California State Route 91

Infobox road
state=CA
type=SR
route=91
alternate_name=Artesia Boulevard, Gardena Freeway, Artesia Freeway, Riverside Freeway
section=391
maint=Caltrans

---

length_mi=59.047
length_round=3
length_ref=
history=1930s as a highway; 1964 as number
direction_a=West
terminus_a=Vermont Ave. in Gardena
junction=jct|state=CA|I|710 in Long Beach
jct|state=CA|I|5 in Anaheim
jct|state=CA|I|15 in Corona
direction_b=East
terminus_b=jct|state=CA|I|215|SR|60 in Riverside
previous_type=SR
previous_route=90
next_type=SR
next_route=92
commons=category

State Route 91, also known as simply The 91, is a major east-west freeway located entirely within Southern California and serving several regions of the Greater Los Angeles metropolitan area. Specifically, it runs from Vermont Avenue in Gardena, just west of the junction with the Harbor Freeway (Interstate 110), east to Riverside at the junction with the Pomona (State Route 60 west of 91), Moreno Valley (State Route 60 east of the 91), and Escondido (I-215) freeways. The route is part of the California Freeway and Expressway System, and, since the portion west of Vermont Avenue was relinquished to local governments, it is entirely a freeway. SR 91 is part of the State Scenic Highway System from SR 55 to the east city limit of Anaheim, in the western part of the Santa Ana Canyon, [California Department of Transportation, [http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/LandArch/scenic_highways/route91.htm Route 91 - Scenic Highway] , accessed February 2008] and is eligible for the system through the canyon to I-15.

Although SR 91 is an east-west road, it inherited its odd (as opposed to even) route number from the now mostly decommissioned U.S. 91 which passed through the Inland Empire in a northeasterly direction on its way to Las Vegas, Salt Lake City, and points beyond. Those segments of U.S. 91 are now parallel to, or have been replaced altogether by, Interstate 15 (I-15).

The area from post mile 10.4 to 11.1 is known as the Juanita Millender-McDonald Highway.

Route description

From the Harbor Freeway to its intersection with the Long Beach Freeway in northern Long Beach, SR 91 is named the Gardena Freeway. Between the Long Beach Freeway and its intersection with the Santa Ana Freeway at the Fullerton-Anaheim border, it is named the Artesia Freeway. From the Santa Ana Freeway to its eastern terminus at the intersection of the Pomona, Moreno Valley, and Escondido Freeways, it is named the Riverside Freeway.

Gardena Freeway

The Gardena Freeway is a short freeway in southern Los Angeles County. It is the westernmost freeway portion of State Route 91. It begins just west of the Harbor Freeway at the intersection with Vermont Avenue in the eastern edge of the city of Gardena, proceeding eastward approximately six miles (10 km) until it intersects the Long Beach Freeway. Thereafter, SR 91 is known as the Artesia Freeway.

Until 1991, the Gardena Freeway was known as the Redondo Beach Freeway. The name change reflected the successful efforts of the cities of Torrance and Redondo Beach to block the extension of the freeway westward to its intended terminus at the cancelled Pacific Coast Freeway in Redondo Beach.

Artesia Freeway

The Artesia Freeway is a freeway in southeastern Los Angeles County and northwestern Orange County. It is signed as State Route 91 for its entire length. It runs east-west from its western terminus at the Long Beach Freeway in northern Long Beach to its eastern terminus at the Santa Ana Freeway at the Fullerton-Anaheim border. (SR 91 continues west of the Long Beach Freeway as the Gardena Freeway, and east of the Santa Ana Freeway as the Riverside Freeway.) The "Artesia Freeway" name originally was assigned to the entire length of SR 91 west of the Santa Ana Freeway in the early 1970s since it was, in sense, the freeway realignment of SR 91 from the paralleling Artesia Boulevard.

As the only freeway to link Los Angeles, Orange, and Riverside counties, the 91 is one of the most heavily congested routes in Southern California.

