Interstate 210 (California)
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The Foothill Freeway is the name assigned to Interstate 210, a 'bypass' interstate about 70 miles (110 km) long located in the Greater Los Angeles metropolitan area. Bypassing central Los Angeles via a generally west to east alignment, this freeway links many of the suburban cities and communities that surround Los Angeles to its north and east. This freeway also allows access to the San Fernando Valley, without having to pass through the congestion of Downtown Los Angeles.
As its name implies, its alignment is along the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains. The freeway is not complete; there is currently a 10-mile (16 km) gap in San Bernardino County. After a lengthy hiatus, construction on the segment of the freeway between its junction with the Orange Freeway (CA/SR-57) in San Dimas and the Ontario Freeway (I-15) in Rancho Cucamonga was finally completed in late 2003, althought that portion is presently signed as CA-210 rather than I-210. At this time, the segment between the Ontario (I-15) and Escondido (I-215) freeways in San Bernardino is ongoing and is expected to be completed by 2010. When completed, the freeway will provide another link between the communities of the Inland Empire and the Los Angeles area.
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The Route
The Foothill Freeway's western terminus is at its junction with the Golden State Freeway (I-5), near the Sylmar district of Los Angeles, in the foothills separating the San Fernando and Santa Clarita valleys. From that point, the freeway's alignment is generally diagonal as it heads southeast through the northeastern San Fernando Valley and the Crescenta Valley before turning due south towards the junction with the Ventura Freeway (CA-134) in Pasadena. At this interchange, the number assignment of I-210, somewhat confusingly, 'transfers' to the alignment of CA-134. The physical alignment of the freeway continues south, however, ending at California Boulevard; this confusing alignment is actually the unsigned Northern stub of the unfinished I-710, intended to junction with the 210. The Foothill Freeway then becomes an east-west freeway (the CA-134 number assignment is dropped east of the interchange). The freeway's alignment continues east until its junction with Interstate 15. About four miles (6.4 kM) east of the interchange, the freeway ends at Sierra Avenue in Fontana (as of early 2005).
Prior to late 2003, the Foothill Freeway's 'numbered' alignment 'transferred' to what is now the Orange Freeway (CA-57) in San Dimas - although the physical alignment, as in Pasadena continued, in this case, eastward as California State Route 30 (CA-30). Prior to late 2003, I-210's alignment was north-south after the junction in San Dimas and terminated at its intersection with the San Bernardino Freeway (I-10), the Orange Freeway (CA-57), and the Chino Valley Freeway (CA-71) at the Kellogg Interchange complex.
However, in late 2003, a 20-mile (32 km) segment of the Foothill Freeway east of San Dimas was completed and the I-210 numbered assignment was transferred back to the east-west segment noted above, and the CA-57 number assignment replaced the I-210 number assigment.
The segment of the Foothill Freeway between its western terminus near Sylmar and what is now a southern spur in Glendora is signed as Interstate 210. (The former southern spur has since been re-signed as CA/SR-57, although it has not yet been designated as part of the Orange Freeway.) The eastern extension is signed as California State Route 210 between the southern spur and the Escondido Freeway, and as CA/SR-30 from there to its eastern terminus in Redlands. Caltrans has petitioned the AASHTO, the federal body that oversees the interstate highway system, to re-sign the entire Foothill Freeway as I-210; this petition is unlikely to succeed until the eastern extension is complete.
The removal of the leg now signed as CA-57 gives I-210 an uncommon distinction: it is a 3-digit spur route that does not connect to its parent route, I-10. Moreover, the continued lack of I-710 completion means that I-210 does not even connect to another spur route of its parent (another I-X10, for example), but rather to those of two other interstates entirely, I-5 and I-15. A resigning of the route to an I-X05 or I-X15 designation is extremely unlikely, as this anomaly should be remedied when the plans for converting CA-30 to I-210 are completed.
Construction History
Segments of Interstate 210 were constructed over a course of several decades as follows (date of completion in parenthesis):
- (1971) From the interchange with the Orange Freeway (CA/SR-57) in San Dimas to Michellinda Avenue in Pasadena;
- (1974) The interchange with the Golden State Freeway (Interstate 5) in San Fernando to the interchange with the Simi Valley Freeway (CA/SR-118) in Sylmar;
- (1977) Foothill Boulevard in Tujunga to the Simi Valley Freeway (CA/SR-118) in Sylmar - except one section over the Tujunga Wash which was not opened to freeway traffic until 1981;
- Currently under construction is the segment between Alder Avenue and the west terminus of CA/SR-30 at Highland Avenue in San Bernardino. At the completion of this segment, Interstate 210 will be finally complete.
