State Route 133 (SR 133) is a state highway in the

U.S. state In the United States, a state is a constituent political entity, of which there are 50. Bound together in a political union, each state holds governmental jurisdiction over a separate and defined geographic territory where it shares its sove ...

California California is a state in the Western United States, located along the Pacific Coast. With nearly 39.2million residents across a total area of approximately , it is the most populous U.S. state and the 3rd largest by area. It is also the ...

, serving as an urban route in

Orange County Orange County most commonly refers to: *Orange County, California, part of the Los Angeles metropolitan area Orange County may also refer to: U.S. counties *Orange County, Florida, containing Orlando *Orange County, Indiana *Orange County, New ...

. It connects SR 1 in

Laguna Beach Laguna Beach (; ''Laguna'', Spanish for "Lagoon") is a seaside resort city located in southern Orange County, California, in the United States. It is known for its mild year-round climate, scenic coves, environmental preservation efforts, and ...

through the

San Joaquin Hills The San Joaquin Hills are a low mountain range of the Peninsular Ranges System, located in coastal Orange County, California. They extend in a northwest–southeast direction, starting in the northwest in Newport Beach at the southern edge of t ...

with several

freeways A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms i ...

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, ending at the SR 241, a

toll road A toll road, also known as a turnpike or tollway, is a public or private road (almost always a controlled-access highway in the present day) for which a fee (or '' toll'') is assessed for passage. It is a form of road pricing typically implemen ...

in the latter city. It is built as an expressway from SR 73 to Laguna Canyon Road (just south of

I-405 Interstate 405 may refer to: * Interstate 405 (California), a bypass of Los Angeles, California * Interstate 405 (Oregon) Interstate 405 (I-405), also known as the Stadium Freeway No. 61, is a short north–south Interstate Highway in Portl ...

in Irvine), and past this, SR 133 is a

freeway A controlled-access highway is a type of highway that has been designed for high-speed vehicular traffic, with all traffic flow—ingress and egress—regulated. Common English terms are freeway, motorway and expressway. Other similar terms ...

(the Laguna Freeway) to

I-5 Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific coast of the contiguous U.S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels through the states of Californi ...

, and a tollway (part of the Eastern Transportation Corridor) to SR 241 near the

Santa Ana Mountains The Santa Ana Mountains are a short peninsular mountain range along the coast of Southern California in the United States. They extend for approximately southeast of the Los Angeles Basin largely along the border between Orange and Riverside ...

. SR 133 was constructed as a

county road A county highway (also county road or county route; usually abbreviated CH or CR) is a road in the United States and in the Canadian province of Ontario that is designated and/or maintained by the county highway department. Route numbering can ...

by the 1910s; the portion from I-405 to I-5 was upgraded to a freeway four decades later. The state canceled plans to extend the freeway segment south, and the southern part of the road remains an undivided highway. In 1998, most of the Eastern Transportation Corridor opened, and the connector between I-5 and SR 241 was designated as a toll extension of SR 133.

Route description

California State Route 133 from Serrano Ridge

SR 133 begins at SR 1, the Pacific Coast Highway, as Broadway in

, a block from the Pacific Ocean. The name changes to Laguna Canyon Road as the highway leaves downtown Laguna Beach and enters

Laguna Canyon Laguna Canyon (also called Cañada de las Lagunas, meaning "Lake Canyon" in Spanish) is a canyon that cuts through the San Joaquin Hills in southern Orange County, California, in the United States, directly south of the city of Irvine. The ca ...

, soon narrowing to one lane in each direction. After entering the canyon, which lies between Laguna Coast Wilderness Park (west side of SR 133) and Aliso and Wood Canyons Wilderness Park (east side of SR 133), the first major intersection is with

El Toro Road There are 34 routes assigned to the "S" zone of the California Route Marker Program, which designates county routes in California. The "S" zone includes county highways in Imperial, Orange, Riverside, San Diego, and Santa Barbara counties. ...

( CR S18). SR 133 widens to four lanes and becomes a highway after its interchange with SR 73, the San Joaquin Hills Toll Road.

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street maps and

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s, accessed December 2007 vi
ACME Mapper
/ref> As it continues through the Laguna Coast Wilderness Park, SR 133 follows a four-lane alignment on the west side of the canyon, moved from the old two-lane road in the center of the canyon in late 2006. Laguna Canyon Road splits to the northwest where the canyon ends in

. North of the park, the highway becomes the Laguna Freeway after crossing an

at-grade intersection An intersection or an at-grade junction is a junction where two or more roads converge, diverge, meet or cross at the same height, as opposed to an interchange, which uses bridges or tunnels to separate different roads. Major intersections ...

with Laguna Canyon Road, followed by an interchange at exit 8,

, the San Diego Freeway. SR 133 then continues as a freeway and serves Barranca Parkway and the

, the Santa Ana Freeway. After crossing I-5, SR 133 becomes part of the Eastern Transportation Corridor along the northwest side of

Marine Corps Air Station El Toro Marine Corps Air Station El Toro was a United States Marine Corps Air Station located next to the community of El Toro, near Irvine, California. Before it was decommissioned in 1999, it was the home of Marine Corps Aviation on the West Coast. ...

