SR 134 highlighted in red; US 101 in blue | ||||
| Route information | ||||
| Maintained byCaltrans | ||||
| Component highways | ||||
| Major junctions | ||||
| West end | ||||
| Major intersections | ||||
| East end | ||||
| Location | ||||
| Country | United States | |||
| State | California | |||
| Counties | Ventura,Los Angeles | |||
| Highway system | ||||
| Southern California freeways | ||||
| ||||
| Location | Los Angeles–Pasadena |
|---|---|
| Length | 14 mi[2] (23 km) |
| Existed | 1957–present |
TheVentura Freeway is one of the principalfreeways inSouthern California, United States, connectingVentura County and the southernSan Fernando Valley inLos Angeles County. While it runs through an east–west corridor from theSanta Barbara–Ventura county line to theCity of Pasadena, most of it is signed as part of the north-southU.S. Route 101. The Ventura Freeway's eastern segment from its intersection with theHollywood Freeway in the southeastern San Fernando Valley (theHollywood Split) to its terminus at theFoothill Freeway (Interstate 210) in Pasadena is signed asState Route 134 (SR 134). In addition, the segments from the Santa Barbara County line toSea Cliff, and fromSolimar Beach toOxnard, areconcurrent withState Route 1 (SR 1), although no signs mention SR 1 there.
The US 101 segment was built in the late 1950s and opened on April 5, 1960.[3] The SR 134 segment was built by 1971. Before the construction of the new alignment in 1971, most of the portion was known as the Colorado Freeway after nearbyColorado Boulevard, a historic thoroughfare in Pasadena and northeastern Los Angeles.
The Ventura Freeway runs from theSanta Barbara–Ventura county line, west ofLa Conchita, to theFoothill Freeway inPasadena. From its terminus at the Santa Barbara county line to its intersection with theHollywood Freeway in the southeastern San Fernando Valley (also known as theHollywood Split), the freeway is signed as part ofU.S. Route 101 (US 101). Afterwards, it is signed as State Route 134 (SR 134) until its eastern terminus at the Foothill Freeway (Interstate 210). The portion of the Ventura Freeway designated as US 101 is signed as a north–south route by the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) despite the freeway's actual alignment being east–west. This is due to the fact that US 101 as a whole has an overall north–south alignment. The apparent inconsistency can be confusing to visitors, as the same freeway entrance can often be signed as "101 North" and "101 West." This is most common in theSan Fernando Valley. Conversely, the SR 134 segment is properly signed as an east-west highway.
From the Santa Barbara county line, US 101 travels eastward through the citrus orchards and strawberry fields of Ventura County'sOxnard Plain before ascending the short, steepConejo Grade into theConejo Valley. Continuing eastward through the northernSanta Monica Mountains, it crosses the Ventura/Los Angeles county line before entering theSan Fernando Valley. The freeway continues eastward along the valley's southern rim, crossing theSan Diego Freeway (Interstate 405) nearSherman Oaks at an interchange consistently rated as one of the five most congested in the nation.
As of the latest amendment in 1963, the California Streets and Highways Code defines Route 134 in section 434 as follows:[4]
Route 134 is fromRoute 101 nearRiverside Drive easterly toRoute 210 via the vicinity ofGlendale.
SR 134 begins its eastbound route at the junction with the Hollywood Freeway (known as theHollywood Split), continuing the freeway northwards. US 101 leaves the freeway, merging onto the Hollywood Freeway and heads south. SR 170 continues the Hollywood Freeway, heading north. For motorists entering the interchange, the freeways' acute intersecting angles limits their ability to exit in certain directions of travel due to missing ramps. For those intending to go from SR 134 west to US 101 south must instead use theLankershim Boulevard exit and follow the signs nearUniversal Studios to re-enter on US 101. Likewise, motorists going from US 101 north to SR 134 east must use theVineland Avenue exit and follow the signs to the US 101 on-ramp onRiverside Drive
SR 134 then continues east, skirting the northern edge ofGriffith Park before intersecting theGolden State Freeway (I-5) and crossing theLos Angeles River. After passing through DowntownGlendale south of theVerdugo Mountains, it continues along the southern slope of theSan Rafael Hills between Glendale andEagle Rock before entering Pasadena near theArroyo Seco and terminating at theFoothill Freeway (I-210).
