Interstate 405 (California)

Interstate 405 (abbreviated I-405, and colloquially referred to as The 405 or the four-oh-five), is one of the principal north-south interstate highways in Southern California, and the major bypass of Interstate 5 running through the Greater Los Angeles Area. The entire 405 is the northern segment of the "San Diego Freeway" despite running no less than 75 miles from downtown San Diego. I-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, and the most congested in the United States. It has played a crucial role in the development of dozens of cities and suburbs along its route through the Greater Los Angeles area.

Route description

The 405 begins at the El Toro Y interchange with Interstate 5 in southeastern Irvine. It then runs northwest through Orange County to Long Beach in Los Angeles County. The freeway then roughly follows the outline of the Pacific coast varying between five and ten miles inland before crossing over the Sepulveda Pass in the Santa Monica Mountains. I-405 then travels due north through the San Fernando Valley before terminating with I-5 in the Mission Hills district of Los Angeles.

The San Diego Freeway, close to the interchange with the Ventura Freeway (U.S. Route 101).

San Diego Freeway southbound near the intersection with the Santa Monica Freeway (Interstate 10).

Major cities Bolded cities are officially-designated control cities for signs
San Diego (southbound; via I-5) Long Beach LAX Airport Santa Monica Sacramento (northbound; via I-5)

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 (U.S. Route 101) and with the Santa Monica Freeway (Interstate 10) 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.

Points of interest along the 405

There are a number of points of interest that 405 passes by or connects to. For transportation, these include, in the order passed in the direction from south to north, are John Wayne Airport in Orange County, Long Beach Municipal Airport and Los Angeles International Airport. With connections, it reaches very close to the Port of Long Beach and the Port of Los Angeles.

For commerce and recreation, it passes more than ten California state beaches, as well as many owned by counties and municipalities, and many tourist-heavy beach cities, as well as Century City a high-rise office park and Marina del Rey.

Some of the educational institutions it passes near to include the California State Universities at Dominguez Hills, Long Beach, and Northridge; the University of California at Irvine and Los Angeles and Loyola Marymount University. Some cultural facilites it is near include The J. Paul Getty Center and the Skirball Cultural Center.

Southbound 405 approaching the Getty Center

Legal Definition

Legal Definition of Route 405: California Streets and Highways Code, Chapter 2, Article 3, Section 615 Template:CAFES

History

Interstate 405 was approved as a chargeable interstate in 1955. It begun construction in 1957 and the first section was opened in 1961 signed as SR 7 which is mostly, north of LAX Airport. I-405 sections west of Interstate 605 (Los Alamitos Curve) were done before 1965, and the newest section was done in 1969, covering most of Orange County. The freeway from present-day Interstate 10 to Interstate 5 near San Fernando was once known as the Sepulveda Freeway as it was named for the L.A. district now known as North Hills.

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.

Other events

Following the 1966 UCLA-USC rivalry game, USC was voted into the Rose Bowl despite UCLA defeating the Trojans and both teams having only one loss. UCLA students protested by blocking the Northbound 405 lanes at Wilshire Boulevard.

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.

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.

