California State Route 55
Costa Mesa Freeway | ||||
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Route information | ||||
Maintained by CalTrans | ||||
Length | 18 mi (29 km) | |||
Major junctions | ||||
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Location | ||||
Country | United States | |||
State | California | |||
Highway system | ||||
Los Angeles Freeway Systems | ||||
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State Route 55, mostly traversing the Costa Mesa Freeway (formerly the Newport Freeway) is an 18 mile (30 km) long north-south highway in Orange County, California running between Newport Beach and Anaheim at State Route 91. Starting at Finley Avenue on Newport Boulevard in Newport Beach, 0.3 mile south of State Route 1, Route 55 is a 4-lane expressway for approximately two miles to 19th Street in Costa Mesa. For the remainder of its length, approximately 16 miles, the 55 is a freeway, the Costa Mesa Freeway.
The segment on Newport Boulevard includes a limited-access interchange at State Route 1. The southbound side of the Costa Mesa Freeway does not have a direct link to northbound Interstate 5, the Santa Ana Freeway. Route 55 is known to be crowded due to it being the primary free link from businesses in Irvine to State Route 91, which leads to the residential areas of the Inland Empire and other places northeast of Orange County.
The 55 was the first freeway in Orange County to receive carpool lanes, opened in 1985. The stretch of the 55 between Fair Dr. and 19th Street in Costa Mesa was opened in 1990; plans to extend the 55 freeway south from 19th Street to State Route 1 were never realized.
Control cities
Northbound
Southbound
State law
Legal Definition of Route 55: California Streets and Highways Code, Chapter 2, Article 3, Section 355 Template:CAFES
Route 55 from Route 91 to Costa Mesa is known as the Costa Mesa Freeway, as named by Assembly Concurrent Resolution 177, Chapter 86 in 1976.[1]
Exit list
A list of exit for the freeway and expressway sections, south to north
County | Mile[2] | Location | Exit #[3] | Destinations | Notes |
---|---|---|---|---|---|
Orange | ORA 0.00 | Newport Beach | – | Newport Blvd | Limited access expressway begins and ends |
ORA 0.28 | 1 | ![]() |
Exit numbered for southbound only | ||
N/A | Costa Mesa | 2 | Old Newport Blvd | Northbound exit and entrance | |
Continues as a surface street, Newport Blvd, through Costa Mesa | |||||
Begin Costa Mesa Freeway | |||||
ORA R2.77 | Costa Mesa | 3 | Victoria Street; 22nd Street | ||
ORA R3.78 | 4 | Del Mar Avenue; Fair Drive | |||
ORA R4.72 | 5A | ![]() ![]() |
No access from southbound SR-55 to northbound SR-73, and vice versa | ||
ORA R5.34 | 5B | Baker Street; Paularino Avenue | |||
ORA R6.00 | 6A | ![]() |
Exit 6B southbound | ||
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Southbound exit and northbound entrance | ||||
ORA R6.99 | Santa Ana | 7 | MacArthur Blvd | ||
ORA 7.87 | 8 | Dyer Road | Split between Exit 8A (East, accessible via Grand Avenue) and Exit 8B (West) southbound | ||
ORA R9.44 | 9 | Edinger Avenue | |||
ORA R9.96 | Tustin | 10A | McFadden Street | Northbound exit and entrance accessible via Newport Avenue; Southbound exit and entrance accessible via Village Way | |
ORA 10.46 | 10B | File:Interstate 5 (California).svg Interstate 5 North - Los Angeles | Northbound exit and southbound entrance | ||
11A | File:Interstate 5 (California).svg Interstate 5 South - San Diego | ||||
ORA 10.98 | Santa Ana | 11B | 4th Street; Irvine Blvd | ||
ORA 11.80 | Tustin | 12 | 17th Street | Split between Exit 12A (East - Tustin) and Exit 12B (West - Santa Ana) southbound | |
ORA 12.95 | 13 | ![]() | |||
14A | Chapman Avenue East | This exit is actually a ramp that bypasses the traffic merging from SR-22 to northbound SR-55 | |||
ORA 13.60 | 14B | Chapman Avenue East | Combined as Exit 14 southbound | ||
14C | Chapman Avenue West | ||||
ORA 15.24 | Orange | 15 | Katella Avenue | ||
ORA 16.98 | 17 | Lincoln Avenue; Nohl Ranch Road | Northbound exit and entrance accessible via Santiago Blvd; Southbound exit and entrance accessible via Tustin Street | ||
ORA R17.83 | Anaheim | 18A | ![]() |
Northbound exit and southbound entrance | |
18B | ![]() |
Northbound left exit and southbound entrance |