U.S. Route 101 in California
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| U.S. Route 101 |
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| (CS&HC Section 401) | |||||||||||||
| Length: | 794 mi[1] (1278 km) | ||||||||||||
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| South end: |   I-5/10 in Los Angeles |
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| Major junctions: |
 I-405 in Sherman Oaks  I-280/680 in San Jose I-880 in San Jose I-380 in South San Francisco I-80 in San Francisco I-580 in San Rafael US 199 in Crescent City |
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| North end: |  US 101 in Oregon |
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| Major cities: | Los Angeles Santa Barbara San Jose San Francisco |
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U.S. Route 101, also known as Highway 101, The 101 in Southern California, and simply 101 in Northern California, is one of the last remaining and longest U.S. Routes still active in California. 101 was also one of the original U.S. Routes established in 1926.
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[edit] Route description
[edit] Los Angeles to Ventura
The south terminus of U.S. Highway 101 is in Los Angeles, about one mile east of downtown Los Angeles at the East Los Angeles Interchange, also known as the "Commuters' Complex" or sometimes, "The Five Level". This southernmost portion is named the Santa Ana Freeway, inheriting that title as the northerly extension of the roadway now known as Interstate 5.
After merging with westbound traffic from the San Bernardino Freeway (I-10), U.S. Route 101 then proceeds northwest via the Downtown Slot under the northern edge of Los Angeles' Civic Center to California State Highway 110 at the Four Level Interchange. From here, U.S. 101 becomes the Hollywood Freeway. It then heads to Hollywood and up through the Cahuenga Pass before reaching the San Fernando Valley.
Highway 101 then intersects with State Route 134 and State Route 170 at the interchange known as the Hollywood Split. Here, the alignment of U.S. 101 'shifts' to the alignment of CA/SR-134 (i.e. heading northbound, the road's alignment turns left, or westbound) and thereafter is referred to as the Ventura Freeway until it reaches Ventura. Confusingly, the "Hollywood Freeway" name continues northward from this interchange on CA/SR-170, and the "Ventura Freeway" name continues eastward to CA/SR-134.
From the Hollywood Split, U.S. 101 is an east-west highway until it reaches Gaviota State Park in Santa Barbara County where it shifts back to a north-south alignment. The east-west geographical alignment of the Ventura Freeway and the north-south designation on freeway signs can be confusing to visitors; the same freeway entrance can often be signed as "101 North" and "101 West"; this is most common in the San Fernando Valley.
[edit] The Central Coast
North of Ventura, U.S. 101 is an intermittent freeway (i.e. there is occasional cross traffic) but there are no traffic signals until one arrives at San Francisco. The last traffic signals along this stretch of the highway were removed in the early 1990s when the section through downtown Santa Barbara was constructed after years of resistance from the Santa Barbara community.
From Ventura and through Santa Barbara, Highway 101 closely follows the Pacific coastline (generally no more than one to two miles from the shore) until Gaviota State Park about 23 miles (37 km) west of Goleta. At Gaviota State Park, the highway shifts back from an east-west highway to a north-south alignment. About 1 mile north of this point, U.S. 101 passes through the Gaviota Tunnel.
A few miles north of the Gaviota Tunnel, State Route 1 splits from U.S. 101 and heads northwest, running along the Pacific coastline in California, parallel and to the west of U.S. 101. Highway 101 then connects the Central Coast cities of Santa Maria, San Luis Obispo, Paso Robles, and Salinas. The highway also joins State Route 46 for about three miles through Paso Robles.
[edit] San Francisco Bay Area
When U.S. 101 reaches Gilroy, it becomes the South Valley Freeway, and it then heads through the suburb of Morgan Hill before reaching San Jose. From San Jose to San Francisco, Highway 101 is known as the Bayshore Freeway as it passes through Palo Alto and the other major communities along the San Francisco Peninsula. This segment most likely took its name from the 101A bypass that ran along this path.
From the San Francisco county/city line, through the interchange with I-280 at the Alemany Maze, until the junction with Interstate 80 near the city's Civic Center, Highway 101 is called the James Lick Freeway, named for James Lick, a philanthropist. Afterwards, U.S. 101 is briefly named the Central Freeway before the divided highway ends and traffic follows city streets. Northbound U.S. 101 runs north on Van Ness Avenue and then turns left at Lombard Street. (Turning right on Lombard leads one to the Crookedest Street in the World.) From Lombard Street, northbound U.S. 101 traffic is shifted to Richardson Avenue, entering The Presidio, where it becomes a divided highway again (known as Doyle Drive). It is then joined by Route 1 before approaching the Golden Gate Bridge. (U.S. 101 does not traverse the bridge itself according to state law. The Golden Gate Bridge, Highway and Transportation District, and not Caltrans, owns and maintains the bridge.)
North of the Golden Gate Bridge, U.S. 101 enters Marin County and is known as the Redwood Highway. After crossing the bridge, U.S. 101 passes through the Waldo Tunnel, the first of its kind in 300 miles (the other being the Gaviota Tunnel in Santa Barbara County), before passing through San Rafael and Novato. The section between Novato in Marin County and Petaluma in Sonoma County changes from its original six or eight lanes through Marin to four lanes, and is thus called the "Novato Narrows" by locals. Upon entering Sonoma County, it again becomes a heavily-traveled, four lane freeway, which will be upgraded to six lanes by 2010. The interchange with California State Route 12 is named the Grape Crush Interchange; like the Orange Crush Interchange in Southern California, it handles major traffic loads, which makes for traffic jams from 6:00 AM through to 8:00 PM.
