| Orange Freeway | ||||
Constructed portion of State Route 57 highlighted in red | ||||
| Route information | ||||
| Maintained byCaltrans | ||||
| Length | 25.84 mi[1][2] (41.59 km) | |||
| History | State highway in 1931; numbered in 1964 | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| South end | ||||
| Major intersections | ||||
| North end | ||||
| Location | ||||
| Country | United States | |||
| State | California | |||
| Counties | Orange,Los Angeles | |||
| Highway system | ||||
| ||||
State Route 57 (SR 57), also known as theOrange Freeway for most of its length, is a north–southstate highway in theGreater Los Angeles Area of the U.S. state ofCalifornia. It connects theinterchange ofInterstate 5 (I-5) andSR 22 neardowntown Orange, locally known as theOrange Crush, to theGlendora Curve interchange with theFoothill Freeway (I-210 andSR 210) inGlendora. The highway provides a route across several spurs of thePeninsular Ranges, linking theLos Angeles Basin with thePomona Valley andSan Gabriel Valley.
A predecessor to this road ran throughBrea Canyon by the early 20th century and was added to the state highway system. The freeway was built in stages during the 1950s, one of which included the Brea Canyon Freeway; SR 57 was designated as part of the1964 state highway renumbering. The final portion of the present-day Orange Freeway was not completed until the mid-1970s. The latest piece of SR 57 to be added was formerly part of I-210, after SR 210 was legislatively extended toSan Bernardino in 1998. An unconstructed extension from Santa Ana south toHuntington Beach remains in the legal definition of SR 57, and has been studied as atoll road above theSanta Ana River.

SR 57 begins at theOrange Crush interchange near downtownOrange, where it meets the northwest–southeastSanta Ana Freeway (I-5) and the east–westGarden Grove Freeway (SR 22). The Orange Crush interchange, which had long been considered a majorbottleneck, was rebuilt in the 1990s and 2000s.[3][4] The freeway heads north from the junction and soon crosses to the west side of theSanta Ana River, continuing north through suburban portions ofAnaheim and passing next toAnaheim Regional Transportation Intermodal Center,Angel Stadium andHonda Center. In northern Anaheim, SR 57 meets theRiverside Freeway (SR 91). SR 57 briefly passes throughPlacentia andFullerton, providing access toCalifornia State University, Fullerton. As it crossesImperial Highway (SR 90) near theBrea Mall and entersBrea, SR 57 enters more rugged terrain before climbing through Brea Canyon, the gap between theChino Hills andPuente Hills. Near the rim of the canyon, the highway curves north out of the Brea Canyon, and descends slightly to a junction with thePomona Freeway (SR 60) inDiamond Bar, right on the edge of theSan Gabriel Valley.[5]
A shortoverlap carries SR 57 traffic on the same roadway as SR 60. The two routes head northeast through an arm of theSan Gabriel Valley; after they split, SR 57 ascends slightly and then slopes through the edge of thePuente Hills and into the west end of thePomona Valley. Here it meets theSan Bernardino Freeway (I-10) andChino Valley Freeway (SR 71) at the four-levelKellogg Hill Interchange. In the north half of that interchange, SR 57 enters theSan Jose Hills, climbing to its highest elevation before descending back into the connected San Gabriel and Pomona Valleys and ending at theGlendora Curve interchange with theFoothill Freeway (I-210) inGlendora.[5]
High-occupancy vehicle lanes (HOV) exist in themedian of SR 57 south of SR 60 in Diamond Bar. Elevated ramps allow HOV traffic bound to or from Brea Canyon to connect with I-5 towards the southeast, SR 91 towards the west, or SR 60 towards the east without entering the main lanes.[5][6]
SR 57 is legally eligible for theState Scenic Highway System throughBrea Canyon, betweenSR 90 andSR 60,[7] though it has not officially been designated as a scenic highway by theCalifornia Department of Transportation.[8] The entire route is in theCalifornia Freeway and Expressway System,[9] and is a freeway for its entire constructed length. SR 57 is also part of theNational Highway System (NHS),[10] a network of highways that are essential to the country's economy, defense, and mobility.[11] The highway from SR 1 to SR 60 in Diamond Bar is officially designated as the Orange Freeway.[12] In 2013, SR 57 had anannual average daily traffic (AADT) of 129,000 between SR 60 and Sunset Crossing Road in Diamond Bar, and 278,500 between SR 91 in Anaheim and Orangethorpe Avenue in Placentia, the latter of which was the highest AADT for the highway.[13]

