California State Route 2

Infobox road
state=CA
type=SR
route=2
alternate_name=Santa Monica Boulevard, Alvarado Street, Glendale Boulevard, Glendale Freeway, Angeles Crest Highway
section=302
maint=Caltrans

---

length_mi=87.295
length_round=3
length_ref=California Department of Transportation, [http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/traffops/trucks/truckmap/truck-route-list.xls State Truck Route List] (XLS file), accessed December 2007]
length_notes=(broken into 3 pieces by US 101 and I-210)
established=1934 [http://cahighways.org/001-008.html#002 California Highways: State Route 2] ]
direction_a=West
terminus_a=jct|state=CA|I|10|SR|1 in Santa Monica
junction=jct|state=CA|US|101 in Los Angeles
jct|state=CA|I|210 in Glendale
direction_b=East
terminus_b=jct|state=CA|SR|138 near Wrightwood
previous_type=SR
previous_route=1
next_type=SR
next_route=3
commons=category

State Route 2 is a state highway in the U.S. state of California. It runs from the junction of Santa Monica Boulevard and Centinela Avenue at Santa Monica to Route 138 east of Wrightwood, running concurrent with Routes 101 and 210.

This route is part of the California Freeway and Expressway System [http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=shc&group=00001-01000&file=250-257 CA Codes (shc:250-257)] ] and is eligible for the State Scenic Highway System [http://www.leginfo.ca.gov/cgi-bin/displaycode?section=shc&group=00001-01000&file=260-284 CA Codes (shc:260-284)] ] .

Route description

R-1 to I-5

Route 2 currently begins at the Los Angeles/Santa Monica city limit. From Centinela Avenue, Route 2 heads northeast on Santa Monica Boulevard through the wealthy areas of West Los Angeles, Westwood, Century City, and Beverly Hills before entering the decidedly urban West Hollywood. Santa Monica Boulevard, being a major street, is for most of its length at least four lanes wide. [ [http://www.lacity.org/bpw/santamonica/ Santa Monica Blvd. Tranition map] ]

At the west end of its run, Santa Monica Boulevard starts off Ocean Avenue in Santa Monica. From there until Sepulveda Boulevard, Santa Monica Boulevard is a densely urban commercial street. Most of the Westside car dealerships are located on Santa Monica Boulevard. After Sepulveda, Santa Monica Boulevard passes by Century City and its shopping center, and intersects with Wilshire in Beverly Hills. After intersecting with Wilshire in Beverly Hills, Santa Monica Boulevard continues northeast towards West Hollywood, spanning Beverly Boulevard and Melrose Avenue. In the middle of West Hollywood, Santa Monica turns to run east-west north of Wilshire Boulevard. One of the most famous spots for male prostitution and transgender prostitution is Santa Monica Boulevard in the Hollywood area, especially the area east of La Brea Avenue. At Holloway Drive in West Hollywood, Route 2 turns east continuing on Santa Monica Boulevard to the Hollywood Freeway in Hollywood.

Santa Monica Boulevard merges on its eastern end with Sunset Boulevard in the Sunset Junction neighborhood of Silver Lake.

South Santa Monica Boulevard, often called Little Santa Monica, runs parallel to Santa Monica Boulevard through Beverly Hills, from the Los Angeles city limits to Beverly Drive. After Beverly Drive, Little Santa Monica turns east, becoming Burton Way. Burton Way merges into San Vicente Boulevard at its intersection with La Cienega Boulevard.

Route 2 then merges onto U.S. Route 101 (the Hollywood Freeway) and heads southeast to the Alvarado Street exit. There, it heads northeast on Alvarado Street through the culturally vivid community of Echo Park.

I-5 to SR 138

The route then turns north onto Glendale Boulevard, which is frequently congested, especially after games and events at Dodger Stadium. The route then branches northeast onto the Glendale Freeway, a peculiar north-south route with an east-west demarcation. The Glendale Freeway runs near the communities of Glassell Park and Eagle Rock. After its interchange with Route 134, the route follows a mountain ridge through a valley as it flanks the east side of Glendale. The freeway ends at Foothill Boulevard in La Cañada Flintridge; just before reaching Foothill Boulevard, Route 2 turns off the Glendale Freeway onto the eastbound Foothill Freeway (Interstate 210) for a short while until reaching the Angeles Crest Highway exit.

accessdate=2008-07-07] [cite web|url=http://tchester.org/sgm/conditions/sr2/0603/index.html|title=Angeles Crest Highway California State Route 2 March 2006 Storm Damage Photos|accessdate=2008-07-07]

