Editing Santa Ana Freeway

{{short description|Highway in California}}
{{Use American English|date=April 2025}}
{{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}}
{{Infobox road
|marker_image={{Infobox road/shieldmain/USA|state=CA|type=I|route=5}}{{Infobox road/shieldmain/USA|state=CA|type=US|route=101}}
|allocation={{jct|state=CA|I|5}} from [[Irvine, California|Irvine]] to [[Boyle Heights, Los Angeles]]<ref name="LATimes Boyle Heights">{{cite web | url=http://maps.latimes.com/neighborhoods/neighborhood/boyle-heights/ | work=Los Angeles Times | title=Mapping L.A.: Boyle Heights | access-date=2013-08-05}}</ref><br/>{{jct|state=CA|US|101}} from Boyle Heights to [[Downtown Los Angeles]]
|state=CA
|name=Santa Ana Freeway
|maint=[[Caltrans]]
|map = {{Maplink-road|zoom=9|raw={{Wikipedia:Map data/Wikipedia KML/Santa Ana Freeway}}}}
|map_custom = yes
|map_notes=Santa Ana Freeway highlighted in red
|established=
|direction_a=South
|terminus_a={{jct|state=CA|I|5|I|405|name2=[[El Toro Y]]}} in Irvine
|junction={{jct|state=CA|SR|133}} in [[Irvine, California|Irvine]]<br>{{jct|state=CA|SR-Toll|261}} in Irvine<br>{{jct|state=CA|SR|55}} in [[Tustin]]<br>{{jct|state=CA|SR|22|SR|57|name2=[[Orange Crush interchange|Orange Crush]]}} in [[Orange, California|Orange]]<br>{{jct|state=CA|SR|91}} in [[Buena Park]]<br>{{jct|state=CA|I|605}} in [[Downey, California|Downey]]<br>{{jct|state=CA|I|710}} in [[Vernon, California|Vernon]]<br>{{jct|state=CA|I|5|I|10|US|101|SR|60|name3=[[East Los Angeles Interchange|East LA Int.]]}} in Boyle Heights<ref name="LATimes Boyle Heights"/>
|direction_b=North
|terminus_b={{jct|state=CA|US|101|SR|110|name2=[[Four Level Interchange|4 Level Int.]]}} in Downtown Los Angeles
|system1='''[[Southern California freeways]]'''
|counties=[[Orange County, California|Orange]], [[Los Angeles County, California|Los Angeles]]
}}
The '''Santa Ana Freeway''' is one of the principal [[freeway]]s in [[Southern California]], connecting [[Los Angeles]] and its southeastern suburbs including the freeway's namesake, the city of [[Santa Ana, California|Santa Ana]]. The freeway begins at its junction with the [[San Diego Freeway]] ([[Interstate 405 (California)|Interstate 405]], I-405), called the [[El Toro Y]], in [[Irvine, California|Irvine]], signed as [[Interstate 5 in California|I-5]]. From there, it generally goes southeast to northwest to the [[East Los Angeles Interchange]], where it takes the designation of [[U.S. Route 101 in California|U.S. Route 101]] (US&nbsp;101). It then proceeds {{convert|2.95|mi|km}} northwest to the [[Four Level Interchange]] (also known as the [[Bill Keene Memorial Interchange]]) in downtown Los Angeles. Formerly, the entirety of the route was marked as US&nbsp;101 until the [[1964 state highway renumbering (California)|1964 highway renumbering]], which truncated US&nbsp;101 to the East Los Angeles Interchange and designated the rest of the freeway as I-5.

North of the East Los Angeles Interchange complex, I-5 follows the [[Golden State Freeway]]. South of the El Toro Y, I-5 takes on the [[San Diego Freeway]] name from I-405.

An abundance of landmarks, most importantly [[Disneyland]] and [[Angel Stadium of Anaheim]], along the Orange County portion of its route combines with a severe bottleneck beginning at the Los Angeles County line (shrinking from 10 to 6 lanes) to make it one of the most congested freeways in Southern California.  The infamously busy intersection of the Santa Ana, [[Garden Grove Freeway|Garden Grove]], and [[Orange Freeway|Orange]] freeways in southwestern [[Orange, California|Orange]] is nicknamed the [[Orange Crush interchange|Orange Crush]].