[edit] Northern California Coast
The freeway portion ends north of Cloverdale, and it narrows to an expressway and eventually a two-lane road south of Hopland, the first time since leaving San Francisco. There are plans for a proposed bypass to the east of Hopland which would make US 101 from its inception in Los Angeles to Ukiah a four-lane road. In the community of Calpella, California State Route 20 merges with US 101, where it will remain that way until reaching the city of Willits. South of Willits, US 101 ascends Rattlesnake Summit, the highest elevation along the route's 807-mile trek through California. CA 20 splits from US 101 in downtown Willits. US 101 leaves Willits as a two-lane road, but it soon widens to a four-lane expressway until the intersection with the western portion of California State Route 162, where it reverts back to a two-lane road. North of Laytonville, US 101 runs along the Eel River, where it will follow until well into Humboldt County. About 12 miles northwest of Laytonville, US 101 becomes an undivided freeway near the community of Cummings. CA 271 is the old portion of US 101 through this area. At Leggett, US 101 meets CA 1 for the last time, and from this point until Piercy, US 101 runs along a substandard section of highway with frequent landslides. North of Piercy, the freeway portion ends and the road narrows down to two lanes at the point where it enters Humboldt County.
In Humboldt County, U.S. 101 travels through Humboldt Redwoods State Park and a portion of the old, bypassed highway is known as the Avenue of the Giants for the huge, centuries-old redwood trees that can be found there. Near Benbow, US 101 becomes a four-lane undivided freeway until reaching the northern portion of the Avenue of the Giants. There is also a section of freeway through Rio Dell. Between Fortuna and Eureka, US 101 becomes a freeway again. North of Humboldt Hill, the road is known as "Broadway" and passes through downtown Eureka. US 101 then heads east along Humboldt Bay, aligned on a one-way couplet (4th and 5th Streets) before leaving towards Arcata and McKinleyville. North of Trinidad, the highway narrows to one lane in each direction, except for a 14-mile portion through Redwood National Park. North of Klamath, the highway closely follows the Pacific coast again. Shortly north of Crescent City, U.S. 101 intersects with U.S. Highway 199, which heads northeast as the Redwood Highway, terminating in Grants Pass, Oregon. Highway 101 (no longer called the "Redwood Highway" at this point) continues north along the California coast until it reaches the Oregon border.
[edit] State law
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Route 101 is part of the Freeway and Expressway System, as stated by section 253.2 of the California State Highway Code. |
[edit] History
Instead of terminating in Los Angeles, Highway 101 used to travel all the way south through San Diego to the United States–Mexico border in San Ysidro, California. However, this part was decommissioned in favor of Interstate 5.
The old alignment in San Diego County from Oceanside to Del Mar is now known as San Diego County Route S21. It is signed unofficially in many places as "Historic Route 101".
[edit] Control cities
Northbound
- Los Angeles Civic Center - between the East Los Angeles Interchange and the Four Level Interchange
- Hollywood - between the Four Level Interchange and Sunset Blvd
- Ventura - between the Four Level Interchange and Ventura
- San Francisco - between interchange with California State Route 126 in Ventura and San Francisco city limits
- San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge and San Francisco Civic Center - between the San Francisco city limits and I-80
- Golden Gate Bridge - between I-80 and the aforementioned structure
- Eureka - between the Golden Gate Bridge and Eureka
- Santa Rosa - Alternatively used with Eureka until reaching Santa Rosa
- Crescent City - between Eureka and Crescent City
- Oregon Coast - between Crescent City and the Oregon/California border
Southbound
- Eureka - between Crescent City and Eureka
- San Francisco - between Eureka and the Golden Gate Bridge
- San Jose - between Van Ness Avenue and San Jose
- Los Angeles - between San Jose and the Four Level Interchange
- Santa Ana - between the Four Level Interchange and the East Los Angeles Interchange
| Preceded by terminus |
U.S. Route 101 California |
Succeeded by Oregon |
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Main U.S. Routes | ||||||||||||||||||
| 1 | 2 | 3 | 4 | 5 | 6 | 7 | 8 | 9 | 10 | 11 | 12 | 13 | 14 | 15 | 16 | 17 | 18 | 19 | |
| 20 | 21 | 22 | 23 | 24 | 25 | 26 | 27 | 28 | 29 | 30 | 31 | 32 | 33 | 34 | 35 | 36 | 37 | 38 | |
| 40 | 41 | 42 | 43 | 44 | 45 | 46 | 48 | 49 | 50 | 51 | 52 | 53 | 54 | 55 | 56 | 57 | 58 | 59 | |
| 60 | 61 | 62 | 63 | 64 | 65 | 66 | 67 | 68 | 69 | 70 | 71 | 72 | 73 | 74 | 75 | 76 | 77 | 78 | 79 |
| 80 | 81 | 82 | 83 | 84 | 85 | 87 | 89 | 90 | 91 | 92 | 93 | 94 | 95 | 96 | 97 | 98 | 99 | ||
| 101 | 163 | 400 | 412 | 425 | |||||||||||||||
| Lists | U.S. Routes - Bannered - Divided - Replaced | ||||||||||||||||||
