 State Route 72 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Whittier Boulevard | ||||
 SR 72 highlighted in red; the gap represents the relinquished portion | ||||
| Route information | ||||
| Maintained byCaltrans | ||||
| Length | 0.72 mi (1,160 m) Portions of SR 72 have been relinquished to or are otherwise maintained by local or other governments, and are not included in the length. | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| South end |  SR 39 inLa Habra | |||
| Major intersections |  CR N8 inWhittier | |||
| North end |  I-605 in Whittier | |||
| Location | ||||
| Country | United States | |||
| State | California | |||
| Counties | Orange,Los Angeles | |||
| Highway system | ||||
| ||||
State Route 72 (SR 72) is a state highway in theU.S. state ofCalifornia. It forms part ofEl Camino Real in theLos Angeles area. Since 2025, the route consists of two short segments ofWhittier Boulevard. The first segment begins atSR 39 (Beach Boulevard) and runs west to Valley Home Avenue on theOrange andLos Angeles county line inLa Habra. The second segment begins at Lockheed Avenue and runs northwest toInterstate 605 inWhittier. Though some maps mark SR 72 as continuous through Whittier, control of most of the route within the city was relinquished to that local jurisdiction and is thus no longer officially part of the state highway system.
Route 72 is defined as follows in section 372 of theCalifornia Streets and Highways Code, last amended by theCalifornia State Legislature in 2020:[1]
Subdivision (a) of section 372 also states that Route 72 will be deleted from the state highway system upon completed construction ofRoute 90, also known as the Slauson Freeway, fromRoute 5 to Route 39, but Caltrans has abandoned all plans to finish the freeway. Subdivision (b) states that the relinquished former northwestern segment of Route 72 throughMontebello andPico Rivera is no longer officially part of the state highway system, but those cities must still "maintain within their respective jurisdictions signs directing motorists to the continuation of Route 72". Subdivision (c) also permit the state to also relinquish the portion of Route 72 located in Whittier and unincorporatedLos Angeles County.[1]
The relinquishment in Whittier and unincorporatedLos Angeles County was approved in 2025. Prior to, Route 72 officially began at the junction ofI-605 inWhittier. The route followedWhittier Boulevard for its entire length, heading southeast through Whittier as a four-lane arterial street. SR 72 crossed withLos Angeles County Route N8 at Colima Road and ended at the intersection ofSR 39 (Beach Boulevard) inLa Habra. Whittier Boulevard is a major commercial corridor in Whittier, though it does not go through the city center, which is north of the highway. Now with the 2025 relinquishment, Route 72 officially consists of two short segments along Whittier Boulevard: between SR 39 and Valley Home Avenue, and Lockheed Avenue and I-605.
SR 72 however is still defined in the state highway code as a north–south state route. This reflects the original alignment and length of SR 72 before the highway was shortened over the years. From I-605, SR 72 then formerly continued west under a railroad bridge nearPío Pico State Historic Park and then over theSan Gabriel River as it enteredPico Rivera and metSR 19 at Rosemead Boulevard. After about a mile and a half, the route crossed a narrow steel bridge over the Rio Hondo intoMontebello. There, it continued towardsAtlantic Boulevard. From there, it continued further to its end at Downey Road. Whittier Boulevard itself continues past Downey Road towards downtown Los Angeles. Those segments were relinquished back to the cities of Pico Rivera and Montebello by 2010, and are not included in the length of SR 72. And prior to 1981, SR 72 extended further east along Whittier Boulevard toHarbor Boulevard, where it then turned south to meet withI-5 inAnaheim(see§ History).
SR 72 is part of theNational Highway System,[2] a network of highways that are considered essential to the country's economy, defense, and mobility by theFederal Highway Administration.[3]
California's historicEl Camino Real, which connected theAlta California missions, ran along what was thenU.S. Route 101. Before 1964, U.S. Route 101 continued past today's end near theEast Los Angeles Interchange east onto Whittier Boulevard and south on Harbor Boulevard until it met its bypass inAnaheim. (What is now Route 5 from Los Angeles to Anaheim was the U.S. Route 101 Bypass.)
In 1964, the U.S. Route 101 designation was removed south of the East L.A. Interchange. Its routing on Whittier and Harbor Boulevards became Route 72 and was initially defined to run from Route 5 (the former bypass) to an unbuilt State Route 245, hence the route's lackluster end at Downey Road. (Route 245 was to have been a bypass connecting Route 5 with Route 60, a function that was eventually assumed by an extendedRoute 710.)
In 1965, with Route 245 deleted, the definition was clarified to have Route 72 end at Downey Road, which was parallel to the planned Route 245.
In 1981, the portion from Route 5 to Harbor Boulevard (current SR 39) was deleted, and the portion from Harbor Boulevard to Route 39 was transferred toSR 39.
In 1992, the portion fromAtlantic Boulevard to Downey Road was deleted.
In 2010, SB-1318 Sec. 20 deleted the segment between I-605 and Atlantic Boulevard. It also states that Route 72 will be deleted when "Route 90 freeway is completed from Route 5 to Route 39."
Cal. S&HC § 635(b)includes unspecified parts of Route 72 inEl Camino Real.
On May 15, 2025, theCalifornia Transportation Commission (CTC) approved a deal between theCalifornia Department of Transportation (Caltrans) and the cityWhittier, for Caltrans to relinquish the segment of SR 72 between Lockheed Avenue and Valley Home Avenue to the city.[4]
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).[5] 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 [5][6][7][8] | Destinations | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orange ORA 11.42-11.92 | La Habra | 11.42 |  SR 39 south (Beach Boulevard) –Buena Park,Huntington Beach | Southern terminus;Whittier Boulevard continues east as SR 39 north | |
| Orange–Los Angeles county line | La Habra–Whittier line | 11.92 0.00 | Valley Home Avenue | Northern end of state maintenance[a] | |
| Los Angeles LA 0.00-6.66 | Whittier | 1.80 | CR N8 (Colima Road) | ||
| 4.2 | Washington Boulevard | Eastern terminus of Washington Boulevard | |||
| 6.54 | Lockheed Avenue | Southern end of state maintenance[a] | |||
| 6.66 | I-605 (San Gabriel River Freeway) | I-605 exit 15; northern terminus; Whittier Boulevard continues west beyond I-605 | |||
| 1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi | |||||
