Interstate 605

Interstate 605
San Gabriel River Freeway
I-605 highlighted in red
Route information
Defined by Streets and Highways Code § 619
Maintained by Caltrans
Length	27.40 mi[1] (44.10 km)
History	1940s as a state highway, 1964 as a number[2]
Major junctions
South end	SR 22 / I-405 in Seal Beach
	SR 91 in Cerritos I-105 in Norwalk I-5 in Santa Fe Springs SR 72 in Whittier SR 60 in Avocado Heights I-10 in Baldwin Park
North end	I-210 / Huntington Dr. in Duarte
Location
Counties	Orange, Los Angeles
Highway system
Interstate Highway System Main Auxiliary Suffixed Business Future State highways in California Interstate U.S. State Pre-1964 History Unconstructed Deleted Freeway Scenic ← I-580 I-680 →

Interstate 605 (abbreviated I-605, officially known as the San Gabriel River Freeway) is a major north–south Interstate Highway in the Greater Los Angeles Area of Southern California. It is about 27 miles (43 km) in length, and runs from Seal Beach to Duarte, closely paralleling the San Gabriel River for most of its alignment. The San Gabriel River Freeway is one of the few Southern California freeways not named after a city along its route and is one of only remaining freeways that kept its original alignment throughout its run through Los Angeles County since it first opened, though this does not include the improvements with the interchange with I-105 (I-105 did not open until the mid 1990s), I-10/I-605 reconstruction, I-10/I-405 reconstruction, and the addition of an HOV lane between I-405 and I-10.

Route description

The California Streets and Highways Code defines Route 605 as "(a) Route 1 near Seal Beach to Route 405. (b) Route 405 to Route 210 near Duarte." However, the portion in subsection A has yet to be constructed.

The southern terminus of I-605 is at the San Diego (I-405) and Garden Grove (State Route 22) Freeways in Seal Beach. From there, it runs roughly north through the Gateway Cities of the Los Angeles Basin. It then shifts north-northeast, crossing the Whittier Narrows and across the San Gabriel Valley. I-605 then ends at its junction with the Foothill Freeway, (I-210) in Duarte, a small city located at the foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains.

I-605 follows most of the length of the San Gabriel River from the San Diego Freeway in Seal Beach to the Santa Fe Dam. Typically dry riverbed and flood basins are visible from many portions of the route, especially near the northern terminus.

In the mid 2000s, a HOV lane was added for motorists with two or more people to use between I-405 and I-10. The HOV lane ends at Interstate 10. There are no plans to extend it to Interstate 210 at this time. With the addition of the HOV lane, the left shoulder was eliminated to avoid massive costs to widen the freeway. The highway also suffers from traffic jams regularly, especially the junction with I-5 (the Santa Ana Freeway). Newer signs with exit numbers replaced the older signs between the Orange County line and Interstate 10 in 2016 with the completion of the I-605 and I-10 junction improvement.

Signs along I-605's entrances and freeway junctions do not include destinations (control cities) such as "Seal Beach" or "Irwindale", but simply read "NORTH" or "SOUTH". In place of control cities, a simple "THRU TRAFFIC" designation is used on signs along I-605 itself.

I-605 is part of the California Freeway and Expressway System,^[3] and is part of the National Highway System,^[4] a network of highways that are considered essential to the country's economy, defense, and mobility by the Federal Highway Administration.^[5] I-605 from I-405 to I-10 is known as the San Gabriel River Freeway, as named by Senate Bill 99, Chapter 1101 in 1967.^[6]

History

Approaching the northern terminus of I-605

In 1957, the number for this route was proposed as I-13, as it is positioned approximately midway between I-5 and I-15 (although it intersects the former). That number was rejected, as was the second proposed number, I-102. Finally, the designation I-605 was accepted in 1958.^[7]

Interstate 605 began construction in 1963 and the first section was opened in 1964 from Interstate 405 to Pomona Freeway CA 60. The newest section (extension to Interstate 210) was opened in 1971 was originally signed as SR 243. There are plans to extend it to SR 1 further south in Orange County, but strong community opposition means that it is unlikely that the alignment will ever be built.^[7]

