Interstate 710

Interstate 710 (I-710), mostly named the Long Beach Freeway, is a freeway running for 23 miles (37 km) in a north-south direction through Los Angeles County, California, United States. For most of its route, it follows the course of the Los Angeles River, rarely wandering more than a few hundred feet from the riverbed.

Route description

Until November 18, 1954 the freeway was called the Los Angeles River Freeway.Caltrans, 2004 Named Freeways, Highways, Structures and Other Appurtenances In California (PDF)

The road presently signed as Interstate 710 runs from Ocean Boulevard west of downtown Long Beach north to Valley Boulevard (just north of Interstate 10) in Alhambra, just west of the Los Angeles community of El Sereno.

A short unsigned freeway stub exists in Pasadena, heading south from the interchange of Interstate 210 and State Route 134 to California Boulevard. The section in between has not been built. Only the section from SR 1 north to Interstate 5 is officially the Long Beach Freeway.

The original plans for that section ran parallel to Atlantic Boulevard in Alhambra and Los Robles Avenue in San Marino and Pasadena. Opposition to this route by Alhambra and San Marino resulted in a routing that skirted Alhambra to the west and bisected South Pasadena. Subsequent opposition to the rerouted project by residents of South Pasadena and the Los Angeles district of El Sereno, and the resulting litigation, have prevented Caltrans from completing the northernmost leg of the route. The freeway's northern terminus has therefore been Valley Boulevard on the border between the East Los Angeles and San Gabriel Valley regions since the 1960s. As a result, freeway signs for the destination of the northbound Long Beach Freeway have control cities varying between Pasadena and Valley Boulevard. (Heading northbound, signs point west on Interstate 10 for Pasadena, in order to reach State Route 110 via Interstate 5.)

The failure to complete the Long Beach Freeway has contributed to traffic congestion in northeastern Los Angeles and the northwestern San Gabriel Valley, as there are no north-south freeways in the heavily populated area between Interstate 5 (Golden State Freeway) and Interstate 605 (San Gabriel River Freeway). Pro- and anti-710 lobbies have debated whether finishing I-710 would alleviate any of the San Gabriel Valley's congestion, or merely displace it from surface streets to the freeway.

History

Legislative Route 167 was defined in 1933 to run from San Pedro east to Long Beach and north to Monterey Park.California Highways: Chronology of California Highways 1933-1946 An extension was added in 1947, taking it north to Pasadena.California Highways: Chronology of California Highways 1947-1962 State Route 15 was signed in 1934 along the section of Legislative Route 167 from Pacific Coast Highway (State Route 3, later U.S. Route 101 Alternate, now State Route 1) in Long Beach north to Garvey Avenue (U.S. Route 99, replaced by Interstate 10) in Monterey Park. The original pre-freeway alignment ran entirely along Atlantic Avenue and Atlantic Boulevard.1942 Gousha Los Angeles map

The freeway replacement of SR 15/LR 167 was built from 1954 to 1961.January 1, 2006 California Log of Bridges on State Highways The whole route of LR 167, including the proposed extensions west to San Pedro and north to Pasadena, was renumbered State Route 7 in the 1964 renumbering, as the number 15 conflicted with Interstate 15. In 1965 the route was truncated to State Route 1 in Long Beach; the part from SR 1 south and west to State Route 47 was deleted, and the rest from SR 47 west to State Route 11 (now Interstate 110) became part of SR 47.California Highways: State Route 7 The short stub in Pasadena was built in 1975, along with the adjacent sections of Interstate 210 and State Route 134.

The section from SR 1 south and west to SR 47 was re-added to the legislative definition at some point. The existing freeway from SR 1 south to Ocean Boulevard was taken over by the state on August 25, 2000 in a trade with the City of Long Beach for former State Route 103 north of SR 1.Caltrans - District 7: A Closer Look At 2000 Achievements (PDF) The rest of the defined route, west on Ocean Boulevard to SR 47, is still locally maintained.

Future plans

South Pasadena

Currently, Caltrans is researching the possibility of using advanced tunneling technologies to build the Long Beach Freeway under South Pasadena without disturbing the residential neighborhoods on the surface; such technologies have been used to build freeways through similarly sensitive cities like Versailles in France. South Pasadena's government has grudgingly conceded that it may assent to such a project. However, it is unclear whether this option would be financially feasible, owing to the state budget crisis of the early 21st century. Caltrans has indicated that the South Pasadena real estate that it owns along the original 710 right-of-way, which has appreciated several hundred percent in real terms since its acquisition in the mid-1960s, would currently command a sufficiently high price to pay for the state's share of the tunnel. However, the vulnerability of such an ambitious structure to earthquakes and terrorism, and the resultingly high cost of insuring against such mishaps, might still preclude the tunnel's construction. One option would be to congestion price the tunnel, which given the amount of traffic congestion in Southern California would increase the feasibility of building the tunnel. ^*

