The East Los Angeles Interchange is an interchange complex located in
Boyle Heights
Boyle is an English, Irish and Scottish surname of Gaelic, Anglo-Saxon or Norman origin. In the northwest of Ireland it is one of the most common family names. Notable people with the surname include:
Disambiguation
*Adam Boyle (disambiguation), ...
, California, approximately 2.5 miles (4 km) east of
Downtown Los Angeles. With its southern portion handling over 550,000 vehicles per day (2008 AADT), it is the busiest freeway interchange in the world. The northern portion, called the San Bernardino Split,
is often considered a separate interchange. Four numbered routes converge at the interchange:
Interstate 5 (I-5),
I-10,
U.S. Route 101 (US 101), and
State Route 60 (SR 60), but the freeway segments shift alignments and directions.
The interchange was named the Eugene A. Obregon Memorial Interchange, to honor
U.S. Marine Corps member and
Medal of Honor
The Medal of Honor (MOH) is the United States Armed Forces' highest military decoration and is awarded to recognize American soldiers, sailors, marines, airmen, guardians and coast guardsmen who have distinguished themselves by acts of valo ...
recipient
Eugene A. Obregon.
Description
At the time of its construction in the early 1960s, the East Los Angeles Interchange was considered a
civil engineering
Civil engineering is a professional engineering discipline that deals with the design, construction, and maintenance of the physical and naturally built environment, including public works such as roads, bridges, canals, dams, airports, sewa ...
marvel. Located along the east bank of the
Los Angeles River
, name_etymology =
, image = File:Los Angeles River from Fletcher Drive Bridge 2019.jpg
, image_caption = L.A. River from Fletcher Drive Bridge
, image_size = 300
, map = LARmap.jpg
, map_size ...
in the
Los Angeles
Los Angeles ( ; es, Los Ángeles, link=no , ), often referred to by its initials L.A., is the List of municipalities in California, largest city in the U.S. state, state of California and the List of United States cities by population, sec ...
district of
Boyle Heights
Boyle is an English, Irish and Scottish surname of Gaelic, Anglo-Saxon or Norman origin. In the northwest of Ireland it is one of the most common family names. Notable people with the surname include:
Disambiguation
*Adam Boyle (disambiguation), ...
,
east of
Downtown Los Angeles, the interchange comprises six freeway segments; that is, there are six freeway paths of travel into the complex. The actual number of numbered highways intersecting at this interchange is four:
*
*
*
*
The interchange is so complex because the intersecting freeways shift alignments and directions:
* I-5 (originally US 101) enters the complex from the south as the Santa Ana Freeway, but exits to the north as the Golden State Freeway. The Santa Ana Freeway continues west as US 101 toward the
Four Level Interchange
The Four Level Interchange (officially the Bill Keene Memorial Interchange) is the first stack interchange in the world. Completed in 1949 and fully opened in 1953 at the northern edge of Downtown Los Angeles, California, United States, it connect ...
(Bill Keene Memorial Interchange) in downtown Los Angeles.
* I-10 (originally
US 70 "Ramona Freeway"
ic/
US 60) is not contiguous through the interchange. Heading west into the complex on the San Bernardino Freeway (I-10), the trunk road heads to US 101 at the San Bernardino Split. In order to follow the I-10 alignment, one must exit the trunk road and follow a connector that merges with the alignment of southbound I-5, then exit that trunk and follow another connector to the Santa Monica Freeway (I-10).
* Heading west into the complex on the Pomona Freeway (SR 60), the primary road (or trunk) heads into the Santa Monica Freeway (I-10).
There is not complete freedom of movement within the interchange. Traffic flowing into it on certain freeways cannot leave it on all of the others.
* There is no direct connector from the westbound Pomona Freeway (SR 60) to the southbound Santa Ana Freeway (I-5) (and vice versa); travelers wanting to make this transition must exit at the Pomona Freeway's interchange with the Long Beach Freeway (
I-710) located to the east, head south, and then transition to the Santa Ana Freeway at the interchange between those two freeways.
* There is no direct connector from the southbound Santa Ana Freeway (US 101) to the northbound Golden State Freeway (I-5) (and vice versa); travelers wanting to make this transition must exit at the
Four Level Interchange
The Four Level Interchange (officially the Bill Keene Memorial Interchange) is the first stack interchange in the world. Completed in 1949 and fully opened in 1953 at the northern edge of Downtown Los Angeles, California, United States, it connect ...
with the Arroyo Seco Parkway (
SR 110, northeast from this interchange) located to the west, head northeast, and then transition to the Golden State Freeway at the interchange between those two freeways.
* There is no direct connector from the southbound Santa Ana Freeway (US 101) to the westbound Santa Monica Freeway (I-10) (and vice versa); travelers wanting to make this transition must exit at the Four Level Interchange with the Harbor Freeway (SR 110, southwest from this interchange) located to the west, head southwest, and then transition to the Santa Monica Freeway at the
Dosan Ahn Chang Ho Memorial Interchange
The Dosan Ahn Chang Ho Memorial Interchange, also known as the Harbor–Santa Monica Freeway Interchange, is a three-level cloverstack interchange that serves as the junction between the Harbor ( Interstate 110 and State Route 110) and Santa Mon ...
.
Further complication is caused by the varying designs of each intersecting freeway and their related transition roads. Some have four lanes and are relatively straight and wide, while others have one lane, are narrow, or have curves with tighter radii or cambers. Traffic congestion is thus exacerbated as vehicles moving at high speed on the wider transition roads try to merge with slower moving vehicles coming from the narrow transition roads.
History
![East LA Interchange 1959 LA River bridge construction](https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/6/6d/East_LA_Interchange_1959_LA_River_bridge_construction._Arial_view._Slide_76.jpg)
Construction of the began in 1961. The enormity of the structure and the complexity of its many routes called for a $17,000 blueprint model of the highway. It has thirty-two bridges and twenty walls with of earth being excavated. The project laid of concrete pipe, used of concrete and of reinforcing and structural steel.
In popular culture
Although not commonly called such by residents and other reporters, the freeway intersection was often called "
Malfunction Junction" by former
KNX traffic reporter
Bill Keene
Bill Keene (1927 – April 5, 2000) was a television and radio personality who became famous in the Los Angeles, California market as a traffic and weather announcer. He was particularly known for his colorful humorous traffic reports which inclu ...
, because of its complicated interchange structure. The interchange has also been referred to as "The Beast" L.A. Interchange and the "East Delay" Interchange, names attributed to KNX's
Jim Thornton
Jim Thornton is an American radio and television announcer and voice actor. He is known for his voiceover work in video games, movies and television shows. Since 2011, he is best known for being the announcer of '' Wheel of Fortune'' following the ...
,
as well as the "Nickel/Dime" during traffic reports.
See also
*
References
External links
{{commons category
Pictorial Guide to the Los Angeles Area Highways - East Los Angeles Interchange
Southern California freeways
Road interchanges in California
Boyle Heights, Los Angeles
Eastside Los Angeles
Interstate 5
Interstate 10
U.S. Route 101
Roads in Los Angeles County, California
Buildings and structures in Los Angeles County, California
Road interchanges in the United States