In the fall of 1973, a bridge under construction spanning the Arroyo Seco in Pasadena, California collapsed, killing several workers. The following year, Universal Studios used condemed houses ready to be bulldozed for a section of the freeway in Pasadena in the disaster film "Earthquake (movie)." From 1975 to 1981, this uncompleted section of Interstate 210 (and the intersecting Glendale Freeway) was used often as a filming location. Some films and television shows filmed on this section include the theatrical films "Death Race 2000" and "Corvette Summer," as well as the made for television films "Smash Up on Interstate 5" and "The Great American Traffic Jam." Perhaps most famously, the American television series "CHiPs" made extensive use of the Interstate 210 / CA/SR-118 interchange, often conducting major action sequences on the closed freeway. This section was finally opened in 1981 once the Tujunga Wash bridge was completed.
State Law
Legal Definition of Route 210
510. Route 210 is from: (a) Route 5 near Tunnel Station to Route 57 near San Dimas via the vicinity of San Fernando. (b) Route 57 near San Dimas to Route 10 in Redlands via the vicinity of Highland.
Source: California Streets and Highways Code, Chapter 2, Article 3, Section 510
Freeway and Expressway System
The California freeway and expressway system shall include:[...] Routes [...] 210, [...] in their entirety.
Source: California Streets and Highways Code, Chapter 2, Article 2, Section 253.1
Scenic Route
The state scenic highway system shall also include:[...] Route 210 from: (a) Route 5 near Tunnel Station to Route 134. (b) Route 330 near Highland to Route 10 near Redlands.
Source: California Streets and Highways Code, Chapter 2, Article 2.5, Section 263.8
Legal Definition of the Foothill Freeway
Route 210 from Route 5 to Route 10 in Redlands. [Senate Concurrent Resolution 29, Chapter 128 (1991)]
Source: 2004 Named Freeways, Highways, Structures and Other Appurtenances in California (PDF)
External links
- WestCoast Roads: Interstate 210
- Cal-NExUS: Route 210 East
- Cal-NExUS: Route 210 West
- Caltrans: Interstate 210 highway conditions
- The Big Highways Page: California Route 210
- California Highways: Interstate 210
- Interstate Guide: Interstate 210 California
- SANBAG Projects: State Route 210 - Foothill Freeway
Cities/Communities located along the Foothill Freeway (west to east)
- Sylmar
- San Fernando
- Lake View Terrace
- Sunland
- Tujunga
- Glendale
- La Crescenta-Montrose
- La Cañada Flintridge
- Altadena
- Pasadena
- Arcadia
- Monrovia
- Duarte
- Irwindale
- Azusa
- Glendora
- San Dimas
- La Verne
- Claremont
- Upland
- Rancho Cucamonga
- Fontana
- Rialto
- San Bernardino
- Highland
- Redlands
Major Freeways/Highways intersecting with the Foothill Freeway (west to east)
Golden State Freeway in Sylmar (district of Los Angeles) at 34° 18′59″N, 118° 29′24″W
Ronald Reagan Freeway in Lake View Terrace (district of Los Angeles) at 34° 17′16″N, 118° 24′28″W
Glendale Freeway in Glendale at 34° 12′27″N, 118° 13′03″W
Ventura Freeway in Pasadena at 34° 08′59″N, 118° 09′19″W
Rosemead Boulevard (surface street) in Pasadena at 34° 08′54″N, 118° 04′24″W
San Gabriel River Freeway in Duarte at 34° 08′04″N, 117° 57′28″W
Azusa Avenue (surface street) in Azusa at 34° 07′14″N, 117° 54′27″W
Orange Freeway in Glendora at 34° 07′12″N, 117° 49′27″W
Euclid Avenue (surface street) in Upland (no interchange, however) at 34° 08′05″N, 117° 39′05″W
Ontario Freeway in Rancho Cucamonga at 34° 08′09″N, 117° 29′48″W
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Three-digit Interstates from Interstate 10 |
| I-110 | California - Florida - Louisiana - Mississippi - Texas |
| I-210 | California - Louisiana |
| I-310 | Louisiana |
| I-410 | Texas |
| I-510 | Louisiana |
| I-610 | Louisiana - Texas |
| I-710 | California |
| I-910 | Louisiana |
| past/ future |
I-110: California - I-210: Alabama - I-310: Louisiana - I-410: Arizona - Louisiana - I-510: Arizona - I-710: Arizona |
