Ventura Freeway

Ventura Freeway
Route information
Maintained by Caltrans
Major junctions
West end:	SR 1 near Ventura
	SR 23 in Thousand Oaks I-405 in Sherman Oaks US 101 / SR 134 / SR 170 in North Hollywood SR 2 in Glendale
To:	I-210 / I-710 in Pasadena
Highway system
Southern California freeways
State highways in California(list • pre-1964) History • Unconstructed • Deleted • Freeway • Scenic ← SR 133 134 SR 135 →

The Ventura Freeway is a freeway in southern California running from Ventura to Pasadena. It is the principal east-west route (designated north-south) through Ventura County and in the southern San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County. From Ventura to its intersection with the Hollywood Freeway in the southeastern San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles (the Hollywood Split), it is signed as U.S. Route 101 which was built in the late 1950s and opened on April 5, 1960. East of the Hollywood Freeway intersection, it is signed as State Route 134 which was built by 1971.

Prior to the construction of a new alignment in 1971, the portion east of the Golden State Freeway was known as the Colorado Freeway in reference to nearby Colorado Boulevard, a historic thoroughfare in Pasadena and northeastern Los Angeles.

Route description

The freeway begins southeast of La Conchita, which alternates between a freeway, an expressway, and an ordinary divided highway previous to this point. East of this point, U.S. 101 is known as the Ventura Freeway. It travels eastward through the citrus orchards and strawberry fields of the Oxnard Plain before ascending a short, steep pass into the Conejo Valley. Continuing eastward through the northern Santa Monica Mountains, it crosses the Ventura/Los Angeles county line before entering the San Fernando Valley. The freeway continues eastward along the valley's southern rim, crossing the 405 and 5 freeways and the Los Angeles River. After passing through Downtown Glendale south of the Verdugo Mountains, it continues along the southern slope of the San Rafael Hills between Glendale and Eagle Rock before entering Pasadena near the Arroyo Seco and terminating at the Foothill Freeway.

The Ventura Freeway suffers from severe congestion. Its intersection with the San Diego Freeway, in Sherman Oaks, is consistently rated as one of the five most congested interchanges in the nation.^{[citation needed]} Where it meets the Hollywood Freeway at the Hollywood Split junction, it is also notably congested. During events at the Rose Bowl, the freeway's eastern portions often resemble a parking lot.

The east-west geographical alignment of the Ventura Freeway and the overall north-south (Washington-to-California) designation of U.S. 101 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.^{[citation needed]}

California State Route 134

Westbound SR 134 at I-5 in Glendale.

State Route 134 is part of the California Freeway and Expressway System.

The road is the main connector from the San Fernando Valley and points north to the San Gabriel Valley and points east. Presently, future Interstate 710 dead-ends at California Blvd and is signed as State Route 710. Residents of South Pasadena have blocked efforts to extend Interstate 710 north to California Boulevard from its current end at Valley Boulevard north of Interstate 10 near the Alhambra/Los Angeles city limit. Signs on SR 134 and I-210 refer to the SR 710 stub in Pasadena as TO State Route 110, because exiting left from the Route 710 stub onto California Blvd and turning right on Arroyo Parkway will take you directly to SR 110, which is Pasadena's only direct freeway link to Downtown Los Angeles.

The Interstate 5 offramp at Colorado St. is actually old SR 134, and there are still mileposts that refer to it as such. Old SR 134 followed Colorado St. through Glendale and Colorado Boulevard in Eagle Rock to the ramp connecting Colorado Boulevard and Figueroa Street to the Ventura Freeway. Old SR 134 continued onto the ramp and then onto what is presently the Ventura Freeway to Orange Grove Boulevard in Pasadena. The Colorado Boulevard/Figueroa Street ramps plus the segment of freeway between the ramps and just east of Orange Grove Boulevard were previously known as the Colorado Freeway.

History

The interchange of SR 134 and Interstate 5 is dedicated "Gene Autry Memorial Interchange". Autry's Museum of the American West is located near the interchange in Griffith Park.

In popular culture

The group America had a top 10 hit in 1972 with the song "Ventura Highway" which the group said was about their dreams of moving to Southern California while living in Nebraska.

The song "A Sorta Fairytale" by Tori Amos begins with the line "On my way up north, up on the Ventura". Later in the song, Amos writes of the "Things you said that day up on the 101."

Michael Jackson wrote the song Billie Jean while driving down the Ventura Freeway.

A dog, named Terry, who played Toto in the 1939 film, The Wizard of Oz, was buried in 1945 somewhere beneath today's Ventura Freeway.