Riverside Freeway

The Riverside Freeway is the assigned name of a segment of State Route 91 (SR 91), a major east-west freeway located entirely within Southern California that links the cities/communities of Orange and Riverside counties. This named segment extends from the Santa Ana Freeway, Interstate 5 (I-5), in Buena Park to its eastern terminus at its junction with the San Bernardino Freeway, Interstate 10 (I-10) in San Bernardino. Note that the freeway's number assignment changes to Interstate 215 (I-215) at its junction with the Pomona Freeway, State Route 60 (SR 60) in Riverside. Thus, for the last convert|6|mi|km of its eastern alignment is the Riverside Freeway, Interstate 215. Recent improvements to the I-215/SR 60/SR 91 interchange have included new signs, including a "91 South" sign above the last portion of the I-215 southbound lanes which continue on to become the westbound SR 91. A novel feature, for California, is the presence of the toll road (the 91 Express Lanes) that shares alignment with the Riverside Freeway. The Riverside Freeway was first opened in 1963 signed as U.S. Route 91 and U.S. Route 395 and the last section was built in 1975.

91 Express Lanes

Opening in 1995, the 91 Express Lanes was the first privately-funded tollway built in the United States since the 1940s, and the first fully automated tollway in the world. Tolls are collected when a vehicle carrying a transponder mounted on the inside of the vehicle's windshield passes beneath the toll 'booth' (actually a transceiver array above the toll lanes that is located at about the five-mile (8 km) point of the toll road). Other characteristics of the toll road include: variable toll based on traffic volume (i.e. variable congestion pricing) with road signs alerting users to the toll to be paid; an alignment contained entirely within the median of the existing Riverside Freeway with two lanes in each direction; limited access provided only at the east and west ends of the toll road (where the toll lanes become regular carpool lanes; and separation between the regular, main lanes of the Riverside Freeway is provided by reflective yellow, convert|3|ft|m|abbr=on high, plastic lane markers (as opposed to concrete barriers or a similar solid barrier)).

History

Original US 91 - Barstow to Nevada

The Arrowhead Trail, an auto trail connecting Salt Lake City with Los Angeles, initially took a longer route via present US 95 and former US 66 between Las Vegas and Needles, as the more direct Old Spanish Trail was in very poor condition. [Official Automobile Blue Book, [http://books.google.com/books?id=Mt0NAAAAYAAJ Volume Eight] , 1917, p. 501] [Clason Map Company, [http://usautotrails.com/CaliforniaPage/ClasonsCaliforniaPage/image1.html Touring Atlas of the United States] , 1925] The "Silver Lake cutoff", which would save about 90 miles (145 km), [Van Nuys News, Auto Club News, December 21, 1923] was proposed by 1920, [Los Angeles Times, Brice Canyon, Zion Canyon National Park, Utah, December 26, 1920, p. VIII1] and completed in 1925 as an oiled road by San Bernardino County. [Eric Charles Nystrom, National Park Service, [http://www.nps.gov/archive/moja/adminhist/adhi2a.htm From Neglected Space To Protected Place: An Administrative History of Mojave National Preserve] , March 2003] [Los Angeles Times, State Takes Over Cut-off to Nevada Line, October 25, 1925, p. G12] The Bureau of Public Roads and the state of Nevada both urged its inclusion in the state highway system, the former as part of the federal aid highway connecting Salt Lake City and Los Angeles,California Highway Advisory Committee and Arthur Hastings Breed, Report of a Study of the State Highway System of California, California State Printing Office, 1925, p. 97] and the state legislature did that in 1925, [cite CAstat|year=1925|ch=369|p=670] with it becoming an extension of Route 31. (Across the state line, State Route 6 continued through Las Vegas to Arizona.) The initial plan for the U.S. Highway system simply stated that Route No. 91 would run from Las Vegas "to an intersection with Route No. 60" (which became US 66 in 1926),Report of Joint Board on Interstate Highways, October 30, 1925, Approved by the Secretary of Agriculture, November 18, 1925] but in 1926 the cutoff was chosen, ending at US 66 at Daggett, just east of Barstow., [http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/EART/CA/CA_125k/ Barstow (1934, scale 1:125000)] , [http://cricket.csuchico.edu/spcfotos/maps/topo_search.html Avawatz Mountains (1933, scale 1:250000)] , and [http://www.lib.berkeley.edu/EART/CA/CA_125k/ Ivanpah (1942, scale 1:250000)] ]

