U.S. Highway 101

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.

Jump to: navigation, search
For the country-western band, see Highway 101 (band).
US-101
Primary Highway

Length:

1519 mi (2430 km)
Major cities/towns (over 100,000 pop.): Los Angeles, CA
Oxnard, CA
Ventura, CA
Santa Barbara, CA
Salinas, CA
San Jose, CA
San Francisco, CA
Olympia, WA
Commissioned: 1926
Decommissioned: None
Direction: North-South
States traversed: California
Oregon
Washington
MAJOR JUNCTIONS
JUNCTION MILEPOST
I-5 LA 0.00
I-405 LA 17.15
I-280 I-680 SCL 34.87
I-880 SCL 38.30
I-380 SM 20.71
I-280 SF 2.28
I-80 SF 4.36/4.54
I-480 SF 6.71
I-480 SF 9.40
I-580 MRN 10.00
US 199 DN 30.81
California/ Oregon State Line DN 46.49
US 20 ?
US 26 ?
?
US 30 ?
Oregon/ Washington State Line ?
US 12 ?
I-5 WA 366
Legend
  deleted (no longer in system)   unconstructed
  closed   crossing with no access
  begin/end concurrency, bold route is carried through
  a bold route on white background indicates termini.
BROWSE STATE HWYS
CA-100 CA-102
OR-99 OR-103
WA-100 WA-102

U.S. Highway 101, or U.S. Route 101 (often just U.S. 101), is a north-south highway that is aligned along the Pacific West Coast of the United States. Its counterpart is U.S. Highway 1 (U.S. 1) aligned along the Atlantic East Coast of the United States (not to be confused with California State Highway 1 (CA/SR-1), also known as the "Pacific Coast Highway"). U.S. Route 101 is often referred to as the Oregon Coast Highway in Oregon, and as the Pacific Highway in parts of Washington and California. Colloquially, the highway is also referred to as The 101 by residents of Southern California or simply 101 by residents of Northern California and Oregon.

U.S. Route 101 once was the major north-south link along the Pacific coast. It has been replaced in importance by the highways of the Interstate Highway System, specifically Interstate 5 (I-5), which are more modern in their physical design. Note that this highway is still in use as an alternative to the Interstates throughout its entire length. One of the notable exceptions is where the alignment of I-5 is on the alignment of U.S. Route 101 (that is, the pavement is the same but the route number changed to I-5 and U.S. Route 101 was decommissioned) beginning about one mile (1.6km) east of downtown Los Angeles and continuing south to San Diego.

In Southern California, the highway is a heavily traveled commuter route serving the west side of the greater Los Angeles area. The route follows the Hollywood Freeway west from Downtown Los Angeles through the Cahuenga Pass before turning west onto the Ventura Freeway. Communities along the alignment include Hollywood and the southern edge of the San Fernando Valley, and the cities of Burbank, Thousand Oaks, and Agoura Hills. In the San Francisco Bay Area, it is one of the major commuter routes carrying residents of Marin County and San Mateo County (along with Interstate 280) into downtown San Francisco, as well as Silicon Valley. The route crosses the San Francisco Bay, from the city of San Francisco to Marin County, over the Golden Gate Bridge.

Contents

Route summary

California

U.S. 101 Shield in California
Enlarge
U.S. 101 Shield in California

The south terminus of U.S. Route 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." 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. Between this interchange and the junction with the California State Route 134 (CA/SR-134) and California State Route 170 (CA/SR-170), US-101 is known as the Hollywood Freeway. At the junction with CA/SR-134 and CA/SR-170 (known as the Hollywood Split) 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. 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 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.

Beginning at Ventura, the highway 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. North of Ventura the highway 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 ones were removed in the early 1990s when the section through downtown Santa Barbara were constructed.) Communities and cities along the alignment north of Ventura include Santa Barbara, San Luís Obispo, Salinas, Gilroy, San Jose, Palo Alto, and San Francisco. The highway joins California State Route 46 (CA/SR-46) for about three miles through Paso Robles. The highway also passes through the Gaviota Tunnel 1 mile north of the point where the road heads due north.

See the page for the California State Route 1 (CA/SR-1) "Pacific Coast Highway", that runs along the Pacific coastline in California, parallel, and to the west of, U.S. Route 101, for more information.

Highway 101 sign in San Francisco.
Enlarge
Highway 101 sign in San Francisco.

