INTERSTATE 105 (CALIFORNIA)

(Redirected from Century Freeway)

'Interstate 105' (abbreviated 'I-105', and colloquially referred to as 'The 105' or ''the one-oh-five'') is an interstate highway in southern Los Angeles County, California that runs east-west from near the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to Norwalk. It is officially known as the 'Glenn Anderson Freeway' for the Democratic California politician who advocated its construction. The 105 has also been referred to as the 'Century Freeway', especially during its planning stage.

Contents

Route description

History

Notable facts

State law

Control cities

Communities served

Major intersections

Exit list

References

External links

Route description

The 105 begins at Sepulveda Boulevard (State Route 1) on the southern edge of Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), adjacent to the city of El Segundo. It proceeds generally eastward from there on, crossing the Los Angeles and San Gabriel Rivers before terminating just east of the San Gabriel River Freeway (Interstate 605) in western Norwalk.
The freeway stops short of intersecting with the Santa Ana Freeway (Interstate 5), its parent interstate ''(see the history section below)''.

History

The 105 was an integral part of Caltrans' 1960s master plan for the Southern California freeway system, but did not open until 1993. Many factors contributed to the delay. The growth of the environmentalist movement in the 1960s created resistance to new freeway construction. Fiscal difficulties brought about by the 1971 Sylmar earthquake and the California tax revolt of the late 1970s further hampered Caltrans' construction efforts.
However, the major source of resistance to the freeway's construction was community opposition, 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.
After construction began in the 1980s, failure to perform a full survey of the area's groundwater deposits, combined with the 20-30 foot below-grade trench through the city of Downey, 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.
Norwalk, opposed to the freeway's proposed route through the center of the city, blocked the route from reaching its intended terminus at the (Interstate 5); 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 (State Route 42), which was a road roughly parallel to the freeway.
Throughout the difficulties, Congressman Glenn M. Anderson (D-San Pedro) tirelessly advocated for the route's construction, touting its possibilities for congestion relief along Century, Manchester, and Firestone Boulevards and the Imperial Highway; it has succeeded in these tasks, as well as relieving pressure on the Santa Monica (I-10) and San Diego (I-405) Freeways for travelers between Downtown Los Angeles 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.
Previously, the I-105 designation has been used for U.S. Route 101 (the Santa Ana Freeway) from I-5 (the Golden State Freeway) at the East Los Angeles Interchange to the connection to I-10 (the San Bernardino Freeway; this connection had been I-110); it went back to U.S. 101 in 1968. Source: Kurumi 3di Interstates

Notable facts

The I-105 runs one block away from the flashpoint of the Watts Riots at the intersection of Avalon Boulevard and 116th Street, and it remains within short walking distance of Imperial Highway for the entirety of its route.
In addition to being below grade for most of its route, the Century Freeway is also notable for the Los Angeles Metro Rail Green Line that runs along its center median. The former Pacific Electric Railway Santa Ana branch right of way on Fernwood Drive parallels the alignment of the Freeway between State Street in Lynwood and the Los Angeles River bridge.
The freeway's elaborate high occupancy vehicle lane structure includes a towering interchange with the Harbor Freeway's HOV lanes. Some refer to this interchange as "the Hump." In 2002, the California Legislature officially named the interchange after federal appellate judge Harry Pregerson, who as a district judge had supervised the settlement of the federal lawsuit against the Century Freeway.
During construction of the freeway, it was featured in three films. The towering, unfinished HOV interchange was seen as the background of a scene featuring Michael Douglas in the 1993 film ''Falling Down'' & parts of the 1993 movie Demolition Man. It was also presented in the film ''Speed''. The production was given as much time as needed to film on the freeway. In a memorable sequence, the bus successfully jumped over an incomplete section of the freeway to safety.
The boyhood home of brothers Brian, Carl and Dennis Wilson of the famous rock group The Beach Boys, located at 3701 W. 119th Street in Hawthorne, was demolished in the late 1980s for the construction of Interstate 105. A monument now stands at the corner of W. 119th Street and Kornblum Avenue, the intersection where the house once stood.

State law

'Legal Definition of Route 105:' California Streets and Highways Code, Chapter 2, Article 3, Section 405
Route 105 from Route 1 to Route 605 is known as the Glenn Anderson Freeway, as named by Senate Concurrent Resolution 34, Chapter 83 in 1987.^[1]

Control cities

'Eastbound'

★ Norwalk
'Westbound'

★ El Segundo - east of I-110

★ Varies between El Segundo and "LAX Airport" - west of I-110 interchange

Communities served

Communities along the Century Freeway include:

★ El Segundo

★ Inglewood

★ Hawthorne

★ Lennox

★ Gardena

★ Athens

★ Watts

★ Willowbrook

★ Compton

★ Lynwood

★ South Gate

★ Paramount

★ Downey

★ Bellflower

★ Norwalk

Major intersections

Freeways intersected by the Century Freeway include from west to east:

★ San Diego Freeway (Sadao S. Munemori Memorial Interchange, I-405)

★ Harbor Freeway (Judge Harry Pregerson Memorial Interchange, I-110)

★ Long Beach Freeway (I-710)

★ San Gabriel River Freeway (Joe A. Gonsalves Memorial Interchange, I-605)

Exit list

Postmiles are derived from^[2] and exit numbers derived from^[3].

Location	Postmile	#	Destinations	Notes
El Segundo	LA 0.00	1A	Imperial Highway	Freeway ends and begins
Los Angeles		1B		Exit 1 Eastbound, signed as "Imperial Highway East"
		1C	– LAX
	LA R0.98	1D	Nash Street	Westbound exit; Eastbound entrance accessible via Atwood Way
	LA R1.79	2A	La Cienega Blvd; Aviation Blvd	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance, both accessible via Imperial Highway
Hawthorne	LA 2.91	2B		Exit 2 eastbound
	LA 3.32	3	Prairie Avenue; Hawthorne Blvd	Hawthorne Blvd is only directly accessible via westbound exit and eastbound entrance
Inglewood	LA R4.73	5	Crenshaw Blvd	Accessible eastbound via 120th Street
Los Angeles	LA R6.74	7A	Vermont Avenue
	LA 8.05	7B		There are also separate left exits for the HOV lanes
	LA R8.94	9	Central Avenue
Compton	LA R9.38	10	Wilmington Avenue	Accessible westbound via Imperial Highway
Lynwood	LA 11.56	12	Long Beach Blvd
	LA R13.47	13		The original routing postmile for the 105/710 junction was LA 14.53
Paramount	LA R14.13 LA R14.65	14	Garfield Avenue; Paramount Blvd	Exit 15 westbound
Bellflower	LA R15.76	16		The original routing postmile for the 105/19 junction was LA 17.45
Downey	R16.64	17	Bellflower Blvd
Norwalk	LA 18.82	18A		Like many signs along the entrances and freeway junctions of I-605, no destinations ("control cities") are listed here
		18B
			Studebaker Road	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance (at-grade intersection)

References

1. 2006 Named Freeways, Highways, Structures and Other Appurtenances in California, , , , Caltrans, ,
2. January 1, 2006 California Log of Bridges on State Highways
3. Cal-NExUS Interchange Exit Numbering

External links

★ California @ WestCoastRoads - Interstate 105

★ Western Exit Guide - Interstate 105 California

★ Photo Exhibit: Constructing Interstate 105