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 Map of Los Angeles County in southern California with Colorado Boulevard highlighted in red | |
| Maintained by | LACDPW and local city jurisdictions |
|---|---|
| Location | Los Angeles County, California, United States |
| West end |  I-5 inLos Angeles |
| Major junctions | |
| East end | Shamrock Avenue inMonrovia |
Colorado Boulevard (orColorado Street inGlendale and parts ofArcadia) is a major east–west street inLos Angeles County, California, United States. It runs fromGriffith Park inLos Angeles east throughGlendale, theEagle Rock section of Los Angeles,Pasadena, andArcadia, ending inMonrovia. The full route was once variousstate highways but is now locally maintained in favor of the parallelVentura Freeway (SR 134) andFoothill Freeway (I-210).
The west end of Colorado Boulevard is composed of two segments: a disconnected surface street segment of Colorado Boulevard, and the Colorado Street Freeway Extension. Colorado Boulevard begins at acul-de-sac near theLos Angeles River inLos Angeles and continues east. The road passes on/off-ramps to the eastbound Colorado Street Freeway Extension, and Edenhurst Avenue, which provides access to the westbound freeway. The segment terminates at WestSan Fernando Road near the Los Angeles-Glendale city limits, and picks up across the railroad corridor at San Fernando Road in the city of Glendale as Colorado Street.
The Colorado Street Freeway Extension begins atInterstate 5 (Golden State Freeway) as a shortfreeway spur, originally carryingState Route 134 until it was moved north onto theVentura Freeway, but is still maintained byCaltrans. After crossing theLos Angeles River, the freeway then terminates at Colorado Street inGlendale. The freeway's entrances are signed as entrances toInterstate 5. The Colorado Street Freeway Extension is part of the state highway system asRoute 5S.[1]
At the east border of Glendale, Colorado Street becomes Colorado Boulevard as it crossesState Route 2 (Glendale Freeway) into Los Angeles (specifically, the neighborhood of Eagle Rock). Another short freeway spur splits west of the intersection withFigueroa Street, heading northeast to theVentura Freeway. This spur also carried SR 134 after the Ventura Freeway was built to the east but before it was built west of the split with the spur. After crossing Figueroa Street, Colorado Boulevard splits from Linda Vista Avenue and then passes over theArroyo Seco on theColorado Street Bridge into Pasadena.
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In Pasadena, Colorado Boulevard crosses the shortState Route 710 spur and forms the north end ofState Route 110 (Arroyo Parkway). Colorado Street, renamed "Boulevard" in 1958,[2] runs throughOld Town Pasadena from Arroyo Parkway toOrange Grove Boulevard. It is the north–south zero axis of thestreet grid in Pasadena (the east–west axis isFair Oaks Avenue). TheTournament of Roses parade route travels north on Orange Grove Avenue then east along Colorado Boulevard as far asSierra Madre Boulevard, where it heads north toVictory Park. Most major Pasadena attractions are found along or within one block of Colorado Boulevard.Pasadena City College is located at 1570 East Colorado Boulevard. The street was mentioned inJan and Dean's 1964 hit songThe Little Old Lady from Pasadena. The road leaves the city into unincorporatedEast Pasadena, where it intersectsRosemead Boulevard (Former State Route 19), all while formerly signed as California State Route 248.
Colorado Boulevard becomesColorado Street as it crosses Michillinda Avenue from East Pasadena into Arcadia. Through Arcadia, the street parallels theFoothill Freeway, providing access to many of the neighborhoods in west Arcadia; freeway access is provided via a separated interchange with Baldwin Avenue. Colorado Street then turns southeast and splits into two streets—Colorado Boulevard, which continues east, andColorado Place, a short segment of oldUS 66 that goes southeast to merge with Huntington Drive near theSanta Anita Racetrack.
From the split, Colorado Boulevard (originally named Orange Street) becomes a primarily residential street, with some commercial zones near Santa Anita Avenue in Arcadia. The street passes under theFoothill Freeway between First and Second Streets in Arcadia with no access, in front ofMonrovia High School, and through Old TownMonrovia before ending at Shamrock Avenue at Recreation Park in Monrovia. (This segment of Shamrock Avenue was once part of an early alignment ofUS 66 and had been namedFoothill Boulevard.)
