Interstate 405 (California)
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Interstate 405 |
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(CS&HC Section 615) | |||||||||||||
Length: | 72.8 mi[1] (117.16 km) | ||||||||||||
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South end: | ![]() |
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Major junctions: |
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North end: | ![]() |
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Major cities: | Irvine Costa Mesa Fountain Valley Huntington Beach Westminster Long Beach Carson Torrance Hawthorne Inglewood Culver City Los Angeles Mission Hills |
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Interstate 405, colloquially referred to as The 405 (the four-oh-five), is one of the principal north-south highways in Southern California, and the major bypass of I-5 running through Southern California. The entire 405 is part of the "San Diego Freeway" despite ending about 75 miles from downtown San Diego. Interstate 405 is a heavily traveled thoroughfare by commuters and freight haulers along its entire length and has earned its place as one of the busiest and most congested freeways in the world. It has played a crucial role in the development of dozens of cities and suburbs along its route through the Greater Los Angeles area.
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[edit] Route description

The San Diego Freeway splits away from the Golden State Freeway in the Mission Hills district of Los Angeles (Exits 73/158), becoming Interstate 405. From the northern San Fernando Valley it heads straight south toward the Santa Monica Mountains. After crossing over the Sepulveda Pass, its route roughly follows the outline of the Pacific coast varying between five and ten miles inland. It crosses the Los Angeles/Orange county line in Long Beach, then continues southeast through Orange County. It is joined by the Santa Ana Freeway in southeastern Irvine at the massive El Toro Y interchange, below which it merges back into Interstate 5 (at Exit 94).
The San Diego Freeway's congestion problems are legendary, leading to the joke that the Interstate was named 405 because traffic moves at "four or five" miles an hour. Indeed, average speeds as low as five miles per hour are routinely recorded during morning and afternoon commutes, and its interchanges with the Ventura Freeway (milepost 63) and with the Santa Monica Freeway (milepost 53) each consistently rank among the five most congested freeway interchanges in the United States. Commuters are known to despise the freeway: Steve Harvey of the Los Angeles Times once featured a personalized license plate with the text HATE405 in his column. While much of this gridlock has to do with the lack of alternate routes between many of the areas it connects -- some of which, such as the Pacific Coast and Laurel Canyon freeways, were proposed but abandoned for political reasons -- the freeway would likely be busy even with the addition of other roads and mass transit solutions, as it connects so many important Greater Los Angeles area locations.
[edit] History
Interstate 405 was approved as a chargeable interstate in 1955. The earliest section of I-405 south of Golden State Freeway was opened in 1957 signed as SR-7. I-405 section west of Interstate 605 (Los Alamitos Curve Interchange) was done before 1965, and the newest section south of the Orange and Los Angeles county line was done in 1969.
[edit] Points of interest along the 405
[edit] Transportation
[edit] Commerce/Recreation
- Century City high-rise office park
- Marina del Rey
- More than ten California state beaches, as well as many owned by counties and municipalities, and many tourist-heavy beach cities
[edit] Education and cultural
- California State University, Northridge
- The J. Paul Getty Center
- The Skirball Cultural Center
- University of California, Los Angeles
- Loyola Marymount University
- California State University, Dominguez Hills
- California State University, Long Beach
- University of California, Irvine
[edit] Control cities
- Sacramento (northbound only, between CA-90 and the northern I-5 interchange)
- Santa Monica
- Long Beach
- San Diego (southbound only, between I-710 and El Toro Y)
[edit] Communities served
Communities along Interstate 405 include
- Bel-Air
- Brentwood
- Carson
- Costa Mesa
- Culver City
- Del Aire
- Fountain Valley
- Garden Grove
- Harbor Gateway
- Hawthorne
- Huntington Beach
- Inglewood
- Irvine
- Ladera Heights
- Laguna Hills
- Laguna Woods
- Lake Forest
- Lawndale
- Long Beach
- Mar Vista
- Mission Hills
- North Hills
- Palms
- Panorama City
- Sawtelle
- Seal Beach
- Sherman Oaks
- Signal Hill
- Torrance
- Van Nuys
- Westchester
- West Los Angeles
- Westminster
- Westwood
[edit] Trivia and References
[edit] The O.J. Simpson chase
While dangerous high-speed chases along the San Diego Freeway are not uncommon, perhaps the most famous chase in its history was also one of the slowest. On the afternoon of June 17, 1994, former football star O.J. Simpson, suspected in the murder of his ex-wife Nicole Brown Simpson and waiter Ronald Goldman, took to the freeway in a white Ford Bronco (driven by former USC teammate Al Cowlings) with police in pursuit. A bizarre, widely-televised low-speed chase ensued and ended hours later when Simpson returned to his Brentwood estate via the Sunset Boulevard exit and surrendered to law enforcement.