From at least Gilroy to South San Jose the freeway is called the South Valley Freeway. From San Jose to San Francisco, Highway 101 is also known as the Bayshore Freeway. This segment most likely took its name from the 101A bypass that ran along this path. From the San Francisco county/city line until the junction with Interstate 80 it is named the James Lick Freeway. After that Highway 101 is briefly named Central Freeway before the divided highway ends and traffic follows city streets. Northbound US-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 US-101 traffic is shifted to Richardson, entering The Presidio, where it becomes a divided highway again, joining California State Highway 1 to cross the Golden Gate Bridge into Marin County, where it is known as the Redwood Highway. From there to the Oregon border, Highway 101 is in some places a freeway and in others a two-lane road. A scenic portion of the route is just north of the Golden Gate Bridge and through the Waldo Tunnel, the first of its kind in 300 miles (the other being the Gaviota Tunnel in Santa Barbara County. In Sonoma County, it is 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. Another scenic portion of Highway 101 within California is in Humboldt County, where it travels through Humboldt Redwoods State Park and a portion of the highway is known as the Avenue of the Giants for the huge, centuries-old redwood trees that can be found there. Shortly north of Crescent City 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.


Oregon

It has been suggested that U.S. Highway 101 (Oregon) be merged into this article or section. (Discuss)

Main article: U.S. Highway 101 (Oregon)

Highway 101 enters Oregon four miles south of Brookings, and is seldom out of sight of the Pacific Ocean until it reaches Astoria; the major exception being a significant inland stretch south of Tillamook, Oregon. The stretch between Florence and Yachats is considered one of the more attractive segments of this highway, although there are an abundance of Oregon state parks along the Pacific coast. Because Highway 101 forms the main street of almost all of the coastal towns in Oregon (with the exception of Cannon Beach and others), it is frequently congested and slow. The highway crosses the mouth of the Columbia River over the 4-mile-long Astoria-Megler Bridge at Astoria into Washington, and follows the Columbia downstream to Ilwaco.


The Astoria-Megler Bridge carries US 101 over the Columbia River.
Enlarge
The Astoria-Megler Bridge carries US 101 over the Columbia River.

Washington

From Ilwaco, Highway 101 follows the Pacific coastline as far as Raymond, from which it proceeds directly north to Aberdeen, offering access from this city into the Olympic National Park. While the AAA has designated this segment north and then east to Port Angeles and Sequim as a scenic byway, some clear-cut logging in the early 1990s has diminished the scenic value of the highway where it crosses the Quinault Indian Reservation. An expressway (super 2) goes through Sequim. East of Port Angeles Highway 101 turns southward, leading to Shelton and its northern terminus in Olympia, the state capital. After going through Shelton US 101 turns into a freeway, merging with Washington State Route 8 and finally ending at Interstate 5.

Historic Route(s)

Parts of Historic Route 101 can still be found in San Diego County between Oceanside and La Jolla under different names, including Interstate 5, Pacific Highway, Camino Del Mar, and Torrey Pines Road. All have been decommissioned, but the roadways still exist and are occasionally signed as Historic 101. Most of Historic 101 between Gilroy and San Francisco is still active, either signed as Business 101 or as Highway 82. The 101A bypass, however, is mostly discontinuous and is paralled by the actual freeway, in some cases serving as an access road to the freeway.

Termini

As of 2004, the highway's "northern" terminus is in Olympia, Washington at an intersection with Interstate 5. Roughly east of the interchange with Washington State Route 112, US-101 is signed east/west, and roughly south of the interchange with Washington State Route 20, US-101 is signed north/ south but having turned around 180 degrees. The direct route between the towns of Aberdeen and Olympia is US 12 and Washington State Route 8. Its southern terminus is in Los Angeles, California at the East Los Angeles Interchange, the world's busiest freeway interchange.[1]

States traversed

The highway passes through the following states (north to south):

Related U.S. routes

Trivia

Mentioned in the Phantom Planet song "California", the Jackson Browne song "Running on Empty", the Social Distortion song "Highway 101", and the Hayley and the Vibe song "101."

Lewis Black also mentions the freeway on his "Luther Burbank Performing Arts Center Blues," which was recorded in Santa Rosa, California.

In the video game Sonic Adventure 2, there are two racing levels: "Route 101" (named after US Highway 101) and "Route 280" (named after Interstate 280 (California)). Both highways run through San Francisco, California. San Francisco is also the home of the North American headquarters of Sega, the company that produces the Sonic the Hedgehog video games.

The highway is also featured in Cruis'n USA, a racing game in which players drive across the country.

See also

External links


Primary U.S. Highways
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. Highways - Bannered U.S. Highways
Personal tools
In other languages