History

In 1964, Route 2 was defined as a single route from Santa Monica to Wrightwood with no discontinuities. The segment of former US 66 on Santa Monica Boulevard west of the Hollywood Freeway and Lincoln Boulevard was added to Route 2 at this time, since US 66 was truncated to Pasadena. Route 2 became discontinuous at Routes 101 and 210 in 1965 and 1990, respectively. [ [http://cahighways.org/maps/1963routes.jpgLos Angeles-Orange County Maps 1963] ]

The first segment of freeway was built in the 1950s and ran from just west of the Los Angeles River to Avenue 38 in the Atwater district of Los Angeles. This portion was at one time named the Allesandro Freeway, named after a character from Helen Hunt Jackson's novel "Ramona". The last segment of freeway, from Route 134 to Route 210, was built in 1970s. [cite web|url=http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/tsip/hseb/products/Named_Freeways.pdf|title=2007 Named Freeways, Highways, and Other Appurtenances In California|publisher=Business, Transportation, and Housing Agency|date=May 2008|accessdate=2008-08-20]

Starting in July, 1964, Route 2 began in Santa Monica at its junction with Routes 1 and 10. After heading a few blocks northwest on "Lincoln Boulevard", the route turned northeast on Santa Monica Boulevard, just several blocks from the Pacific Ocean. The route continued on "Santa Monica Boulevard" to Centinela Avenue. [cite web|url=http://www.argonautnewspaper.com/articles/2007/05/10/news_-_features/marina_del_rey/mdr2.txt|title=Marina Del Ray, California|date=2007-05-10|accessdate=2008-08-20]

For its entire length, until the tracks were removed, Santa Monica Boulevard followed the tracks of the Pacific Electric Railway. In the portion from Holloway Drive in West Hollywood to Sepulveda Boulevard in West Los Angeles, the tracks were in a separate right-of-way, with two roadways on either side of the tracks. For the rest of the route, the tracks ran in the traffic lanes. [cite web|url=http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/thedailymirror/2008/06/june-15-1938.html|title=Motorways Plan Revealed: System of Roads Designed to Cure Traffic Ills|publisher=Los Angeles Times|date=1938-06-15|accessdate=2008-08-20]

Except for a short portion at its eastern end, Santa Monica Boulevard was adopted as a state highway in 1933. From 1934 to 1936, it was signed as State Route 2. Then it became U.S. Route 66. When U.S. Route 66 was truncated to Pasadena in 1964, Santa Monica Boulevard once again became State Route 2 as far east as the Hollywood Freeway. Today, the State Route 2 portion of Santa Monica Boulevard is defined from the Santa Monica/Los Angeles city limits to US 101. [http://cahighways.org/001-008.html#002 California Highways: State Route 2] ]

From 1936 to 1964, U.S. Route 66 ran along Lincoln Boulevard from its junction with Alternate U. S. 101 (now California Route 1) and California Route 26 (now replaced by Interstate 10) to Santa Monica Boulevard and along Santa Monica Boulevard from Lincoln Boulevard to the Hollywood Freeway. US 66 turned southeast on the Hollywood Freeway with US 101. At that time, Route 2 began on Alvarado Street at the Hollywood Freeway. As is today, Route 2 traversed Alvarado Street and Glendale Boulevard to the Glendale Freeway. Route 2 continued on the Glendale Freeway to a temporary connection with Fletcher Drive at Avenue 38 in the Atwater district of Los Angeles. From the temporary connection, the route ran northeast on Fletcher Drive, and north on Verdugo Road to its south intersection with Cañada Boulevard in Glendale. From the south intersection, Route 2 headed north on Cañada Boulevard to its north intersection with Verdugo Road, north on Verdugo Road, and east on Verdugo Boulevard, before reaching Foothill Boulevard in La Cañada-Flintridge. Route 2 continued approximately one mile southeast on Foothill Boulevard with California Route 118 to Angeles Crest Highway. From Foothill Boulevard, Route 2 continued north on Angeles Crest Highway, where it continues to this day. [http://cahighways.org/001-008.html#002 California Highways: State Route 2] ]

Today, the California Transportation Commission is relinquishing the street-running parts of Route 2 to local cities which it runs through. In 1996, state law was changed to permit the relinquishment of Route 2 in Santa Monica and West Hollywood. When the relinquishment in Santa Monica went through in 1998, the portion from Route 1 to Centinela Avenue was deleted. The law was changed again in 2001 to allow Route 2 from Route 405 to Moreno Drive to be relinquished to the City of Los Angeles. In 2003 California Senate Bill 315 was chaptered, acknowledging the relinquishments within Santa Monica, West Hollywood, and from Route 405 to Moreno Drive in Los Angeles, and permitting the relinquishment of Route 2 in Beverly Hills. Whether Route 2 west of Route 101 will stay as a paper route after relinquishment is yet to be determined. [ [http://www.westcoastroads.com/california/ca-002.html California @ WestCoastRoads.com - State Route 2] ]