The road through Brea Canyon wasoiled dirt by the late 1910s, providing a good connection across an outbranching of thePeninsular Ranges between theLos Angeles Basin and Pomona Valley. This road left the main coast highway (Harbor Boulevard) atFullerton and followed the present Brea Boulevard and Brea Canyon Road, merging with theValley Boulevard from Los Angeles nearWalnut and continuing east toPomona via Valley andPomona Boulevards.[14]Los Angeles County paved the road in concrete in early 1923,[15] and in 1931 it was added to the state highway system as a branch ofRoute 19. Until then, Route 19 had connectedRoute 9 nearClaremont withRiverside, following Garey Avenue andMission Boulevard through Pomona.[16][17]
The state built a bypass of the Valley Boulevard portion of the route in the early-to-mid-1930s, leaving the old road near Diamond Bar and heading northeast through the foothills, along the present freeway alignment and Mission Boulevard.[18] To the south, the legislature added then-unrelated Route 180 along State College Boulevard in 1933, connectingRoute 2 (I-5) near the Santa Ana River withRoute 175 (Orangethorpe Avenue, later replaced bySR 91) near Placentia.[19][20] By 1955, the Brea Canyon Freeway was proposed to begin at the Santa Ana Freeway (I-5) near La Veta Avenue inSanta Ana and head north, paralleling Routes 180 and 19 to Pomona.[21][22][23] The portion northeast ofDiamond Bar into Pomona soon became part of the planned Pomona Freeway, and the name of the remainder was changed to Orange Freeway.[24] The state legislature altered the definition of Route 19 to reflect this in 1957 by moving its south end to Santa Ana.[25]
Then, in 1957, the northernmost part of present SR 57 was added to the state highway system as part ofRoute 240, which the legislature designated along the route planned for I-210.[26] This became part of the proposedTemescal Freeway, later theCorona Freeway; a southerly extension of the Orange Freeway[24] toLegislative Route 60 (SR 1) nearHuntington Beach was added in 1959 as Route 273. Also in 1959, the legislature created Route 272, extending the line of the Orange Freeway north from the Pomona Freeway to the Temescal Freeway, completing the proposed freeway corridor that is now SR 57.[27] When the entire route, except Route 240 which was still part of I-210, was redesignated SR 57 in the1964 renumbering, none of these proposed freeways had been built; the only constructed segment was the old surface road fromFullerton towards Pomona.[28] The part of old Route 19 east of Route 272 became part ofSR 60. As part of the same renumbering, Route 180 on State College Boulevard became Route 250,[29] which was amended the next year to provide for its deletion once that portion of the SR 57 freeway was completed (between I-5 andSR 91).[30]

Agroundbreaking ceremony was held in Placentia on January 30, 1967, to begin construction of the Orange Freeway.[31] The first portion was dedicated on May 16, 1969, and opened soon after, extending north from the Riverside Freeway (SR 91) to Nutwood Avenue in Fullerton.[32] Over the next few years, the freeway was completed from SR 91 north to I-10, and I-210 was built north to the present end of SR 57; the Pomona Freeway (SR 60), whichoverlaps it throughDiamond Bar, was constructed at the same time.[2] The last pieces of that portion were the freeway through Brea Canyon, which opened March 13, 1972,[33] and the four-levelKellogg Hill Interchange at I-10, which was dedicated May 1, 1972, and opened soon thereafter.[34] Finally, the Orange Freeway was extended south from SR 91 to I-5 in the mid-1970s,[2] allowing Route 250 to be turned back to local governments, though the subsequent deletion from the Streets and Highways Code did not take place until 1981.[35] With the extension ofSR 210 aroundSan Bernardino in 1998, the former easternmost piece of I-210 to the Kellogg Hill Interchange instead became a northerly extension of SR 57,[36] though it remains officially part of theInterstate Highway System.[10]
The southerly extension to Huntington Beach remains unconstructed. In 1986, Orange County's plans were for a toll road elevated above the Santa Ana River rather than through existing neighborhoods, only extending south to theSan Diego Freeway (I-405) inCosta Mesa with connections to theCorona del Mar Freeway (SR 73); this was largely inspired by congestion onSR 55 through the Santa Ana area.[37][38] The extension was considered by Caltrans as two 11.2-mile-long (18.0-kilometer), two-laneviaducts that would cost $950 million. The toll roadfranchise that the American Transportation Development (ATD) held for this portion of SR 57 expired in January 2001, after a request to delay the expiration until January 2007. Following this, ATD sued to restore the franchise, and this case lasted until November 2003.[39] The termination was due to ATD not beginning the construction during the first ten years of the franchise, after it had been enacted by the state legislature.[40]