SR 134 is the main connector from theSan Fernando Valley and points north to theSan Gabriel Valley and points east. The unsignedSR 710 travels south of the I-210/SR 134 interchange to its terminus at California Boulevard. Residents ofSouth Pasadena haveblocked efforts to extend SR 710 south from California Boulevard down toValley Boulevard north ofI-10 (northern terminus of I-710) near theAlhambra/Los Angeles city limit. Signs on SR 134 and I-210 refer to the SR 710 stub in Pasadena as "ToSR 110", because exiting left from the SR 710 stub onto California Boulevard and turning right on Arroyo Parkway leads directly to SR 110, which is Pasadena's only direct freeway link toDowntown Los Angeles.
The official Ventura Freeway designation is Routes 101 and 134 from Route 5 to theSanta Barbara County line.[1] This does not include the portion of Route 134 between Route 5 and Route 210 even though local usage extends the name over this portion of freeway. At the freeway's eastern terminus with Interstate 210 in Pasadena, highway signs indicate "Ventura" as thedestination direction for Route 134.
Assembly Concurrent Resolution 54, Chapter 85 in 2003 also designated Route 101 inVentura County as the "Screaming Eagles Highway".[5] This honors the 101st Airborne Division of theUnited States Army, which formed on July 23, 1918 and has been involved in every major war that the United States has participated in since then.[6]
The interchange of SR 134 and I-5 is officially the "Gene Autry Memorial Interchange", after the singing cowboy superstarGene Autry. Autry'sMuseum of the American West is located near the interchange in Griffith Park.
The California Legislature passed a resolution in 2017 to designate the easternmost segment of the SR 134 freeway between SR 2 and its terminus at I-210 as the "President Barack H. Obama Highway", in honor of the 44th U.S. PresidentBarack Obama, who had attendedOccidental College in Eagle Rock from 1979 to 1981.[7] Signs were posted on December 20, 2018.[8]
Both the SR 134 and US 101 portions of the freeway are part of theCalifornia Freeway and Expressway System,[9] and is part of theNational Highway System,[10] a network of highways that are considered essential to the country's economy, defense, and mobility by theFederal Highway Administration.[11]
This sectionneeds expansion. You can help byadding to it.(April 2016) |
A pre-freeway alignment of State Route 134 originated at U.S. Route 101 (Ventura Boulevard) and Fulton Avenue inLos Angeles, then along Fulton, Moorpark Street,Riverside Drive and Alameda Avenue before meeting up withU.S. 6/99 (San Fernando Road) in Burbank. It traveled along San Fernando Road to Colorado Street, then ran along Colorado Street (portions of which have been renamed Eagle Vista Drive) through Glendale, Eagle Rock and Pasadena before terminating atU.S. Route 66. The alignment was later cut back to terminate inStudio City at Lankershim and Ventura.
The Interstate 5 off-ramp at Colorado Street is actually a former routing of SR 134, and there are still mileposts that refer to it as such. Old SR 134 followed Colorado Street throughGlendale and Colorado Boulevard inEagle Rock to the ramp connecting Colorado Boulevard and Figueroa Street to the Ventura Freeway. Old SR 134 continued onto the ramp and then onto what is presently the Ventura Freeway to Orange Grove Boulevard in Pasadena. TheColorado Boulevard/Figueroa Street ramps plus the segment of freeway between the ramps and just east of Orange Grove Boulevard were previously known as the Colorado Freeway.
From 1964 to 1992, the Colorado Boulevard portions of Route 134 were renumbered asCalifornia State Route 248.