TheSanta Anita Depot, built in 1890 to serveLucky Baldwin, and the people ofRancho Santa Anita, was located at Colorado Boulevard and Old Ranch Road. It was moved to theLos Angeles County Arboretum and Botanic Garden during the construction of the210 Foothill Freeway in 1970.
The most original portion of Colorado Boulevard ran from Orange Grove Boulevard to Broadway, now Arroyo Parkway. This portion of the street always contained many shops, banks, hotels, and major commercial industries. By the late 19th century, this part of Colorado had become so popular, it was becoming a traffic bottleneck, and as early as May 1900 there were public outcries to the City Council to widen the road. It wasn't until 1929 that the City undertook the major and unprecedented task of cutting back the buildings along Colorado 14 feet (4.3 m) on each side. This undertaking created a monumental amount of legal red tape as well as many engineering dilemmas which were handled with amazing results. At the same time many of the Victorian facings on the buildings were replaced with Spanish and Art Deco designs.
TheColorado Street Railway began operations in Pasadena on November 9, 1886, bringing mass transit to the street in Pasadena via the newhorsecar service.[3] The line waselectrified in 1894 and was eventually absorbed into thePacific Electric system.[4] TheLamanda Park Line and other local services operated in the center of the roadway until January 19, 1941. Several other street railways which operated on Colorado Boulevard. TheLos Angeles RailwayEagle Rock Line ran from Eagle Rock Boulevard to Townsend Street until 1955.[5] TheGlendale and Montrose Railway also, between 1909 and 1930, ran a streetcar on Colorado west of Eagle Rock Boulevard until their line split at Broadway.[6]
Colorado Street and Colorado Boulevard carriedpre-1964 Legislative Route 161 from its west end to the merge with Huntington Drive (via Colorado Place). This was signed asState Route 134 west ofFigueroa Street,U.S. Route 66 Alternate (US 66 before the end of 1940) from Figueroa Street toArroyo Parkway, andU.S. Route 66 from Arroyo Parkway to Huntington Drive.
In 1954, theColorado Freeway was opened between Holly Street in Pasadena and Eagle Vista Drive and Colorado Boulevard in Eagle Rock to help alleviate traffic congestion due to the narrow Colorado Street Bridge over the Arroyo Seco. The new freeway connected the two communities until 1971, when the entire freeway was closed and upgraded, as well as partially rerouted as the new Ventura Freeway. A short segment of the original Colorado Freeway remains as an on-ramp/off-ramp between Colorado Boulevard in Eagle Rock and the Figueroa Street off-ramp of the present Ventura Freeway.
In the1964 renumbering, LR 161 remainedState Route 134 west of Pasadena, though this was being moved to the new alignment (now theVentura Freeway); until the freeway was completed through Pasadena in the mid-1970s, Colorado Boulevard was still signed asState Route 134 between Orange Grove Avenue and Arroyo Parkway. Through and east of Pasadena, LR 161 becameState Route 248, but was signed asUS 66 and continued east on Huntington Drive to theinterchange withInterstate 210 (Foothill Freeway) inMonrovia. In 1965, this was to be deleted when I-210 was completed.[7]
TheUS 66 shields began to come down along the length of Route 248 in 1975, soon afterInterstate 210 was completed through Pasadena. SR 248 was never signed as such, though it did appear on some maps in the 1970s and 1980s. The segment within the city of Pasadena was deleted from the state highway system in 1986. The rest was removed in 1992.[7] Along with the moving of SR 134 to theVentura Freeway, this resulted in Colorado Street and Colorado Boulevard becoming a local road.
