Dateline>City of Angels hasn’t served up a Pop Quiz in a while, so let’s revive the feature with a relatively easy question, shall we?
The Question: Los Angeles has long been known as the epicenter of Southern California’s car culture. Not surprisingly, the state’s first freeway was born here. (Many claim it’s actually the first freeway in the entire western United States.) Can you name it? Click the continuation link to view the answer…
The Answer: If you said the Pasadena or 110 Freeway, you’re correct — although officially the roadway opened New Year’s Eve 1940 as the Arroyo Seco Parkway. As its name implies, the route parallels the scenic dry gulch connecting Pasadena with L.A.’s Highland Park neighborhood.
The motorway is historic not only for its “first freeway” status, but because, from an engineering perspective, it represents an intricate design transition from recreational parkways to high-speed commuter thoroughfares. In fact, it was declared a National Civil Engineering Landmark in 1999.
Indeed, the 110 FWY has quite a storied past — too lengthy to fully recount here. The freeway retraces a foot path once used by Gabrieleno Indians, which by the 1800s had become a wagon road between Pasadena and L.A. In the early 1900s, an elevated wooden cycleway also traversed the route, along with a rail line, and later several automotive roadways. Construction of the motor parkway began in March 1938.
More detailed (and fascinating) background on the topic can be found at the following Websites:
