles, California, the second-most populated metropolitan area of the United States. It is often referred to by its airport code LAX, with the letters usually pronounced individually...
.
Shortly before opening, filmmakers had access to use the empty freeway for a number of weeks to film the 1994 motion picture
SpeedSpeed is a 1994 American action/thriller film directed by Jan de Bont, and set in Los Angeles. It focuses on an LAPD officer, Police Officer III Jack Traven, who tries to arrest an bomber/extortionist. After the bomber escapes, he sets up a bomb on a city bus which Traven boards and must keep...
.
Previously, the I-105 designation has been used for U.S. Route 101 (the
Santa Ana FreewayThe Santa Ana Freeway is one of the principal freeways in Southern California, connecting Los Angeles and its southeastern suburbs. The freeway begins at the four level Bill Keene Memorial Interchange complex in downtown Los Angeles, signed as U.S. Route 101...
) from I-5 (the Golden State Freeway) at the
East Los Angeles InterchangeThe East Los Angeles Interchange complex is the busiest freeway interchange in the world, with its southern portion handling over 550,000 vehicles per day . At the time of its construction in the early 1960s it was considered a civil engineering marvel...
to the connection to I-10 (the
San Bernardino FreewayThe San Bernardino Freeway is a named freeway in the U.S. state of California in the Greater Los Angeles area. It refers to the following two segments:...
; this connection had been
I-110Route 110, consisted of two segments of State Route 110 joined by Interstate 110 , is a state highway in the Los Angeles area of the U.S. state of California, mostly built to freeway standards...
); it went back to U.S. 101 in 1968.
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 CountyLos Angeles County is a county in California and is by far the most populous county in the United States. Figures from the U.S. Census Bureau give an estimated 2008 population of 9,862,049 residents, while the California State government's population bureau lists a January 1, 2009, estimate of...
.
| Location |
Postmile
|
#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 |
| El Segundo El Segundo is a city in Los Angeles County, California on the Santa Monica Bay, incorporated on January 18, 1917. It is one of the Beach Cities of Los Angeles County and part of the South Bay Cities Council of Governments...
|
R0.00 |
1A |
Imperial HighwayImperial Highway is a road in Orange and Los Angeles counties in California. It begins at the Anaheim-Orange boundary and runs through several cities until it stops at Dockweiler State Beach in Los Angeles near the Los Angeles International Airport. For much of the way, Imperial Highway is signed...
west |
Continuation beyond SR 1 |
Los AngelesLos Angeles is the largest city in the state of California and the second largest in the United States. Often abbreviated as L.A. and nicknamed The City of Angels, Los Angeles has an estimated population of 3.8 million and spans over in Southern California...
|
R0.50 |
1 |
| Signed as exits 1B (south) and 1C (north) westbound |
| R1.24 |
1D |
Nash Street – LAX Airport |
Westbound exit and eastbound entrance |
| R1.79 |
2A |
La Cienega BoulevardLa Cienega Boulevard is a major north-south arterial road that runs between El Segundo Boulevard in El Segundo, California on the south and the Sunset Strip/Sunset Boulevard in West Hollywood....
, Aviation Boulevard |
Westbound exit and eastbound entrance |
| Hawthorne Hawthorne is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California. The city in 2000 had a population of 84,112.- History :Hawthorne's first known residents were Indians of the Shoshonian linguistic group, occupying the South Bay, Los Angeles area as early as the 1500s...
|
R2.11 |
2B |
| Signed as exit 2 eastbound; former SR 7 |
| R3.05 |
3 |
Hawthorne Boulevard |
Westbound exit and eastbound entrance |
| R3.32 |
3 |
Prairie Avenue |
|
InglewoodInglewood is a city in southwestern Los Angeles County, California, southwest of downtown Los Angeles. It was incorporated on February 14, 1908. In 2006, its population was estimated at 129,900. The city is in the South Bay region of the greater Los Angeles area...
|
R4.71 |
5 |
Crenshaw Boulevard |
|
Los AngelesLos Angeles is the largest city in the state of California and the second largest in the United States. Often abbreviated as L.A. and nicknamed The City of Angels, Los Angeles has an estimated population of 3.8 million and spans over in Southern California...
|
R6.77 |
7A |
Vermont Avenue Vermont Avenue is one of the longest running north/south streets in Los Angeles, California. 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 one-lane divided road and at...
|
|
| R7.39 |
7B |
| |
| R8.90 |
9 |
Central Avenue |
|
ComptonCompton is a city in southern Los Angeles County, California, United States, south-southeast of downtown Los Angeles. The city was incorporated in 1889. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 93,493....
|
R9.78 |
10 |
Wilmington Avenue |
|
| Lynwood Lynwood is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States of America. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 69,845...
|
R11.51 |
12 |
Long Beach Boulevard Long Beach Boulevard is a street that starts off as a continuation of Pacific Boulevard south of Cudahy Avenue in South Gate. The Metro Green Line serves a station underneath Interstate 105. The Metro Blue Line falls in the middle of the boulevard from Willow Street to 1st Street in Long Beach...
|
|
| R13.47 |
13 |
| |
ParamountParamount is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. According to the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 55,266. Paramount is part of the Greater Los Angeles Area...
|
R14.13 |
14 |
Garfield Avenue |
Eastbound exit and westbound entrance |
| R14.65 |
15 |
Paramount Boulevard, Garfield Avenue |
Westbound exit and eastbound entrance |
| Bellflower Bellflower is a city in Los Angeles County, California, United States, and is a suburb of Los Angeles. It was incorporated on September 3, 1957. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 72,878....
|
R15.76 |
16 |
| |
| Downey Downey is a city located in southeast Los Angeles County, California, United States, 21 km southeast of downtown Los Angeles. As of the 2000 census, the city had a total population of 107,323.-History:...
|
R16.64 |
17 |
Bellflower Boulevard |
|
NorwalkNorwalk is a suburban city in Los Angeles County, California, United States. The population was 103,298 at the 2000 census. In 2009 the population was 107,698....
|
R17.82 |
18 |
| Eastbound exit and westbound entrance; signed as exits 18A (south) and 18B (north) |
| R17.91 |
|
Hoxie Avenue – Norwalk Metro Station |
HOV HOV may refer to:* High-occupancy vehicle lane* Ørsta-Volda Airport, Hovden in Hovden, Norway...
only westbound |
| R18.15 |
|
Studebaker Road |
At-grade intersection thumb|right|300px|An unusual at-grade intersection with mixed [[transportation modalities|modalities]] at [[London]] [[Heathrow Airport]], [[England]]...
(HOVHOV may refer to:* High-occupancy vehicle lane* Ørsta-Volda Airport, Hovden in Hovden, Norway...
only westbound) |
External links