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 Venice Boulevard inMar Vista | |
 Interactive map of Venice Boulevard | |
| Former name | West 16th Street |
|---|---|
| Maintained by | Caltrans,LACDPW, and theCity of Los Angeles |
| Location | Los Angeles, California, United States |
| Nearest metro station |   Culver City |
| West end | Ocean Front Walk inVenice |
| Major junctions |
|
| East end | Main Street inDowntown |
Venice Boulevard is a major east–west thoroughfare inLos Angeles, running from the ocean in theVenice district intodowntown Los Angeles. It was originally known as West 16th Street under the Los Angelesnumbered street system. While some maps and signs may mark a segment of Venice Boulevard asState Route 187 betweenLincoln Boulevard (State Route 1) in Venice and the Santa Monica Freeway (Interstate 10) in theSouth Robertson district, control of that highway have been relinquished in piecemeal segments from the state to the City of Los Angeles since 2015, with the goal of eventually decommissioning SR 187.
The western terminus of Venice Boulevard is Ocean Front Walk (apedestrian road) in Venice. Between Ocean Front Walk andAbbot Kinney Boulevard, aone-way pair is used where eastbound traffic splits onto South Venice Boulevard and westbound traffic travels on North Venice Boulevard. Proceeding easterly, Venice Boulevard crossesLincoln Boulevard (State Route 1). The route then passes through theMar Vista neighborhood, intersecting with theSan Diego Freeway. Further east, it briefly forms the boundary between thePalms neighborhood andCulver City, passing nearSony Pictures Studios. Venice Boulevard then continues northeast into theCrestview neighborhood of theSouth Robertson district, intersecting with theSanta Monica Freeway.[1] Continuing to parallelWashington Boulevard directly to its south, as it does for much of its length, Venice Boulevard proceeds between thePicfair Village neighborhood inWest Los Angeles andLafayette Square inMid-City, through theMid-Wilshire district, throughArlington Heights, andHarvard Heights. It then dips under theHarbor Freeway (without any direct connection to it), and continues into the heart ofdowntown Los Angeles, where it turns into East 16th Street atMain Street.
Astreet railway was built on 16th Street by theLos Angeles Traction Company in 1896. An extra rail was installed in 1905, which created adual-gauge streetcar thoroughfare which was shared with theLos Angeles Railway.[2] The line eventually came under the control of thePacific Electric Railway, which operated it until the end of 1950.[3] TheVenice Boulevard Local ran regular service toVineyard Junction, while theVenice Short Line ran the length of Venice Boulevard from Pacific Avenue to Hill Street. Thenarrow gauge Los Angeles RailwayA Line ran on Venice between Hill and Burlington Avenue until 1946.
Prior to 1932, West 16th Street ended atCrenshaw Boulevard. In that year part of the Pacific Electric right of way was taken and Venice Boulevard was cut through fromLa Brea Avenue to Crenshaw. At that time West 16th Street was renamed Venice Boulevard.[citation needed]
Venice Boulevard, along with the segment of Pacific Avenue heading north intoSanta Monica, became part of what was State Route 163 in 1961.[4] This was redefined as SR 187 in the1964 state highway renumbering.[5] In 1988, the part of SR 187 in Santa Monica was removed from the state highway system.[6] The part of the route from the southern boundary of Santa Monica to Lincoln Boulevard was then removed in 1994.[7] TheCalifornia State Legislature later amending the California Streets and Highways Code in 2015 to allow the state to completely remove the entire length of the highway. Segments have since been relinquished in piecemeal segments to the City of Los Angeles; once these segments are also relinquished, the state highway will cease to exist.[8]
Metro Local line 33 operates on Venice Boulevard. TheMetro E Line servesa rail station at its intersection withRobertson Boulevard.
The entire route is inLos Angeles.
| mi[9] | km | Destinations | Notes | ||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.0 | 0.0 | Ocean Front Walk | Pedestrian road; western terminus of Venice Boulevard; west end ofone-way pair where eastbound traffic splits onto South Venice Boulevard and westbound traffic joins North Venice Boulevard. | ||
| 0.6 | 0.97 | Abbot Kinney Boulevard | East end of one-way pair where westbound traffic splits onto North Venice Boulevard and eastbound traffic joins from South Venice Boulevard | ||
| 1.3 | 2.1 |  SR 1 (Lincoln Boulevard) | |||
| 2.5 | 4.0 | Centinela Avenue | |||
| 3.5– 3.7 | 5.6– 6.0 |  I-405 (San Diego Freeway) /Sawtelle Boulevard /Sepulveda Boulevard –Long Beach,Santa Monica | I-405 exit 52 | ||
| 5.4 | 8.7 | Culver Boulevard | |||
| 5.6 | 9.0 | Robertson Boulevard | Connects toI-10 west | ||
| 5.7 | 9.2 | National Boulevard | Connects toI-10 east | ||
| 6.4– 6.6 | 10.3– 10.6 |  I-10 (Santa Monica Freeway) /La Cienega Boulevard | I-10 exit 7A | ||
| 7.0 | 11.3 | Fairfax Avenue | |||
| 8.5 | 13.7 | La Brea Avenue | |||
| 9.0 | 14.5 | San Vicente Boulevard | |||
| 9.5 | 15.3 | Crenshaw Boulevard | |||
| 10.6 | 17.1 | Western Avenue | |||
| 11.6 | 18.7 | Vermont Avenue | |||
| 13.0 | 20.9 | Figueroa Street | |||
| 13.2 | 21.2 | Grand Avenue | |||
| 13.3 | 21.4 | Hill Street | |||
| 13.4 | 21.6 | Broadway | |||
| 13.5 | 21.7 | Main Street | Eastern terminus of Venice Boulevard | ||
| East 16th Street | Continuation beyond Main Street | ||||
| 1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi | |||||
Agasoline pipeline explosion occurred June 16, 1976 on the street with a death of toll seven and twenty-one people with injuries requiring hospitalization.