Exit list

County	Location	Postmile		#	Destinations	Notes
		County	State
Orange	Irvine	ORA 0.00	0.00		I-5 south (San Diego Freeway) – San Diego	Southbound exit and northbound entrance; south end of I-405
		ORA 0.00	0.00	1A	Lake Forest Drive (Irvine Spectrum Center)	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		ORA 0.00	0.00	1B	Bake Parkway	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		ORA 0.95	0.95	1C	Irvine Center Drive	Signed as exit 1 northbound
		ORA 1.80	1.80	2	SR 133 (Laguna Freeway) – Laguna Beach	No northbound exit to SR 133 north
		ORA 2.88	2.88	3	Shady Canyon Drive, Sand Canyon Avenue
		ORA 3.95	3.95	4	Jeffrey Road, University Drive
		ORA 5.62	5.62	5	Culver Drive
		ORA 6.92	6.92	7	Jamboree Road
		ORA 7.80	7.80	8	MacArthur Boulevard – John Wayne Airport
	Costa Mesa	ORA 8.75	8.75	9A	SR 55 (Costa Mesa Freeway) – Anaheim, Riverside	No southbound exit to SR 55 south or northbound entrance from SR 55 north
		ORA 9.51	9.51	9B	Bristol Street, Anton Boulevard, Avenue of the Arts	No southbound exit to Anton Boulevard or Avenue of the Arts
		ORA 10.29	10.29	10	SR 73 south (Corona Del Mar Freeway) to SR 55 south (Costa Mesa Freeway) – San Diego via San Joaquin Hills Toll Road	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		ORA 10.75	10.75	11A	South Coast Drive, Fairview Road	Signed as exit 11 northbound; no southbound exit to South Coast Drive
		ORA 11.45	11.45	11B	Harbor Boulevard – Costa Mesa	Signed as exit 11 northbound
	Fountain Valley	ORA 12.41	12.41	12	Euclid Street, Newhope Street
		ORA 13.78	13.78	14	Brookhurst Street – Fountain Valley
		ORA 14.82	14.82	15A	Warner Avenue east	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
	Huntington Beach	ORA 15.21	15.21	15B	Magnolia Street, Warner Avenue west	Signed as exit 15 northbound
		ORA 16.54	16.54	16	SR 39 (Beach Boulevard) – Westminster, Huntington Beach
	Westminster	ORA 17.75 ORA 17.94	17.75 17.94	18	Bolsa Avenue, Golden West Street
		ORA 19.16	19.16	19	Westminster Avenue, Springdale Street
		ORA 20.74	20.74	21	SR 22 east (Garden Grove Freeway) – Garden GroveModule:Jct warning: "road" parameter is deprecated	South end of SR 22 overlap
	Seal Beach	ORA 22.64	22.64	22	Seal Beach Boulevard, Los Alamitos Boulevard
		ORA 23.27	23.27	23	SR 22 west – Long BeachModule:Jct warning: "road" parameter is deprecated	North end of SR 22 overlap
		ORA 24.05	24.05	24A	I-605 north (San Gabriel River Freeway) – Irwindale	Signed as exit 24 northbound
Los Angeles	Long Beach	LA 0.45	24.63	24B	Studebaker Road	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		LA 1.11	25.29	25	Palo Verde Avenue
		LA 1.64	25.82	26A	Woodruff Avenue	No southbound exit
		LA 2.18	26.36	26B	Bellflower Boulevard	Signed as exit 26 southbound
		LA 3.33	27.51	27	SR 19Module:Jct warning: "road" parameter is deprecated – Long Beach Airport
		LA 4.88	29.06	29	Spring Street, Cherry Avenue – Signal Hill	Signed as exits 29A (south) and 29B (north)
		LA 5.39	29.57	29C	Orange Avenue
		LA 6.08	30.36	30A	Atlantic Avenue
		LA 6.34	30.52	30B	Long Beach Boulevard
		LA 6.70	30.88	32A	Pacific Avenue	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		LA 7.60	31.78	32A	I-710 north (Long Beach Freeway) – Pasadena	Signed as exit 32C southbound
		LA 7.60	31.78	32B	I-710 south (Long Beach Freeway) – Long Beach
		LA 8.06	32.24	32C	Hughes Way, Santa Fe Avenue	Signed as exit 32D southbound
		LA 8.19	32.37	33A	Alameda Street (SR 47)
	Carson	LA 9.56	33.74	33B	Wilmington Avenue
		LA 10.54	34.72	34	Carson Street, Avalon Boulevard south
		LA 11.22	35.40	35	Avalon Boulevard – Carson