Before the segment of the Glendale Freeway was built between Glendale Boulevard and just west of the Los Angeles River, Route 2 began at the Hollywood Freeway on Santa Monica Boulevard, continued east to Myra Avenue, then north on Myra Avenue, east on Fountain Avenue, northeast on Hyperion Avenue, southeast on Rowena Avenue, southeast on Glendale Boulevard, and northeast on Fletcher Drive to just west of the Los Angeles River. From west of the Los Angeles River, Route 2 continued on the Glendale Freeway to its temporary connection with Fletcher Drive at Avenue 38 and then followed the routing described in the previous paragraph to Route 138 northeast of Wrightwood.

Originally, it was to have been the Beverly Hills Freeway from Route 405 to Route 101 just east of Vermont Avenue, flowing onto the Glendale Freeway. In fact, the proposed freeway on Route 2 west of Route 101 was the original routing of the "Santa Monica Freeway" (a name which subsequently went to the distantly parallel Route 10). However, for a variety of political reasons, the department never reached agreement with Beverly Hills to build the segment through that city. At one time, the department considered building a cut-and-cover tunnel under Beverly Hills, but even this proved a non-starter, and the freeway plan west of Route 101 was quietly cancelled in 1975. Currently, the Glendale Freeway begins as a stub at Glendale Boulevard. A freeway-wide bridge was built over Glendale Boulevard in hopes that the freeway would be built further west. Today, the bridge serves as the westbound lanes of Route 2, connecting the southwestbound freeway lanes to southbound Glendale Boulevard. A more modest freeway/expressway extension to Route 101 has been discussed. [ [http://latimesblogs.latimes.com/bottleneck/2007/03/beverly_hills_f.html LAtimes Blog-Beverly Hills Frwy] ]

Planners originally intended for it to connect to the Hollywood Freeway near the Vermont Avenue interchange, but community opposition killed the project by the 1960s; as a result, during games at nearby Dodger Stadium, there is often significant congestion in the areas around the freeway's terminus. The Glendale Freeway offers stunning vistas of the eastern San Fernando Valley, the Verdugo Mountains, the Crescenta Valley, and the San Gabriel Mountains. [ [http://www.scvresources.com/highways/la_tidbits.htm SVC Los Angeles-Orange County Highways] ]

Since the 1950s, proposals have been made to extend the Glendale Freeway to the Antelope Valley Freeway via a tunnel under the San Gabriels, relieving some of the latter freeway's notorious congestion. The difficulty of designing and building such a route (designated SR 249) and the cost of insuring it against earthquakes and terrorism would undoubtedly make perpetually cash-strapped Caltrans unable to undertake such an ambitious project. [ [http://www.cahighways.org/maps/2003scstatus.pdf PDF-2003 Los Angele-Orange County Plan] ]

The section of freeway between the Ventura Freeway (134) and the Foothill Freeway (210) was largely completed in 1975, but not fully finished until 1979. During this time, the closed freeway was used as a location for several films, including "Coffy", "Corvette Summer", "The Gumball Rally", "Death Race 2000", and several American television series including "Adam-12", "Emergency!" and "CHiPs". The transition overpass from the eastbound Ventura Freeway to the northbound Glendale Freeway was prominently featured in the notorious disaster film "Earthquake" when a livestock truck and two cars crash over the side of the overpass (a shot completed in miniature special effects).

Other names

Route 2 has the following other names, as designated by various state laws, though some enjoy no common popular usage: [cite book | url=http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/tsip/hseb/products/Named_Freeways.pdf | title=2007 Named Freeways, Highways, Structures and Other Appurtenances in California | publisher=Caltrans | pages=116 | accessdate=2007-03-28]

*Angeles Crest Scenic Byway: From Route 2's east junction with I-210 in La Cañada-Flintridge to the Los Angeles/San Bernardino County Line.
*Big Pines Highway: Los Angeles County Highway N4 (Big Pines Highway to the northwest) in Big Pines to the Los Angeles/San Bernardino County Line. [ [http://briandesousa.com/bicycling/road/bigpines.htm Biking Big Pines Highway] ]

*Frank D. Lanterman Freeway: From Route 134 to Route 2's west junction with I-210) [ [http://www.lacanadaflintridge.com/comm/history.htm La Canana Fringtage Page] ]

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."

ee also

*U.S. Route 66

References