[edit] Ennis Cosby Murder
Ennis Cosby, the only son of Bill Cosby, was murdered along I-405 in Los Angeles on January 16, 1997, while fixing a flat tire.
[edit] Other Notes
- I-405 was the subject of a 3-minute computer-generated movie called 405, produced in May 2000 by Bruce Branit and Jeremy Hunt. The movie depicted a DC-10 jet making an emergency landing on the freeway behind a driver.
- The band Death Cab for Cutie referenced the interstate in their song titled "405," though the reference is more likely to the Washington interstate of the same name.
- In November 2003, Amber Stachowski, a collegiate water polo player for the UCLA Bruins and member of the U.S. National Team was injured in a motor vehicle accident on Interstate 405. She sustained a concussion, which kept her out of the water for two months. Six months later, she qualified for the Olympic team, which won a bronze medal at the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. [2]
- Lazlo Bane's song I'm No Superman mentions "heading down the 405" on a journey to work.
- Lisa Marr's song 'In California' (as performed by Neko Case) refers to 'another suicide on the 405'
[edit] State law
Legal Definition of Route 405: California Streets and Highways Code, Chapter 2, Article 3, Section 615
[edit] Exit list
Postmiles are derived from[1] and exit numbers derived from[3].
County | Location | Postmile | # | Destinations | Notes |
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Southbound traffic defaults onto ![]() |
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Orange | Irvine | ORA 0.00 ORA 0.02 |
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Southbound left exit and northbound entrance; separate truck / local access bypass ramps | |
1A | Lake Forest Drive | Southbound exits and northbound entrances accessible via the Interstate 5 truck bypass ramps | |||
1B | Bake Parkway | ||||
ORA 0.95 | 1C | Irvine Center Drive | Exit 1 northbound; northbound exit and entrance accessible via Enterprise | ||
ORA 1.80 | 2 | ![]() Laguna Beach; to Interstate 5 North; to Eastern Toll Road |
No northbound exit to northbound SR-133, served by I-5 | ||
ORA 2.88 | 3 | Sand Canyon Avenue | |||
ORA 3.95 | 4 | Jeffrey Road; University Drive | |||
ORA 5.62 | 5 | Culver Drive | |||
ORA 6.92 | 7 | Jamboree Road | |||
ORA 7.80 | 8 | MacArthur Boulevard - John Wayne Airport | |||
Costa Mesa | ORA 8.75 | 9A | ![]() |
No southbound exit to southbound SR-55, or northbound entrance from northbound SR-55 (both served by SR-73) | |
ORA 9.51 | 9B | Bristol Street | Northbound ramp splits off to connect with Park Center Drive | ||
ORA 10.29 | 10 | ![]() ![]() San Diego; to State Route 55 South |
Southbound exit and northbound entrance | ||
ORA 10.75 ORA 11.45 |
11 | South Coast Drive; Fairview Road; Harbor Boulevard | Exit 11A (Fairview Rd) and Exit 11B (Harbor Blvd) southbound; no direct access to South Coast Dr southbound |
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Fountain Valley | ORA 12.41 | 12 | Euclid Avenue | ||
ORA 13.41 | Talbert Street | southbound entrance ramp only | |||
ORA 13.78 | 14 | Brookhurst Street | |||
ORA 14.82 ORA 15.21 |
15A | Warner Avenue East | No northbound exit | ||
Huntington Beach | 15B | Magnolia Street; Warner Avenue West | Exit 15 northbound | ||