In April 2009, theOrange County Transportation Authority continued to study the extension of SR 57, where the freeway would travel along the Santa Ana River and terminate at I-405 inFountain Valley.[41]
The northbound widening between Katella Avenue and SR 91 was finished in 2014. To keep the flow of the northbound fifth lane which ends after the Orangewood Avenue exit and resumes after the Katella Avenue exit, Caltrans and OCTA plan to widen that 0.5 mile strip of road to add one more lane in the northbound direction.[42]
| County | Location | mi [43][1][2][13] | km | Exit [43] | Destinations | Notes |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Orange | Santa Ana–Orange line | 0.19 | 0.31 | 1A | No access to I-5 north; southern terminus of SR 57; southern end ofOrange Crush interchange; I-5 north exit 107A | |
| ♦ | HOV access only; southbound exit and northbound entrance | |||||
| 0.24 | 0.39 | 1B | Southbound exit and northbound entrance; northern end ofOrange Crush interchange; SR 22 east exit 14D, west exit 14B | |||
| 0.38 | 0.61 | 1C | ||||
| Orange | 0.56 | 0.90 | 1D | Chapman Avenue –Orange | Signed as exit 1A northbound; northbound exit for traffic entering SR 57 from SR 22 only; southbound entrance runs directly to SR 22 west | |
| 1.13 | 1.82 | 1E | Orangewood Avenue | Signed as exit 1B northbound; formerSR 51 | ||
| Anaheim | 1.87 | 3.01 | 2 | Katella Avenue | ||
| 2.75 | 4.43 | 3 | Ball Road | |||
| 4.10 | 6.60 | 4 | Lincoln Avenue | |||
| 4.71– 4.73 | 7.58– 7.61 | 5A | SR 91 east exit 30B, west exit 31 | |||
| 5B | ||||||
| ♦ | HOV access only; southbound exit and northbound entrance | |||||
| Placentia | 5.72 | 9.21 | 6A | Orangethorpe Avenue | Signed as exit 6 southbound | |
| Fullerton | 6.57 | 10.57 | 6B | Chapman Avenue –Fullerton | Southbound exit is part of exit 7 | |
| 6.90 | 11.10 | 7 | Nutwood Avenue | |||
| 7.67 | 12.34 | 8 | Yorba Linda Boulevard | |||
| Fullerton–Brea line | 9.18 | 14.77 | 9 | |||
| Brea | 10.21 | 16.43 | 10 | Lambert Road | ||
| 11.11 | 17.88 | 11 | Tonner Canyon Road | Northbound exit and southbound entrance | ||
| Los Angeles | Diamond Bar | 12.64 | 20.34 | 13 | Brea Canyon Road | Southbound exit and northbound entrance; former SR 57 |
| 13.66 | 21.98 | 14 | Diamond Bar Boulevard | |||
| 14.90 | 23.98 | 15 | Pathfinder Road | |||
| Diamond Bar–Industry line | 15.89 | 25.57 | 16 | Northbound signage and southbound entrance; SR 60 east exit 24A; provides direct exit onto Brea Canyon Road | ||
| — | Southbound exit only | |||||
| — | South end of SR 60 overlap; left southbound exit and northbound entrance | |||||
| 24B[a] | Grand Avenue –Diamond Bar | |||||
| Diamond Bar | 16.33 | 26.28 | — | North end of SR 60 overlap; northbound exit and southbound entrance; southbound access is via exit 18; SR 57 north follows SR 60 east exit 25 | ||
| 16.70 | 26.88 | 18 | No northbound exit | |||
| Pomona | 19.80 | 31.87 | 20 | Temple Avenue | ||
| Pomona–San Dimas line | 21.11– 21.34 | 33.97– 34.34 | 22A | Signed as exit 21 northbound; southern end ofKellogg Interchange; former eastern terminus ofI-210; I-10 east exit 42A, west exit 42 | ||
| 22B | ||||||
| San Dimas | 21.58 | 34.73 | 22C | Southbound exit and northbound entrance; northern end ofKellogg Interchange | ||
| 22.34 | 35.95 | 22D | Via Verde / Raging Waters Drive | Signed as exit 22 northbound | ||
| 23.90 | 38.46 | 24A | Covina Boulevard | |||
| 24.42 | 39.30 | 24B | Arrow Highway | |||
| San Dimas–Glendora line | 25.20 | 40.56 | 25A | Auto Centre Drive | Formerly Allen Avenue; northbound exit and southbound entrance[44] | |
| Glendora | 25.47 | 40.99 | 25B | Northern terminus of SR 57; I-210 east exit 44A, SR 210 west exit 45; formerSR 30; future I-210 east | ||
| 25C | ||||||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi
| ||||||
Pomona to Fullerton via Brea canyon.
Route 19 is from: (a) Route 9 west of Claremont to Beaumont via Riverside. (b) Pomona to Fullerton via Brea Canyon.
State Highway Route 2 near Orange County Hospital northerly to Hermosa Beach-Santa Ana Canyon Road.
Route 180 is from Route 2 near Orange County Hospital northerly to Route 175.
Route 19 is from:...(b) Pomona to Route 2 near Santa Ana.
Route 240 is hereby added to the State Highway System, to extend from Route 4 near Glendale to Route 26 near the east boundary of Los Angeles County...
Route 272 is from Route 19 near City of Industry to Route 26 near Pomona... Route 273 is from Route 60 near Huntington Beach to Route 179 near Santa Ana.
Route 57 is from: (a) Route 1 near Huntington Beach to Route 22 near Santa Ana. (b) Route 5 near Santa Ana to Route 210 near Route 10 and Pomona, passing near Industry... Route 250 is from Route 5 near Orange County Hospital northerly to Route 91.
This route shall cease to be a state highway when Route 57 freeway is completed from Route 5 to Route 91.
Route 57 is from:...(b) Route 5 near Santa Ana to Route 210 near San Dimas.