| El Toro "Y" | |
|---|---|
| El Toro Interchange, The "Y" | |
 Aerial view of the El Toro Y | |
 | |
| Location | |
| Irvine, California | |
| Coordinates | 33°38′41″N117°44′07″W / 33.6446°N 117.7353°W /33.6446; -117.7353 |
| Roads at junction |  I-5 I-405 |
| Construction | |
| Maintained by | Caltrans |
TheEl Toro "Y" is a freeway interchange inIrvine, California where theSanta Ana Freeway,Interstate 5 (I-5), and theSan Diego Freeway (at that pointthe I-405) merge. South of the El Toro Y, the highway is named the "San Diego Freeway" with thehighway designation "I-5." Located in southOrange County, the interchange was named after the nearby cityEl Toro (nowLake Forest), and the now-closedMarine Corps Air Station El Toro, located northeast of the interchange.
The "Y" is one of the busiest interchanges in the world; from 1975 to 2002, daily traffic surged from 102,000 to 356,000 vehicles a day.[1]
The "Y" was where American broadcast reporterZoey Tur ofKCBS-TV, via news helicopter, first located and broadcastO.J. Simpson's white Ford Bronco slow-speed police chase exclusively for 22 minutes on June 17, 1994.[2] In the cleft of the "Y" lies theIrvine Spectrum Center.
By the early 1990s, the El Toro Y had become one of the most congested freeway interchanges in the world, its severe overcrowding fed by a housing boom in southern Orange County.
In November 1990,Orange County voters approvedMeasure M, a half-cent increase in the countysales tax to finance transportation improvements. In 1993, theCalifornia Department of Transportation (Caltrans) began a massive expansion project,[3] adding a new interchange andcollector/distributor roads at Bake Parkway (signed as truck bypass lanes) andLake Forest Drive, andcarpool lanes and connectors.[4] The $166-million project also vastly increased regular traffic lanes. The project increased the number of vehicles per day from 300,000 to 400,000.[4] After the project was completed in 1997, the El Toro Y stood as one of the widest roads in the world, at 26 traffic lanes wide.[citation needed]
The traffic delays at the interchange sparked the construction of several parallel bypasstoll roads. TheSan Joaquin Hills Toll Road, designatedState Route 73 (SR 73), opened in November 1996 and connectsSan Juan Capistrano andCosta Mesa. Another parallel road to the El Toro Y isSR 241, theFoothill Toll Road, and the free southern extension, known as "Los Patrones Parkway", that currently ends at Cow Camp Road nearSR 74. An extension is planned from Cow Camp Road to Avenida La Pata (Antonio Parkway) inSan Clemente in the near future.[citation needed]
SR 241 was proposed to connect to I-5 in northernSan Diego County, but local opposition regarding environmental issues nearTrestles have put the project on hold. In 2017, theTransportation Corridor Agencies considered extending SR 241 toSan Clemente. However, residents opposed the proposed route because it would have cost $2 billion, would have intersected at the busiest interchange in San Clemente, Avenida Pico, would have demolished many new homes with real estate value, would have been constructed next to a high school, and would waste taxpayers’ money because the interchange had undergone improvements between 2015 and 2018. Local residents also say that traffic would be worse, equivalent to theSR 91 and SR 241 interchange.[5]
TheIrvine Spectrum Center, a large shopping center featuring a movie theater, numerous shopping destinations and a large obelisk, which conceals a cell phone and television tower inside of it, is in the cleft of the Y.
On July 29, 2008, amoderate earthquake centered in Chino Hills caused damage to an expansion joint on one of the overpasses in the interchange.Caltrans closedthe 5 Southbound Truck Bypass/Bake Parkway/Lake Forest exit to replace the expansion joint that was damaged during the quake.[6]
The El Toro Y was referenced the 2011 episode"Angry Dad: the Movie" of the animated sitcomThe Simpsons, when Bart gives Homer a list of "Must-See Attractions" in Los Angeles.[7]
In the third episode ofThe People v. O. J. Simpson: American Crime Story, it was initially reported thatO. J. Simpson was spotted inAl Cowlings'sFord Bronco onInterstate 405 at Irvine Center Drive at the El Toro Y. However, the scenes were shot elsewhere inLos Angeles.
Media related toEl Toro Y at Wikimedia Commons
