California State Route 57

Route description

High-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes exist in the median of SR 57 south of SR 60 in Diamond Bar. Elevated ramps allow HOV traffic bound to or from Brea Canyon to connect with I-5 towards the southeast, SR 91 towards the west, or SR 60 towards the east without entering the main lanes.California Department of Transportation, Interregional HOV System Status, 2005-06

History

The road through Brea Canyon was oiled dirt by the late 1910s, providing a good connection across a spur of the Peninsular Ranges between the Los Angeles Basin and Pomona Valley. This road left the main coast highway (Harbor Boulevard) at Fullerton and followed the present Brea Boulevard and Brea Canyon Road, merging with the Valley Boulevard from Los Angeles near Walnut and continuing east to Pomona via Valley and Pomona Boulevards.Official Automobile Blue Book, Volume Eight, 1919, p. 530 Los Angeles County paved the road in concrete in early 1923,Los Angeles Times, New Road Winds In and Out, February 25, 1923, p. VI8 and in 1931 it was added to the state highway system as a branch of Route 19. Route 19 until then connected Route 9 near Claremont with Riverside, following Garey Avenue and Mission Boulevard through Pomona.: "Pomona to Fullerton via Brea canyon.": "Route 19 is from: (a) Route 9 west of Claremont to Beaumont via Riverside. (b) Pomona to Fullerton via Brea Canyon."

The state built a bypass of the Valley Boulevard portion of the route in the early-to-mid 1930s, leaving the old road near Diamond Bar and heading northeast through the foothills, along the present freeway alignment and Mission Boulevard.Rand McNally & Company, Los Angeles & Vicinity, 1933 To the south, the legislature added then-unrelated Route 180 along State College Boulevard in 1933, connecting Route 2 (I-5) near the Santa Ana River with Route 175 (Orangethorpe Avenue, later replaced by SR 91) near Placentia.: "State Highway Route 2 near Orange County Hospital northerly to Hermosa Beach-Santa Ana Canyon Road.": "Route 180 is from Route 2 near Orange County Hospital northerly to Route 175." By 1955, a Brea Canyon Freeway was proposed to begin at the Santa Ana Freeway (I-5) near La Veta Avenue in Santa Ana and head north, paralleling Routes 180 and 19 to Pomona.Los Angeles Times, Brea Canyon Freeway Plan Pushed, July 16, 1955, p. 13Valley News (Van Nuys), Propose Four New Routes for Freeways, November 2, 1955Los Angeles Metropolitan Traffic Association, Proposed Freeway System for the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area, 1956 (The portion northeast of Diamond Bar into Pomona soon became part of the planned Pomona Freeway, and the name of the remainder was changed to Orange Freeway.Metropolitan Transportation Engineering Board, Master Plan of Freeways and Expressways, adopted February 28, 1958) The state legislature changed the definition of Route 19 to reflect this in 1957 by moving its south end to Santa Ana.: "Route 19 is from:...(b) Pomona to Route 2 near Santa Ana."

Also in 1957, the northernmost part of present SR 57 was added to the state highway system as part of Route 240, which the legislature designated along the route planned for Interstate 210.: "Route 240 is hereby added to the State Highway System, to extend from Route 4 near Glendale to Route 26 near the east boundary of Los Angeles County..." This became part of the proposed Temescal Freeway (later Corona Freeway); a southerly extension of the Orange Freeway to Legislative Route 60 (SR 1) near Huntington Beach was added in 1959 as Route 273. Also in 1959, the legislature created Route 272, extending the line of the Orange Freeway north from the Pomona Freeway to the Temescal Freeway, completing the proposed freeway corridor that is now SR 57.: "Route 272 is from Route 19 near City of Industry to Route 26 near Pomona." "Route 273 is from Route 60 near Huntington Beach to Route 179 near Santa Ana." At the time of the 1964 renumbering, when the entire route (except Route 240, which was still part of I-210) was redesignated Route 57, none of these proposed freeways had been built; the only constructed portion was the old surface road from Fullerton towards Pomona.Division of Highways, Los Angeles and Vicinity, 1963 (The portion of old Route 19 east of Route 272 became part of SR 60.) As part of the same renumbering, Route 180 on State College Boulevard became Route 250,: "Route 57 is from: (a) Route 1 near Huntington Beach to Route 22 near Santa Ana. (b) Route 5 near Santa Ana to Route 210 near Route 10 and Pomona, passing near Industry." "Route 250 is from Route 5 near Orange County Hospital northerly to Route 91." which was amended the next year to provide for its deletion once that portion of the SR 57 freeway was completed (between I-5 and SR 91).: "This route shall cease to be a state highway when Route 57 freeway is completed from Route 5 to Route 91."

A groundbreaking ceremony was held in Placentia on January 30, 1967 to begin construction of the Orange Freeway.Los Angeles Times, Work Started on Orange Freeway, January 31, 1967, p. OC8 The first portion was dedicated on May 16, 1969 and opened soon after, extending north from the Riverside Freeway (SR 91) to Nutwood Avenue.Independent Press-Telegram, Orange Freeway Section to Open, May 17, 1969 Over the next few years, the freeway was completed from SR 91 north to I-10, and I-210 was built north to the present end of SR 57; the Pomona Freeway (SR 60), which overlaps it through Diamond Bar, was constructed at the same time. The last pieces of that portion were through Brea Canyon, opened March 13, 1972,Los Angeles Times, Orange Freeway Through Canyon to Open Today, March 13, 1972, p. D1 and the four-level Kellogg Hill Interchange at I-10, dedicated May 1, 1972 and opened soon after.Montclair Tribune, New Freeway Hub Dedicated, May 4, 1972 Finally, the Orange Freeway was extended south from SR 91 to I-5 in the mid-1970s, allowing Route 250 to be turned back to local governments (though the subsequent deletion from the Streets and Highways Code did not take place until 1981). With the extension of Route 210 around San Bernardino in 1998, the former easternmost piece of I-210 to the Kellogg Hill Interchange instead became a northerly extension of SR 57,: "Route 57 is from:...(b) Route 5 near Santa Ana to Route 210 near San Dimas." though it remains officially part of the Interstate Highway System.Federal Highway Administration, National Highway System: Los Angeles--Long Beach--Santa Ana CA, May 2003

The southerly extension to Huntington Beach remains unconstructed. The most recent plans were for a toll road elevated above the Santa Ana River rather than through existing neighborhoods, only extending south to the San Diego Freeway (I-405) in Costa Mesa with connections to the Corona del Mar Freeway (SR 73).Los Angeles Times, Interest Growing in 2 Traffic Proposals for Santa Ana Area, January 7, 1986, p. 1Los Angeles Times, Hundreds Cheer as Panel Turns Down Grove Freeway Extension, July 29, 1986, p. 1 The extension was most recently considered as two 11.2-mile (18.0 km) two-lane viaducts, costing $950 million; the toll road franchise expired in January 2001.California Department of Transportation, Private Investment / Public Infrastructure: Route 57 (Orange County), accessed February 2008

Exit list

     Note: Except where prefixed with a letter, postmiles were measured in 1964, based on the alignment as it existed at that time, and do not necessarily reflect current mileage. The numbers reset at county lines; the start and end postmiles in each county are given in the county column.

External links

California Highways: State Route 57
California @ WestCoastRoads - California 57