The freeway is officially defined as Routes 101 and 5 from Route 110 ([[Four Level Interchange]]) to Route 405.<ref>{{cite book | url=http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/tsip/hseb/products/Named_Freeways_Final.pdf | title=2013 Named Freeways, Highways, Structures and Other Appurtenances in California | publisher=[[Caltrans]] | pages=63 | access-date=2014-06-13}}</ref>

==History==
[[File:Santaanafreeway.jpg|right|thumb|300px|The Santa Ana Freeway is often congested, especially where it meets [[Interstate 605]] (the [[San Gabriel River Freeway]]) in southeastern [[Los Angeles County]].]]

The Santa Ana Freeway is a bypass of the original state highway from Los Angeles to Santa Ana, which passed through [[Whittier, CA|Whittier]] and mostly became [[SR 72 (CA)|SR 72]] in the [[1964 renumbering (California)|1964 renumbering]]. Southeast of Santa Ana, this earlier highway, added to the state highway system in 1910 as [[Legislative Route 2 (California pre-1964)|Route 2]], generally followed the present freeway from [[Tustin]] past [[East Irvine, California|East Irvine]] to [[El Toro, CA|El Toro]].<ref>Ben Blow, California Highways: A Descriptive Record of Road Development by the State and by Such Counties as Have Paved Highways, 1920 ([https://archive.org/details/californiahighwa00blowrich Archive.org] or [https://archive.org/details/californiahighw00blowgoog Internet Archive]), pp. 165, 194-195</ref> This route was marked as part of [[US 101 (CA)|US 101]] in 1928.<ref>[[California Highways and Public Works]], [http://www.gbcnet.com/ushighways/history/1928_highways.html United States Numbered Highways], January 1928</ref>

In 1933, the state legislature added a number of routes to the state highway system, including two that later formed parts of the Santa Ana Freeway. '''Route 166''' began at the new [[Legislative Route 172 (California pre-1964)|Route 172]] (now [[SR 60 (CA)|SR 60]]), at the corner of Indiana and Third Streets, and headed south on Indiana Street and east and southeast on Mines Avenue ([[Olympic Boulevard (Los Angeles)|Olympic Boulevard]]) and Anaheim-Telegraph Road (now Telegraph Road) to [[Legislative Route 171 (California pre-1964)|Route 171]] (now [[SR 39 (CA)|SR 39]]) at the intersection with Los Nietos Road near [[Santa Fe Springs]]. [[Legislative Route 174 (California pre-1964)|Route 174]] began at [[Legislative Route 60 (California pre-1964)|Route 60]] (then signed Alternate U. S. 101 now [[SR 1 (CA)|SR 1]]) in what now is known as [[Westchester, Los Angeles, California|Westchester]] and followed [[Manchester Avenue]] and [[Firestone Boulevard]] (then under construction alongside the [[Southern Pacific Railroad]]'s [[Santa Ana Branch]]) to Route 2 (then Los Angeles Street, now Anaheim Boulevard) in southern [[Anaheim]]. A second piece began further southeast on Route 2, where it turned east on Chapman Avenue, and followed the shorter Santa Ana Boulevard diagonally to Route 2 (Main Street) in northern [[Santa Ana, CA|Santa Ana]].<ref>{{cite CAstat|year=1933|ch=767|p=2040}}: "Los Angeles, Indiana and 3rd Streets, to the Huntington Beach-Whittier Road near Santa Fe Springs." "State Highway Route 60 via Manchester Avenue to State Highway Route 2 near Miraflores." "State Highway Route 2 near Orange County Hospital to Main Street, Santa Ana, via Santa Ana Boulevard."</ref><ref>{{cite CAstat|year=1935|ch=29|p=286}}: "Route 166 is from Route 172, at the intersection of Indiana and Third Streets, in Los Angeles, to Route 171 near Santa Fe Springs." "Route 174 is from: (a) Route 60 via Manchester Avenue to Route 2 near Miraflores. (b) Route 2 near Orange County Hospital to Main Street, Santa Ana, via Santa Ana Boulevard."</ref> In 1934, Route 166, except on Indiana Street, was marked as part of [[California State Route 6 (1934)|Sign Route 6]] (which continued along Route 171 to [[Buena Park]]), and the entire length of Route 174 became [[California State Route 10 (1934)|Sign Route 10]].<ref>{{cite journal |first = T.H. |last = Dennis |date = August 1934 |url = https://archive.org/details/californiahighwa193436calirich/page/n275/mode/2up/ |title = State Routes Will Be Numbered and Marked with Distinctive Bear Signs |journal = [[California Highways and Public Works]] |volume = 11 |issue = 8 |pages = 20–21, 32  |issn = 0008-1159 |via = [[Archive.org]] }}</ref><ref>[[H.M. Gousha Company]], [http://www.socalregion.com/highways/maps/1935-los-angeles/ Los Angeles and Vicinity], 1935</ref> (SR 6 was renumbered to [[California State Route 26 (1937-1964)|SR 26]] in 1937, when [[US 6 (CA)|US 6]] entered California;<ref name=FHWA>Richard F. Weingroff, [https://www.fhwa.dot.gov/infrastructure/us6.cfm U.S. 6: The Grand Army of the Republic Highway]</ref> SR 10 was soon truncated to Anaheim Boulevard, as US 101 had moved from Route 2 to the shorter Route 174 in Santa Ana.<ref>[[H.M. Gousha Company]], [http://www.socalregion.com/highways/maps/1939-california/ Los Angeles and Vicinity], 1939</ref>)