Colorado Boulevard is served by several bus routes, operated byMetro and suburban systems.Metro Local line 180 serves most of Colorado Boulevard, running between Hollywood and Pasadena.[8] Also,Foothill Transit line 187 serves parts of Colorado Boulevard, beginning inOld Pasadena.LADOT DASH Eagle Rock/Highland Park serves most of Colorado Boulevard inEagle Rock.[8]Glendale Transit line 6 serves Colorado Street in Glendale.[9]
Metro has identified Colorado Boulevard as a potentialbus rapid transit corridor, part of a line betweenNorth Hollywood station and Pasadena approved in 2016'sMeasure M. The bus rapid transit project would need to include removable components to allow for the annual staging of theRose Parade.[10] Some local residents fear increased traffic congestion due to the proposed bus rapid transit route, whileothers support increasing access to high-quality transit.[11]
The street is mentioned in the 1964Jan & Dean singleThe Little Old Lady (from Pasadena), with the protagonist described as the "terror of Colorado Boulevard."
In S05E13 ofThe Big Bang Theory, Sheldon says to Leonard: "It’s not about you. It’s about a poor immigrant from Pakistan trying to make his way in America by working the graveyard shift at the Colorado Boulevard Chevron", When talking about the gas station across their road.
| Location | mi[12] | km | Destinations | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Glendale | 0.0 | 0.0 | San Fernando Road | Western terminus | |
| 0.1 | 0.16 |  Colorado Boulevard Freeway Extension west toI-5 | East end of Colorado Boulevard Freeway Extension | ||
| Los Angeles | 2.4 | 3.9 |   SR 2 south (Glendale Freeway) –Los Angeles | No access to SR 2 north | |
| 4.5 | 7.2 |   SR 134 east (Ventura Freeway) | Eastbound exit and westbound entrance; access to SR 134 west viaFigueroa Street | ||
| 4.8 | 7.7 | Figueroa Street | |||
| Pasadena | 6.2 | 10.0 | Colorado Street Bridge | ||
| 6.4 | 10.3 |  SR 134 west (Ventura Freeway) –Ventura | Westbound exit and eastbound entrance; access to SR 134 east viaOrange Grove Boulevard | ||
| 6.5 | 10.5 | Orange Grove Boulevard | |||
| 6.8 | 10.9 | St. John Avenue south, Pasadena Avenue north | One-way pair flanking the unsignedSR 710 spur; St. John Avenue south connects Del Mar Boulevard (where SR 710 spur south ends); Pasadena Avenue connects toI-210 (where SR 710 spur north ends) | ||
| Module:Jctint/USA warning: Unused argument(s): mil2 | |||||
| 7.1 | 11.4 | Fair Oaks Avenue | |||
| 7.3 | 11.7 |   Arroyo Parkway toSR 110 (Arroyo Seco Parkway) | |||
| East Pasadena | 11.5– 11.7 | 18.5– 18.8 | Rosemead Boulevard I-210 (Foothill Freeway) | Access to I-210 west via Rosemead Boulevard toFoothill Boulevard; Rosemead Boulevard is formerSR 19 | |
| Arcadia | 12.9 | 20.8 | Baldwin Avenue | Interchange; connects toI-210 | |
| 13.4 | 21.6 | Colorado Place (Historic US 66) | |||
| Monrovia | 16.4 | 26.4 | Shamrock Avenue | Eastern terminus | |
| 1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi | |||||
All exits are unnumbered.
| Location | mi[13] | km | Destinations | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Los Angeles | 0.000 | 0.000 | I-5 (Golden State Freeway) –Los Angeles,Sacramento | Western terminus; I-5 exit 142 | |
| 0.051 | 0.082 | Colorado Boulevard | Eastbound exit and eastbound entrance | ||
| 0.350 | 0.563 | Edenhurst Avenue | Westbound exit and westbound entrance | ||
| Glendale | 0.550 | 0.885 | San Fernando Road | Eastbound exit only; connects to Elk Avenue | |
| 0.586 | 0.943 | Colorado Street | Eastern terminus; no left turn to Colorado Street west | ||
| 1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi | |||||
The entire route is inLos Angeles.
| mi[14] | km | Destinations | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.0 | 0.0 | Cul-de-sac at 4699 Colorado Boulevard | Western terminus | ||
| 0.03 | 0.048 | Colorado Boulevard Freeway Extension east | Eastbound exit and eastbound entrance | ||
| 0.1 | 0.16 | Edenhurst Avenue | |||
| 0.3 | 0.48 | West San Fernando Road | Western terminus | ||
| 1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi | |||||