Exit list

County	Location	mi[8]	km	Exit[8]	Destinations	Notes
Orange	Seal Beach	0.00	0.00	1A	SR 22 west (7th Street) – Long Beach	Southern terminus; SR 22 exit 2
		0.41	0.66	1B	I-405 south (San Diego Freeway) / SR 22 east (Garden Grove Freeway) – San Diego, Garden Grove	Former SR 7 south; I-405 north/SR 22 west exit 24
				—	I-405 south / SR 22 east	HOV access only; southbound exit and northbound entrance
		0.41	0.66	1C	I-405 north (San Diego Freeway) – Santa Monica	Signed as exit 1A northbound; former SR 7 north; I-405 south exit 24A
	Los Alamitos	1.41	2.27	1D	Katella Avenue – Los Alamitos	Signed as exit 1B northbound
		1.69	2.72	2A	Willow Street	Signed as exit 1B northbound
Los Angeles	Long Beach	1.93	3.11	2B	Spring Street / Cerritos Avenue	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		3.38	5.44	3	Carson Street / Lincoln Avenue – Hawaiian Gardens	Former US 91 and SR 18
	Cerritos	4.51	7.26	5A	Del Amo Boulevard – Lakewood
		5.39	8.67	5B	South Street
		6.69	10.77	7A	SR 91 (Artesia Freeway) – Beach Cities, Riverside
	Norwalk	7.45	11.99	7B	Alondra Boulevard
		8.50	13.68	9A	Rosecrans Avenue
		9.29	14.95	9B	I-105 west (Century Freeway) – El Segundo	I-105 east exits 18A-B
		9.29	14.95	9C	Imperial Highway	Signed as exit 9B southbound; former SR 90
		9.53	15.34	10	Firestone Boulevard	Former SR 42
	Santa Fe Springs	11.25	18.11	11	Florence Avenue – Downey
		11.25	18.11	11	I-5 (Santa Ana Freeway) – Los Angeles, Santa Ana	Former US 101 Byp. south; I-5 exit 124
		11.89	19.14	12	Telegraph Road – Santa Fe Springs	Former US 101 Byp. north; former SR 26
	West Whittier-Los Nietos	13.18	21.21	13	Slauson Avenue
		13.69	22.03	14	Washington Boulevard – Pico Rivera	Signed as exits 14A (west) and 14B (east) southbound
	Whittier	15.21	24.48	15	SR 72 (Whittier Boulevard) – Whittier	Former US 101
	Pico Rivera	16.05	25.83	16	Beverly Boulevard	Southbound exit to Beverly Boulevard west is via exit 17.
		17.21	27.70	17	Rose Hills Road
	Industry	18.29	29.43	18	Peck Road
		19.05	30.66	19	SR 60 (Pomona Freeway) – Los Angeles, Pomona	SR 60 exit 12
		21.03	33.84	21	Valley Boulevard – Industry	Former US 60 and SR 212
	Baldwin Park	21.83	35.13	22	I-10 (San Bernardino Freeway) – Los Angeles, San Bernardino	Former US 99 / US 70 / US 60; I-10 east exits 31A-B, south exit 31A
		22.71	36.55	23	Ramona Boulevard – Baldwin Park, El Monte	Former US 99
	Irwindale	23.79	38.29	24	Lower Azusa Road / Los Angeles Street
		25.16	40.49	25	Live Oak Avenue – Irwindale	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
		26.60	42.81	26	Arrow Highway	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		27.40	44.10	27	I-210 (Foothill Freeway) – Pasadena, San Bernardino	Signed as exits 27A (east) and 27B (west); no exit number southbound; I-210 east exit 36A, west exit 36B
	Duarte	27.54	44.32	27C	Huntington Drive – Duarte	Northern terminus; at-grade intersection; former US 66
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Incomplete access

See also

• California Roads portal
• Greater Los Angeles portal

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Interstate 605 (California).

Route map:

• California @ AARoads.com - I-605
• Caltrans: Route 605 highway conditions
• California Highways: I-605