Legal definition

The Ventura Freeway is Routes 101 and 134 from Route 5 to the Santa Barbara County line. This does not include the portion of Route 134 between Route 5 and Route 210 even though local usage extends the name over this portion of freeway. Starting at the 210 junction in Pasadena, highway signs indicate "Ventura" as the destination.

Sign marking the "Screaming Eagles Highway"

Assembly Concurrent Resolution 54, Chapter 85 in 2003 also designated Route 101 in Ventura County as the "Screaming Eagles Highway". This honors the 101st Airborne Division of the United States Army, which formed on July 23, 1918 and subsequently has been involved in every major war that the United States has participated in since then.

Exit list

Note: Except where prefixed with a letter, postmiles were measured in 1964, based on the alignment as it existed at that time, and do not necessarily reflect current mileage. The numbers reset at county lines; the start and end postmiles in each county are given in the county column.

This exit list proceeds from east to west, since the majority of the freeway is the north-south US 101.

County	Location	Postmile	Exit	Destinations	Notes
Los Angeles LA 134 R13.34-0.00 101 11.75-38.19	Pasadena	R13.34		I-210 east (Foothill Freeway) – San Bernardino	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
				Fair Oaks Avenue, Marengo Avenue	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		R13.34	13B	I-210 west (Foothill Freeway) – San Fernando	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
		R13.34	13B	To SR 110 (SR 710 south) / Del Mar Boulevard, California Boulevard
		R12.97	13A	Colorado Boulevard, Orange Grove Boulevard	Former SR 248
	See State Route 134
	Los Angeles	0.86	1D	Cahuenga Boulevard – Hollywood	Signed as exit 1 eastbound; no westbound entrance
		0.51	1C	Lankershim Boulevard – North Hollywood	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
		0.35		Vineland Avenue	No westbound exit
		134 0.00 101 11.75	1B	SR 170 north (Hollywood Freeway) – Sacramento	West/northbound exit and east/southbound entrance
			West/north end of SR 134; east/south end of US 101 overlap
				US 101 south (Hollywood Freeway) – Los Angeles	East/southbound exit and west/northbound entrance
		11.83	13A	Tujunga Avenue	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		12.85	14	Laurel Canyon Boulevard – Studio City
		13.88	15	Coldwater Canyon Avenue
		14.89	16	Woodman Avenue
		15.91	17	Van Nuys Boulevard
		16.94	18	Sepulveda Boulevard	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
		17.17	19A	I-405 (San Diego Freeway) – Santa Monica, Sacramento
		17.50	19B	Haskell Avenue	No southbound entrance
		18.61	20	Hayvenhurst Avenue	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
		19.22	21	Balboa Boulevard – Encino
		20.23	22	White Oak Avenue
		21.25	23	Reseda Boulevard
		22.25	24	Tampa Avenue
		23.26	25	Winnetka Avenue – Woodland Hills
		24.31	26A	De Soto Avenue, Serrania Avenue	Signed as exit 26 southbound
		24.85	26B	Canoga Avenue	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
		25.34	27	SR 27 (Topanga Canyon Boulevard) / Ventura Boulevard	Signed as exits 27A (north) and 27B (south) northbound
		25.76	27C	Shoup Avenue	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
		26.45	28	Fallbrook Avenue	Southbound exit only
		26.86	28	Woodlake Avenue	Northbound exit and entrance
		27.36	29	Mulholland Drive, Valley Circle Boulevard
	Calabasas	28.29	30	Parkway Calabasas
		31.06	32	Las Virgenes Road – Malibu Canyon
		31.92	33	Lost Hills Road
	Agoura Hills	32.79	34	Liberty Canyon Road
		33.69	35	Chesebro Road – Agoura Hills
		35.04	36	Kanan Road
		36.18	38	Reyes Adobe Road
	Westlake Village	37.54	39	Lindero Canyon Road
Ventura VEN 0.00-R43.62	Thousand Oaks	0.70	40	SR 23 south (Westlake Boulevard)	South end of SR 23 overlap
		1.62	41	Hampshire Road
		3.02	43A	Rancho Road	Signed as exit 43B northbound
		3.11	43B	SR 23 north (Moorpark Freeway) – Fillmore	North end of SR 23 overlap; signed as exit 43A northbound
		4.06	44	Moorpark Road – Thousand Oaks
		5.05	45	Lynn Road
		6.19	46	Ventu Park Road – Newbury Park
		7.02	47A	Rancho Conejo Boulevard, Borchard Road	Signed as exits 47A (Rancho Conejo Boulevard) and 47B (Borchard Road) northbound
		7.89	47B	Wendy Drive – Newbury Park	Signed as exit 47C northbound
	Camarillo	10.74	50	Camarillo Springs Road – Camarillo Grove County Park
		12.30	52	Santa Rosa Road, Pleasant Valley Road
		13.75	53A	Flynn Road, Dawson Drive
		13.85	53B	SR 34 (Lewis Road)
		14.80	54	Carmen Drive – Camarillo
		15.89	55	Las Posas Road
		17.75	57	Central Avenue
	Oxnard	19.17	59	Del Norte Boulevard
		20.08	60	Santa Clara Avenue, Rice Avenue
		21.01	61	Rose Avenue
		22.01	62A	SR 232 (Vineyard Avenue) – Oxnard
		22.73	62B	SR 1 south (Oxnard Boulevard)	South end of SR 1 overlap
			63A	Wagon Wheel Road	Southbound exit only
	Ventura	R23.45	63B	Johnson Drive – Montalvo	Signed as exit 63 northbound
		R24.65	64	Victoria Avenue – Channel Islands Harbor
		25.97	65	Telephone Road
		26.39	66A	SR 126 east (Santa Paula Freeway) – Santa Paula	Signed as exit 66 southbound; no southbound entrance
		26.72	66B	Main Street (US 101 Bus. north) – Ventura	No southbound exit
		28.45	68	Seaward Avenue
		29.45	69	Vista del Mar Drive, Sanjon Road	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
		30.15	70A	California Street, Ventura Avenue
		30.91	70B	SR 33 north (Ojai Freeway) – Ojai
		31.50	71	Main Street (US 101 Bus. south) – Ventura	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		R32.70	72	State Beaches (SR 1 north)	North end of SR 1 overlap; northbound exit and southbound entrance
		R38.98	78	Seacliff (SR 1 south)	South end of SR 1 overlap
		T40.61	North end of freeway
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi      Concurrency terminus •      Closed/former •      Incomplete access •      Unopened