A '''U.S. Route 101 Bypass''' was created by 1941, beginning at the intersection of Routes 166 (Indiana Street, soon moved to Downey Road{{Citation needed|date=December 2007}}<!--did US 101 Bypass actually move when Route 166 did? USGS suggests no-->) and 2 (US 101 along Whittier Boulevard), and following Routes 166 and 174 to Route 2 (US 101) in Anaheim. The connection between Routes 166 and 174 was made via [[Legislative Route 168 (California pre-1964)|Route 168]] (Rosemead Boulevard, then and now [[SR 19 (CA)|SR 19]]). This resulted in SR 10 being truncated further, to the intersection of Firestone and Rosemead Boulevards, though SR 26 continued to extend east on Routes 166 and 171 to Buena Park.<!--until when? I don't think I have any maps between 1947 (USGS) and 1955--><ref>[[H.M. Gousha Company]], [http://members.cox.net/mkpl5/hist2/LA-1941.jpg Los Angeles and Vicinity] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110629040400/http://members.cox.net/mkpl5/hist2/LA-1941.jpg |date=2011-06-29 }}, 1941: SR 10 overlaps US 101 Bypass to Anaheim</ref><ref>[[H.M. Gousha Company]], [http://members.cox.net/mkpl2/hist/droz-laca42.jpg Los Angeles and Vicinity] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060424144455/http://members.cox.net/mkpl2/hist/droz-laca42.jpg |date=2006-04-24 }}, 1942: SR 10 has been truncated</ref><ref>[[Division of Highways (California)|Division of Highways]], [http://www.americanroads.us/citymaps/1944CaStateMapLosAngeles.png Los Angeles and Vicinity], 1944</ref>

A freeway connecting downtown Los Angeles with [[Orange County, CA|Orange County]] was planned by 1939,<ref>[[Los Angeles Times]], Super-Road Hearing Set, September 8, 1939, p. 20</ref> and was included in ''A Transit Program for the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area'', published that year by the Metropolitan Transportation Engineering Board.<ref>Ann Forsyth, Reforming Suburbia: The Planned Communities of Irvine, Columbia, and The Woodlands, [[University of California Press]], 2005, {{ISBN|0-520-24166-5}}, p. 61</ref><!--it would probably be better to cite the actual plan, but I don't have access to a copy--> To allow for its construction by the state, the definition of Route 166 was modified in 1941, changing the southeast end to Route 174 near [[Norwalk, CA|Norwalk]]; at the same time, the northernmost piece was changed from Indiana Street to Downey Road.<ref>{{cite CAstat|year=1941|ch=142|p=1185}}: "Route 166 is from Route 172, at the intersection of Downey Road to Route 174, near Norwalk."</ref>

The entire Santa Ana Freeway began construction in 1947 and completed in 1956. Originally it was signed as US 101 before the segment of 101 between the East Los Angeles Interchange and the [[United States–Mexico border]] in [[San Ysidro, California]] was decommissioned in favor of [[Interstate 5 (California)|Interstate 5]]. It was approved as a chargeable interstate in 1961. The Santa Ana Freeway and also portions of [[San Diego Freeway]] (before the freeway was built) south of [[El Toro Y]] went up changing the U.S. 101 signs to [[Interstate 5 (California)|Interstate 5]] in 1964, including full length of [[Golden State Freeway]] which was originally signed as US 99.