, crossing an interchange with Irvine Boulevard at exit 12 before ending at SR 241. SR 133 is part of the

California Freeway and Expressway System The California Freeway and Expressway System is a system of existing or planned freeways and expressways in the U.S. state of California. It encompasses both State highways and federal highways in California. It is defined by Article 2 (comme ...

north of SR 73, and is part of the National Highway System, a network of highways that are considered essential to the country's economy, defense, and mobility by the

Federal Highway Administration The Federal Highway Administration (FHWA) is a division of the United States Department of Transportation that specializes in highway transportation. The agency's major activities are grouped into two programs, the Federal-aid Highway Program ...

History

As part of its construction of

concrete road Concrete is a composite material composed of fine and coarse aggregate bonded together with a fluid cement (cement paste) that hardens (cures) over time. Concrete is the second-most-used substance in the world after water, and is the most wi ...

s, started by a 1913

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paved the

through

, connecting State Highway Route 2 (the forerunner of US 101 and

) at

with

, by 1917. The road was added to the state highway system in 1933 as Route 185, an unsigned designation. The entire route was added to the new

in 1959; the planned upgrade had already been named the Laguna Freeway by the California Highway Commission on November 26, 1957. The highway received a sign route number—State Route 133—in the 1964 renumbering.: "Route 133 is from Route 1 near Laguna Beach to Route 5 near Irvine." The opening of the first—and only—piece of the Laguna Freeway was celebrated in Laguna Beach on October 1, 1952, connecting the north end of Laguna Canyon with a planned extension of the

Santa Ana Freeway The Santa Ana Freeway is one of the principal freeways in Southern California, connecting Los Angeles and its southeastern suburbs including the freeway's namesake, the city of Santa Ana. The freeway begins at its junction with the San Diego Fre ...

at a

trumpet interchange In the field of road transport, an interchange (American English) or a grade-separated junction (British English) is a road junction that uses grade separations to allow for the movement of traffic between two or more roadways or highways, usin ...

and bypassing the old route on Sand Canyon Avenue. There were initially no other

interchange Interchange may refer to: Transport * Interchange (road), a collection of ramps, exits, and entrances between two or more highways * Interchange (freight rail), the transfer of freight cars between railroad companies * Interchange station, a rai ...

s along the route. The state decided not to build the remainder of the freeway in late 1975, and in 1996 the portion south of SR 73 was removed from the Freeway and Expressway System.: "Route 133 from Route 73 to Route 241."; "Route 133 is from Route 1 near Laguna Beach to Route 241." Widening of the part north of SR 73 to a four-lane expressway was completed in late 2006, moving the road out of the canyon bottom and allowing better access to areas in Laguna Coast Wilderness Park. A new SR 231 was added to the state highway system in 1988, connecting I-5 northwest of Irvine with SR 91, and in 1991 the south end was shifted southeast to the north end of SR 133, with the old route becoming SR 261. To prevent the route from changing numbers as it crossed I-5, the southern portion was renumbered SR 133 in 1996, with the remainder becoming an extended SR 241. The Eastern Transportation Corridor, which includes SR 133 north of I-5, was completed on October 15, 1998, opening a new shortcut from Orange County to the northeast.

Tolls

The tolled portion of SR 133 (from

in the south to SR 241 in the north) employs a barrier toll system, where drivers are charged flat-rate tolls based on what particular toll booths they pass through. Since May 13, 2014, the road has been using an all-electronic,

open road tolling Open road tolling (ORT), also called all-electronic tolling, cashless tolling, or free-flow tolling, is the collection of tolls on toll roads without the use of toll booths. An electronic toll collection system is usually used instead. The ma ...

system. And on October 2, 2019, the license plate tolling program, under the brand name "ExpressAccount", was discontinued. Drivers may still pay using the

FasTrak FasTrak is the electronic toll collection (ETC) system used in the state of California in the United States. The system is used statewide on all of the toll roads, toll bridges, and high-occupancy toll lanes along the California Freeway and E ...

electronic toll collection system or via a one time payment online. Drivers must pay within 5 days after their trip on the toll road or they will be assessed a toll violation. Tolls are collected at the northbound exit and southbound entrance of Irvine Boulevard and at the Orange Grove Toll Plaza, which spans the on-and off-ramps to Northbound SR 241 (traffic to and from Southbound SR 241 instead, pay at the Tomato Springs Toll Plaza located on SR 241 immediately south of the SR 241 interchange). , the standard two-axle car toll for both the northbound offramp and southbound onramp of Irvine Boulevard is a flat rate of $2.12. The Orange Grove Toll Plaza instead uses a

congestion pricing Congestion pricing or congestion charges is a system of surcharging users of public goods that are subject to congestion through excess demand, such as through higher peak charges for use of bus services, electricity, metros, railways, t ...

scheme based on the time of day for FasTrak users, while non-FasTrak drivers must pay the $3.50 maximum toll regardless of the day and time.

Major intersections

References

External links

* – includes toll information on SR 133 and the other Toll Roads of Orange County
California @ AARoads - California 133California Highway Conditions: SR 133
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133 133 may refer to: *133 (number) * AD 133 *133 BC *133 (song) 133 may refer to: *133 (number) * AD 133 *133 BC __NOTOC__ Year 133 BC was a year of the pre-Julian Roman calendar. At the time it was known as the Year of the Consulship of Scaevol ...

State Route 133 San Joaquin Hills