		LA 12.60	36.78	36	Main Street	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
	Los Angeles	LA 12.96	37.14	37A	I-110 (Harbor Freeway) – San Pedro, Los Angeles	Signed as exit 37 northbound
		LA 13.28	37.46	37B	Vermont Avenue	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		LA 13.83	38.01	38A	Normandie Avenue – Gardena
		LA 14.40	38.58	38B	Western Avenue (SR 213)
	Torrance	LA 15.45	39.63	39	Crenshaw Boulevard – Torrance
		LA 16.57	40.75	40A	Artesia Boulevard - Redondo Beach	Signed as exit 40 northbound; Former SR 91
		LA 16.88	41.06	40B	Redondo Beach Boulevard	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
	Lawndale	LA 17.59	41.77	42A	SR 107 (Hawthorne Boulevard) – Lawndale
		LA 18.23	42.41	42B	Inglewood Avenue
	Hawthorne	LA 19.21	43.39	43	Rosecrans Avenue – Manhattan Beach	Signed as exits 43A (east) and 43B (west) southbound
		LA 20.17	44.35	44	El Segundo Boulevard – El Segundo
		LA R20.42 LA R21.18	44.60 45.36	45A	I-105 (Century Freeway) – El Segundo, Norwalk, Los Angeles International Airport	Signed as exit 45 southbound
	Los Angeles	LA 21.22	45.40	45B	Imperial Highway	Southbound exit is part of exit 46
	Inglewood	LA 22.22	46.40	46	Century Boulevard – Los Angeles International Airport
		LA 23.36 LA 23.64	47.54 47.82	47	Manchester Boulevard, La Cienega Boulevard, Florence Avenue	Former SR 42
	Los Angeles	LA 24.27	48.45	48	La Tijera Boulevard
		LA 24.56	48.74	49A	Howard Hughes Parkway, Sepulveda Boulevard	Signed as exit 49 southbound
	Culver City	LA 25.96	50.14	49B	Sepulveda Boulevard, Slauson Avenue	Southbound exit is part of exit 50B
				50A		Signed as exit 50B southbound
				50B	Jefferson Boulevard	Signed as exit 50A southbound
		LA 27.20	51.38	51	Culver Boulevard, Washington Boulevard – Culver City
		LA 27.95	52.13	52	Venice Boulevard (SR 187), Washington Boulevard
	Los Angeles	LA 29.16	53.34	53A	National Boulevard	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
		LA 29.53	53.71	53B	I-10 (Santa Monica Freeway) – Santa Monica, Los Angeles	Signed as exit 53 southbound
		LA 30.18	54.36	54	Olympic Boulevard, Pico Boulevard	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		LA 30.87	55.05	55A	SR 2 (Santa Monica Boulevard)
		LA 31.54	55.58	55B	Wilshire Boulevard	Signed as exits 55B (east) and 55C (west) southbound
				56	Waterford Street	Former southbound exit and entrance
		LA 32.50	56.68	56	Montana Avenue	Northbound exit only
		LA 33.00	57.18	57A	Sunset Boulevard	Signed as exit 57 southbound
		LA 33.20	57.38	57B	Moraga Drive	Northbound exit and entrance
		LA 34.76	57.94	59	Getty Center Drive	Accessible via Sepulveda Boulevard
		LA 36.72	60.90	61	Mulholland Drive, Skirball Center Drive
		LA 38.59 LA 39.00	62.77 63.18	63A	Ventura Boulevard, Sepulveda Boulevard, Valley Vista Boulevard
		LA 39.46	63.64	63B	US 101 (Ventura Freeway) – Ventura, Los Angeles
		LA 40.29	64.47	64	Burbank Boulevard
		LA 41.36	65.54	65	Victory Boulevard – Van Nuys
		LA 42.36	66.54	66	Sherman Way	Signed as exits 66A (east) and 66B (west) northbound
		LA 43.76	67.94	68	Roscoe Boulevard – Panorama City
		LA 44.74	68.92	69	Nordhoff Street
		LA 46.24	70.42	70	Devonshire Street – Granada Hills
		LA 46.25	70.43	71A		Signed as exit 71 southbound; no southbound exit to SR 118 east or northbound entrance from SR 118 west
		LA 47.24	71.42	71B	San Fernando Mission Boulevard – San Fernando	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
		LA 47.75	71.93	72	Rinaldi Street – Mission Hills
		LA 48.65	72.83		I-5 north (Golden State Freeway) – Sacramento	Northbound exit and southbound entrance; north end of I-405