===Former Interstate 105===
From 1964 to 1968, the I-105 designation was used on a stretch of road linking I-5/I-10, US&nbsp;101, and SR&nbsp;10 (former I-110) north of downtown Los Angeles, now known as the East Los Angeles Interchange.  In 1968, this I-105 was [[decommissioned highway|decommissioned]], and that portion of the Santa Ana Freeway was folded into US&nbsp;101.<ref>{{cite web|url=http://www.interstate-guide.com/i-105_ca.html|title=105 California|publisher=Interstate Guide|access-date=4 October 2014}}</ref>

==Exit list==
{{CAinttop|exit|post_ref=<br><ref name=trucklist /><ref name=bridgelog>{{Caltrans bridgelog|date=July 2007}}</ref><ref>{{cite web |author=Staff |publisher=California Department of Transportation |url=http://traffic-counts.dot.ca.gov/ |title=All Traffic Volumes on CSHS |year=2005–2006 }}</ref>
|exit_ref=<ref name=calnexus_5>{{cite web |date= August 17, 2015  |publisher= California Department of Transportation |work= [[California Numbered Exit Uniform System]] |url= http://www.dot.ca.gov/trafficops/exit/docs/5.pdf |title= Interstate&nbsp;5 |access-date= June 20, 2016}}</ref><ref name=calnexus_101>{{cite web |date= May 21, 2012  |publisher= California Department of Transportation |work= [[California Numbered Exit Uniform System]] |url= http://www.dot.ca.gov/trafficops/exit/docs/101.pdf |title= US&nbsp;101 |access-date= June 20, 2016}}</ref>
}}
{{CAint|exit
|county=Orange
|cspan=2
|location=Irvine
|lspan=2
|postmile=21.30
|pmspan=2
|exit=—
|road={{Jct|state=CA|I|5|name1=San Diego Freeway|dir1=south|city1=San Diego}}
|notes=Continuation beyond I-405
}}
{{CAint|exit
|type=incomplete
|mile=none
|exit=94A
|road={{Jct|state=CA|I|405|to2=to|SR|133|dir2=south|dir1=north|name1=San Diego Freeway north|city1=Long Beach}}
|notes=Northbound exit and southbound entrance; south end of Santa Ana Freeway; south end of I-5 overlap
}}
{{Jctgap|text=See [[Interstate 5 in California#Exit list|I-5]] Exits 94A–134 }}
{{CAint|exit
|type=incomplete
|county=Los Angeles
|location=Los Angeles
|line=yes
|postmile=16.88
|postmile2=S0.00<ref name="US&nbsp;101" group=lower-alpha>Indicates that the postmile represents the distance along [[U.S. Route 101 in California|US&nbsp;101]] rather than I-5.</ref>
|exit=—
|road={{Jct|state=CA|I|5|I|10|name1=Golden State Freeway|dir1=north|city1=Sacramento|city2=San Bernardino|city3=Santa Monica}}
|notes=North end of I-5 overlap; south end of US 101 overlap; no access from I-5 north to US 101 north, and vice versa
}}
{{Jctgap|text=See [[U.S. Route 101 in California#Major intersections|US 101]] Exits 1–3 }}
{{CAint|exit
|type=concur
|county=Los Angeles
|cspan=2
|location=Los Angeles
|lspan=2
|postmile=1.57<ref name="US&nbsp;101" group=lower-alpha/>
|pmspan=2
|exit=3<ref name="US101exits" group=lower-alpha >Exit numbers follow US&nbsp;101 rather than I-5.</ref>
|road={{jct|state=CA|SR|110|to2=to|I|110|dir2=south|name2=[[Harbor Freeway]]|road|Grand Avenue|city1=Pasadena|city2=San Pedro}}
|notes=North end of Santa Ana Freeway; north end of US 101 overlap
}}
{{CAint|exit
|mile=none
|exit=—
|road={{Jct|state=CA|US|101|name1=[[Hollywood Freeway]]|dir1=north|city1=Ventura}}
|notes=Continuation beyond SR 110
}}
{{Jctbtm|col=7|keys=concur,incomplete}}
{{Reflist|group=lower-alpha}}

==See also==
*{{portal-inline|California Roads}}
*{{portal-inline|Greater Los Angeles}}

==References==
{{reflist|30em}}

==External links==
{{Attached KML|display=inline,title}}
{{CASR external links}}
{{3di|5}}

[[Category:Interstate 5]]
[[Category:U.S. Route 101]]
[[Category:Named freeways in California]]
[[Category:Roads in Orange County, California]]
[[Category:Southern California freeways]]