ORA 16.54 | 16 | ![]() |
Southbound entrance accessible via Center Ave or Edinger Ave | ||
Westminster | ORA 17.75 ORA 17.94 |
18 | Bolsa Avenue; Golden West Street | ||
ORA 19.16 | 19 | Westminster Avenue; Springdale Street | |||
ORA 20.74 | 21 | ![]() |
Northbound exit accessible via Garden Grove Blvd; SR-22 joins northbound and leaves southbound | ||
Seal Beach | ORA 22.64 | 22 | Seal Beach Blvd; Los Alamitos Blvd | ||
ORA 23.27 | 23 | ![]() |
SR-22 joins southbound and leaves northbound | ||
ORA 24.05 | 24A | ![]() |
Exit 24 northbound | ||
Los Angeles | Long Beach | LA 0.45 | 24B | Studebaker Road | Southbound exit and northbound entrance |
LA 1.11 | 25 | Palo Verde Avenue | Combined as Exit 25 southbound; southbound entrance from Palo Verde Ave accessible via Stearns St |
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LA 1.64 | 26A | Woodruff Avenue | |||
LA 2.18 | 26B | Bellflower Blvd | Exit 26 southbound; southbound exit and entrance accessible via Los Coyotes Diagonal | ||
LA 3.33 | 27 | ![]() |
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LA 4.88 | 29 | Cherry Avenue | Split into Exit 29A and 29B; exits to Cherry Ave South accessible via Temple Ave to Spring St (also Signal Hill) | ||
LA 5.39 | 29C | Orange Avenue | Northbound exit and entrance accessible via 32nd St (also Signal Hill) | ||
LA 6.08 | 30A | Atlantic Avenue | (also Signal Hill) | ||
LA 6.34 LA 6.50 |
30B | Wardlow Road; Long Beach Blvd | Southbound exit and entrance accessible via Crest Dr | ||
LA 6.70 | 32A | Pacific Avenue | Southbound exit and northbound entrance | ||
LA 7.60 | 32A | ![]() |
Exit 32C southbound | ||
32B | ![]() |
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LA 8.06 | 32C | Santa Fe Ave | Exit 32D southbound; northbound exit and entrance accessible via Warnock Way; Southbound exit and entrance accessible via Wardlow Rd |
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LA 8.19 | 33A | Alameda Street | Southbound exit and entrance accessible via 223rd St | ||
Carson | LA 9.56 | 33B | Wilmington Avenue | ||
LA 10.54 | 34 | Carson Street | |||
LA 11.22 | 35 | Avalon Blvd | |||
LA 12.60 | 36 | Main Street | Northbound exit and southbound entrance | ||
Los Angeles | LA 12.96 | 37A | ![]() |
Exit 37 northbound | |
LA 13.28 | 37B | Vermont Avenue | Southbound exit and northbound entrance | ||
LA 13.83 | 38A | Normandie Avenue | Southbound exit accessible via 190th St | ||
LA 14.40 | 38B | Western Avenue | Southbound exit and entrance accessible via 190th St | ||
Torrance | LA 15.45 | 39 | Crenshaw Blvd | Northbound exit and entrance accessible via 182nd St | |
LA 16.57 | 40A | ![]() |
Exit 40 northbound | ||
LA 16.88 | 40B | Redondo Beach Blvd | Southbound exit and northbound entrance | ||
Lawndale | LA 17.59 | 42A | ![]() |
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LA 18.23 | 42B | Inglewood Avenue | |||
Hawthorne | LA 19.21 | 43 | Rosecrans Avenue | Split between Exit 43A (East) and Exit 43B (West) southbound | |
LA 20.17 | 44 | El Segundo Blvd - El Segundo | Southbound exit accessible via La Cienega Blvd | ||
LA | 45A | ![]() |
Exit 45 southbound | ||
Los Angeles | LA 21.22 | 45B | Imperial Highway | Southbound exit combined with Exit 46 (Century Blvd); southbound exit and entrance accessible via La Cienega Blvd | |