Reconstruction

The explosive growth of cargo volumes handled at the ports of Los Angeles and Long Beach has added an enormous amount of truck traffic to the Long Beach Freeway, since it is the most direct route between the port complex and the railyards in Vernon and East Los Angeles, as well as the Pomona and San Bernardino freeways that connect Los Angeles to railyards in San Bernardino and Colton. The freeway's pavement has been badly damaged as a result, as it was not designed to carry nearly as large of a load of truck traffic. It has also become a major source of air pollution, emanating from diesel-fueled trucks idling in rush hour traffic congestion and giving cities along its route some of the worst air quality in already smoggy Southern California. In response to these developments, Caltrans and the Los Angeles County Metropolitan Transportation Authority have called for a radical expansion of the segment of the freeway between the San Diego and Pomona Freeways. It would include dedicated truck lanes, elevated carpool lanes similar to those on the Harbor Freeway (I-110), and up to 10 lanes for general traffic. By using existing right-of-way along the Los Angeles River, very few homes would need to be taken by eminent domain. (Initial plans for the construction called for the condemnation of nearly a thousand residences, drawing fierce opposition from local governments and community activists along the route.) Groundbreaking on the ambitious new freeway, which would be one of the world's most advanced, is pending allocation of federal transportation funds.

Exit list

State Route 1 - Pacific Coast Highway Interstate 405 - San Diego; Santa Monica State Route 91 - Riverside; Redondo Beach Interstate 105 - Norwalk; El Segundo Firestone Boulevard (State Route 42) Interstate 5 North - Los Angeles Interstate 5 South - Santa Ana State Route 60 - Pomona Freeway; Pomona; Los Angeles Interstate 10 - San Bernardino Freeway; Los Angeles; San Bernardino; Pasadena State Route 134 West - Ventura Interstate 210 East - San Bernardino Interstate 210 West - San Fernando

PostmileJanuary 1, 2006 California Log of Bridges on State Highways	Municipality	#Cal-NExUS Interchange Exit Numbering	Destinations	Notes
	Long Beach		(Ocean Blvd) Piers S-T; Terminal Island	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		1A	(Harbor Scenic Drive) Piers F-J; Queen Mary	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		1B	Pico Avenue - Piers B-E	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		1C	(Shoreline Drive) Downtown Long Beach; Aquarium	Southbound left exit and northbound entrance
		1D	Anaheim Street	Exit 1 northbound
LA 6.80		2
LA 7.89		3	Willow Street	Split into Exit 3A (East) and 3B (West)
LA 9.42		4
LA 10.82		6	Del Amo Boulevard	Split into Exit 6A (East) and Exit 6B (West) northbound
		7	Long Beach Boulevard	Split into Exit 7A (Long Beach Blvd - South) and Exit 7B (Long Beach Blvd - North) southbound
LA 12.98		8	Split into 8A and 8B; Northbound exit to SR-91 westbound, and southbound entrance from SR-91 eastbound, accessible via Artesia Blvd
LA 13.95	Compton	9	Alondra Boulevard - Compton	Split into Exit 9A (East) and Exit 9B (West) southbound
	Paramount	10	Rosecrans Avenue
	Lynwood	11A	Exit 11 northbound
	Lynwood	11B	Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard	Southbound exit and entrance
	South Gate	12	Imperial Highway - South Gate; Lynwood	Split into Exit 12A (East) and Exit 12B (West, accessible via Wright Rd) southbound
LA 18.45	South Gate	13
	Bell	15	Florence Avenue - Bell
LA 21.92 LA 21.99	Bell	17A	Atlantic Boulevard; Bandini Boulevard	Split into Exit 17A (Atlantic Blvd - North) and Exit 17B (Atlantic Blvd - South) northbound
LA 22.45	Commerce	17B	Washington Boulevard - Commerce	Exit 17C northbound
LA 23.27		18A	Northbound exit and southbound entrance; southbound I-710 to northbound I-5 served by I-10
LA 23.27		18	Southbound exit and northbound entrance; northbound I-710 to southbound I-5 served by Atlantic Blvd
LA 23.44	Los Angeles	19	Olympic Boulevard	Exit 18B northbound; Southbound exit and entrance accessible via Eastern Ave
		20A	3rd Street	Exit 20B northbound; Northbound exit and entrance accessible via Ford Blvd
LA 24.63		20B	exit 20A northbound
LA 24.97		20C	Cesar Chavez Avenue	Northbound exit and entrance accessible via Ford Blvd; southbound exit accessible via Humphreys Ave;
LA 26.38	Monterey Park	21	Ramona Boulevard	Northbound exit and southbound entrance; Northbound exit accessible via Corporate Center Dr
LA 26.50	Monterey Park	22	Split into Exit 22A (West) and Exit 22B (East) southbound
LA 27.47	Los Angeles		Valley Boulevard	Northbound exit and southbound entrance (at-grade intersection)
Gap
LA 32.08	Pasadena		California Boulevard	Southbound exit and northbound entrance (at-grade intersection)
LA 32.11			Del Mar Boulevard	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
LA 32.73			Northbound exit and southbound entrance
LA 32.73			Northbound exit and southbound entrance
			Colorado Boulevard - Pasadena	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
LA 32.73			Northbound exit and southbound entrance

References

External links

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