The proposedWallis Annenberg Wildlife Crossing is a vegetated overpass spanning the Ventura Freeway and Agoura Road at Liberty Canyon inAgoura Hills. When built, it will be one of the largest urbanwildlife crossing in the United States, connecting theSimi Hills and theSanta Monica Mountains over a busy freeway with ten traffic lanes (including exit lanes).[12][13]
Ventura Freeway currently carries the Los Angeles Metro express bus route 501 between Pasadena and North Hollywood. Portions of SR 134 are also being considered as part of a Bus Rapid Transit project.[14]
This exit list proceeds from east to west, since the majority of the freeway is the north-south US 101. Except where prefixed with a letter,postmiles were measured on the road as it was in1964, based on the alignment that existed at the time, and do not necessarily reflect current mileage. R reflects a realignment in the route since then, M indicates a second realignment, L refers to an overlap due to a correction or change, and T indicates postmiles classified as temporary (for a full list of prefixes, seeCalifornia postmile § Official postmile definitions).[15] Segments that remain unconstructed or have been relinquished to local control may be omitted. The numbers reset at county lines; the start and end postmiles in each county are given in the county column.
| County | Location | Postmile [15][2][16] | Exit [17][18] | Destinations | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles LA R13.34-0.00 11.75-38.19 | Pasadena | R13.34 | — | Eastern terminus of SR 134 and Ventura Freeway; I-210 west exit 26A | |||
| 25C[a] | Fair Oaks Avenue, Marengo Avenue | Westbound exit is part of exits 25A–B on I-210 west | |||||
| 13B | I-210 east exits 25B | ||||||
| R12.97 | 13A | Colorado Boulevard,Orange Grove Boulevard | FormerSR 248 | ||||
| R12.36 | 12 | San Rafael Avenue, Linda Vista Avenue | Linda Vista Avenue was formerSR 159 north | ||||
| Los Angeles | R11.44 | 11 | Figueroa Street,Colorado Boulevard | Figueroa Street was formerUS 66 Alt. west /SR 159 south; Colorado Boulevard was former US 66 Alt. east /SR 248 east; westbound exit and eastbound entrance for Colorado Boulevard only connected via 0.7 mile flyover ramps, formerly part of SR 134 west | |||
| Los Angeles–Glendale line | R8.96 | 9B | Signed as exit 9A eastbound; SR 2 north exits 17A-B, south exit 17B | ||||
| Glendale | R8.81 | 9A | Harvey Drive | Signed as exit 9B eastbound | |||
| R7.87 | 8 | Glendale Avenue | |||||
| R6.96– R7.13 | 7B | Central Avenue, Brand Boulevard | |||||
| R6.57 | 7A | Pacific Avenue | |||||
| R6.18 | 6 | San Fernando Road | FormerUS 6 /US 99 | ||||
| Los Angeles | R5.47 | 5 | Westbound exit and eastbound entrance; I-5 south exit 144; eastbound access is via exit 5A | ||||
| R5.47 | 5B | Westbound exit is part of exit 5; I-5 north exit 144A-B | |||||
| 4.81 | 5A | Eastbound exit and westbound entrance | |||||
| 3.81 | 4 | Forest Lawn Drive | |||||
| Burbank | 2.90 | 3 | Bob Hope Drive,Buena Vista Street | ||||
| 2.11 | 2 | Hollywood Way | No eastbound exit | ||||
| 1.82 | Pass Avenue –Burbank | Eastbound exit only | |||||
| Los Angeles | 0.86 | 1D | Cahuenga Boulevard –Hollywood | Signed as exit 1 eastbound; no westbound entrance | |||
| 0.51 | 1C | Westbound exit and eastbound entrance | |||||
| 0.35 | Vineland Avenue | Eastbound exit and entrance only | |||||
| 0.00 | 1B | West/northbound exit and east/southbound entrance; signed as exit 13 on US 101 north; SR 170 south exit 5B; east/south end ofHollywood Split | |||||
| 0.00 11.75[b] | — | West end of SR 134 East/south end of US 101 overlap | Ventura Freeway west follows SR 134 exit 1A to US 101 north; SR 170 south exit 5B | ||||
| — | East/southbound exit and west/northbound entrance; SR 134 east follows US 101 south exit 13B; west/north end ofHollywood Split | ||||||
| seeUS 101 (exits 13A–83) | |||||||
| Ventura–Santa Barbara county line | | R43.62[b] | — | Western terminus of Ventura Freeway; continuation intoSanta Barbara County | |||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
| |||||||