Inglewood | LA 22.22 | 46 | Century Blvd | Southbound exit combined Imperial Highway; southbound exit and entrance accessible via La Cienega Blvd | |
LA 23.36 LA 23.64 |
47 | ![]() |
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Los Angeles | LA 24.27 | 48 | La Tijera Blvd | ||
LA 24.56 | 49A | Howard Hughes Parkway | Exit 49 southbound | ||
Culver City | LA 25.96 | 49B | Slauson Avenue | Exit 50B southbound, combined with SR-90; northbound exit accessible via Sepulveda Blvd; northbound entrance accessible via Jefferson Blvd | |
50A | ![]() |
Exit 50B southbound, combined with Slauson Ave | |||
50B | Jefferson Blvd | Exit 50A southbound | |||
LA 27.20 | 51 | Culver Blvd; Washington Blvd | Northbound exit and southbound exit accessible via Sawtelle Blvd; southbound entrance accessible via Braddock Dr | ||
LA 27.95 | 52 | Venice Blvd; Washington Blvd | Northbound exit and entrance accessible via Sepulveda Blvd; southbound exit and entrance accessible via Sawtelle Blvd | ||
Los Angeles | LA 29.16 | 53A | National Blvd | Northbound exit and southbound entrance | |
LA 29.53 | 53B | ![]() |
Exit 53 southbound | ||
LA 30.18 | 54 | Olympic Blvd | Southbound exit (accessible via Sawtelle Blvd) and northbound entrance (accessible via Cotner Ave) | ||
LA 30.87 | 55A | ![]() |
Northbound exit and entrance accessible via Cotner Ave; southbound exit and entrance accessible via Sawtelle Blvd | ||
LA 31.54 | 55B | Wilshire Blvd | Spilt into Exit 55B (East) and 55C (West) southbound | ||
LA 32.50 | 56 | Montana Avenue | Northbound exit only, accessible via Sepulveda Blvd | ||
56 | Waterford St | Southbound exit and entrance (Permanently Closed) | |||
LA 33.00 | 57A | Sunset Blvd | Exit 57 southbound, accessible via Church Ln | ||
LA 33.20 | 57B | Moraga Drive | Northbound exit and entrance | ||
LA 34.76 | 59 | Getty Center Drive | |||
LA 36.72 | 61 | Mulholland Drive; Skirball Center Dr | |||
LA 38.59 | 63A | Valley Vista Blvd | Southbound exit and entrance only, both accessible via Sepulveda Blvd | ||
LA 39.00 | 63A | Ventura Blvd | Southbound exit accessible only via 101 South; northbound exit and entrance accessible via Sepulveda Blvd | ||
LA 39.46 | 63B | ![]() |
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LA 40.29 | 64 | Burbank Blvd | |||
LA 41.36 | 65 | Victory Blvd | Southbound exit accessible via Haskell Ave | ||
LA 42.36 | 66 | Sherman Way | Split into Exit 66A (East) and Exit 66B (West) northbound; southbound exit accessible via Haskell Ave | ||
LA 43.76 | 68 | Roscoe Blvd | |||
LA 44.74 | 69 | Nordhoff Street | |||
LA 46.24 | 70 | Devonshire Street | |||
LA 46.25 | 71A | ![]() |
Exit 71 southbound | ||
LA 47.24 | 71B | San Fernando Mission Blvd | Northbound exit and southbound entrance | ||
LA 47.75 | 72 | Rinaldi Street | Northbound exit and entrance accessible via Sepulveda Blvd | ||
LA 48.52 | ![]() |
Northbound exit and southbound entrance; separate truck bypass ramps | |||
Northbound traffic defaults onto ![]() |
[edit] References
- ^ a b January 1, 2006 California Log of Bridges on State Highways
- ^ USOC News: Amber battles back after car accident
- ^ Cal-NExUS Interchange Exit Numbering
[edit] External links
Auxiliary routes of Interstate 5 | ||
Current and Future (F) | Former | |
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