On State Route 134

Note: Except where prefixed with a letter, postmiles were measured in 1964, based on the alignment as it existed at that time, and do not necessarily reflect current mileage.

The entire route is in Los Angeles County.

Location	Postmile	Exit	Destinations	Notes
Los Angeles	0.00	1A	US 101 north (Ventura Freeway) – Ventura	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
	0.00	1B	SR 170 north (Hollywood Freeway) – Sacramento	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
			Vineland Avenue	Eastbound exit and entrance only
	0.51	1C	Lankershim Boulevard – North Hollywood	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
	0.86	1D	Cahuenga Boulevard	Signed as exit 1 eastbound; no westbound entrance
Burbank	1.82	2	Pass Avenue – Burbank	Eastbound exit only
	2.11	2	Hollywood Way	No eastbound exit
	2.90	3	Bob Hope Drive, Buena Vista Street
Los Angeles	3.81	4	Forest Lawn Drive
	4.81	5A	Victory Boulevard	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
Glendale	R5.47	5B	I-5 south (Golden State Freeway) – Los Angeles	Signed as exit 5 westbound
	R5.47	5	I-5 north (Golden State Freeway) – Sacramento, Burbank Airport	Eastbound exit is via exit 5A
	R6.18	6	San Fernando Road
	R6.57	7A	Pacific Avenue
	R6.96- R7.13	7B	Central Avenue, Brand Boulevard
	R7.87	8	Glendale Avenue
	R8.81	9A	Harvey Drive	Signed as exit 9B eastbound
	R8.96	9B	SR 2 (Glendale Freeway)	Signed as exit 9A eastbound
Los Angeles	R11.44	11	Figueroa Street, Colorado Boulevard	Figueroa Street was former SR 159 south; Colorado Boulevard was former SR 248 east; westbound exit and eastbound entrance for Colorado Boulevard only
Pasadena	R12.36	12	San Rafael Avenue, Linda Vista Avenue	Linda Vista Avenue was former SR 159 north
	R12.97	13A	Colorado Boulevard, Orange Grove Boulevard	Colorado Boulevard was former SR 248 west
	R13.34	13B	I-210 west (Foothill Freeway) – San Fernando	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance; former SR 118 west
	R13.34	13B	Del Mar Boulevard, California Boulevard (SR 710 south) to SR 110 south	No exit number westbound
			Fair Oaks Avenue, Marengo Avenue	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
			I-210 east (Foothill Freeway) – San Bernardino	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi      Concurrency terminus •      Closed/former •      Incomplete access •      Unopened

See also

• Colorado Street

External links

• California @ WestCoastRoads - State Route 134
• Caltrans: Route 134 highway conditions
• California Highways: SR 134