R 18 - former extension of US 91 through Santa Ana Canyon to Long Beach

US 91 was extended southwest to Long Beach in the late 1940s. [Rand McNally [http://www.broermapsonline.org/members/NorthAmerica/UnitedStates/Southwest/randmcnally_ra_1946_019.html Road Atlas] , 1946] [Long Beach Independent, For Sale, March 25, , [http://www.geocities.com/usend3039/LongBeach/map_LB-1953.jpgLong Beach] , 1953]

In 1935, the state improved the alignment between Fairmont Boulevard and Gypsum Canyon Road, including a bypass of the old road, which curved along the south slope of the canyon, east of Weir Canyon Road. [Los Angeles Times, Old Canyon Road Now Being Improved, April 21, 1935, p. E4] In the late 1930s, the Prado Dam project resulted in the bypassing of a longer section, replacing Prado Road, an abandoned road curving to the east end of the dam, Pomona Rincon Road, Auto Center Drive, Pomona Road, and Yorba Street with the present Green River Road, Palisades Drive, part of SR 91, and 6th Street.United States Geological Survey, [http://maps.csuchico.edu:9001/StyleServer/calcrgn?browser=win_ie&cat=Maps&item=/CA_2610.sid&wid=520&hei=500&style=default/view.xsl Prado (scale 1:31680)] , surveyed 1933, "routes usually traveled" as of 1941] United States Geological Survey, [http://maps.csuchico.edu:9001/StyleServer/calcrgn?browser=win_ie&cat=Maps&item=/CA_866.sid&wid=520&hei=500&style=default/view.xsl Corona and Vicinity (scale 1:31680)] , surveyed 1933, "routes usually traveled" as of 1941]

R 14 - present SR 91 to Hermosa Beach

Prior to 1991, the Gardena Freeway was known as the Redondo Beach Freeway, referring to Caltrans' original intention for the freeway portion of the route to continue all the way to the never-built Pacific Coast Freeway.

Also, before 1997, the 91 continued all the way to State Route 1 in Hermosa Beach. At that time, the route became discontinuous in Gardena, the portion between Vermont Ave. and "Western Ave." being turned over to the city. In 2003, the western portion, from SR 1 to Western Ave. was relinquished to the local jurisdictions. The first segment of the freeway was made in 1965 signed as US 91, and the last segment was made in 1975.

91 Express Lanes

By the early 1990s, rapid development of the areas of the Inland Empire around Riverside had made the Riverside Freeway—which is the sole freeway connecting the working class, bedroom communities and industrial areas of the Inland Empire to the wealthy suburbs and commercial centers of Orange County—one of the most congested in the Greater Los Angeles region. In response, a private consortium created the 91 Express Lanes, a fully automated, RFID-activated tollway contained entirely within the median of the existing Riverside Freeway. This route operates between the Orange/Riverside county line and the Costa Mesa Freeway interchange in eastern Anaheim. Opening in 1995, the 91 Express Lanes were the first privately funded tollway built in the United States since the 1940s, and the first fully automated tollway in the world. In 2003, their ownership and operation was taken over by the Orange County Transportation Authority.

Future

Testing evaluations are slated to begin in the winter of 2007 for a tunnel proposal, currently called the Irvine-Corona Expressway proposal. One concept for this project specifies a set of three tunnels—two for cars and one for both trucks and high-speed light rail—that would stretch for convert|12|mi|km, burrowing beneath the Santa Ana mountain range, and carrying up to 70,000 cars a day between California’s Riverside and Orange counties. [Citation
last=Dixon
first=Chris
author-link=Chris Dixon
title=Will Longest U.S. Underground Expressway See the Light?
newspaper=Popular Mechanics
year=2007
date=November, 2007
url=http://www.popularmechanics.com/technology/transportation/4224670.html?nav=RSS20] The proposed tunnel project would essentially parallel the 91 freeway and would reduce traffic congestion that has already prompted the need for constructing the 91 Express Lanes. If completed, the Irvine-Corona Expressway would be the longest traffic tunnel in North America.

Major intersections and 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 numbers reset at county lines; the start and end postmiles in each county are given in the county column."

References

External links

* [http://www.westcoastroads.com/california/ca-091.html California @ WestCoastRoads - California 91]
* [http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/roadinfo/sr91 Caltrans: Route 91 highway conditions]
* [http://www.cahighways.org/089-096.html#091 California Highways: SR 91]
* [http://www.dot.ca.gov/dist8/projects/riverside/6091215/index.htm 60/91/215 Improvement Project]