Soon, the first freeway evidenced two of the problems that would bedevil its modern-day counterparts: traffic jams and air pollution. As early as , pictures show old sedans bumper to bumper along the route. And in , the just 3-year-old freeway got the blame for a murky pall of smoke and gases that descended on downtown L.
Today, the Pasadena Freeway looks much the same as ever. The landscaped median is gone. And brown, cinder-block sound walls have risen here and there. But times have changed around the mother of all California freeways.
If you have questions, comments or story ideas regarding driving or traffic in Southern California, send an e-mail to behindthewheel latimes. All Sections. About Us. View northbound from the Ave Marisol Overcrossing. The pavement on the freeway is original from Heading NB just south of Pasadena Avenue.
York Avenue bridge — built in Photo Courtesy — Caltrans. One of the few signs still on Arroyo Parkway for SR It was relinquished a few years ago. Like this: Like Loading Thank you!!!!!!!! Did you mean Ave 42? Anyone who has tried to exit some of its degree offramps at the posted 5-miles-per-hour or merged onto the Parkway from a dead stop understands how outdated it has become.
Back in , proposals were made for an alternative to Huntingon Drive which would provide a faster wagon connection between the two cities. The California Cycleway Company purchased a right-of-way from Pasadena to Avenue 54 in Highland Park, and constructed an elevated wooden bikeway which opened on January 1, As the turn-of-the-century bicycle craze waned and Pacific Electric Railway connected Pasadena to Los Angeles, the bikeway was abandoned and torn down.
Personal automobile use was on the rise, as the eight-year period from saw the number of vehicle registrations in Los Angeles County quadruple. Frederick Law Olmsted, Jr. Click for more information. That was in Dec. Today, on the eve of an important anniversary, the busy stretch of highway remains a visual connection to the Southern California of old, although few notice, it seems.
Yet, it is a California Historic Parkway, a federal scenic byway in California and one the American Society of Civil Engineers called a national engineering landmark. Roth is the historian for the Automobile Association of Southern California. He noted that the 75th anniversary of the parkway merits the attention of the millions of people living in Southern California since it once was a key part of the early freeway network.
Freeways are really networks of linked pieces. Some highlights include Elysian Park, considered the oldest public park in Los Angeles; the stone-constructed Lummis Home and Gardens, once home of Charles Lummis, known to many as the father of the Arroyo Seco; the Southwest Museum of the American Indian, the first museum in Los Angeles and one that extols Native Americans and their history; the Heritage Square Museum of Victorian homes, which provides a glimpse of early Southern California life; and the Pasadena Museum of History, which is also a research library and archive encompassing the Beaux Arts Fenyes Mansion and the Finnish Folk Museum.
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