CA RxR 4.05: I-10: Santa Monica Freeway

With Episode 4.05, we turn our attention to Route 10. This first episode on Route 10 starts with an exploration of the 10^th route (the last ordinal route we’ll do), which was the Emigrant Gap Highway, and became the basis for LRN 37. This became part of the Lincoln Highway, then US 40, and is now part of I-80 from Sacramento to Nevada. We look at LRN 10, which became Route 198 from US 101 near San Lucas to Sequoia National Park. We then explore Sign Route 10 (which we discussed in our episode on I-5 in Los Angeles county), which ran from US 101A to US 101, later becoming Route 42 and US 101 Bypass, and eventually I-105 and I-5. Lastly, we turn to post-1964 Route 10, which is today’s I-10. In this episode, we focus on the first segment:  “From Route 1 in Santa Monica to Route 5 near Seventh Street in Los Angeles”, which is today’s Santa Monica Freeway. We look at its origins as Sign Route 6, which became Sign Route 26 along LRN 173, LRN 166, and LRN 171. We focus on LRN 173 (LRN 166 and LRN 171 were discussed in our episode on I-5 in Los Angeles county, as well as our episode on Route 6), which was Olympic Blvd. We explore the history of the Santa Monica Freeway segment, the experiments tried along this highway, some significant projects along this segment, and some significant names on this segment.

We will complete our exploration of Route 10 in Episode 4.06, which explores the San Bernardino Freeway: Its origins in LRN 26 and LRN 64 and the Ramona Airline. The history and strange intertwinings of the US highways that were signed on Route 10: US 60, US 70, and US 99. The transition to I-10 and the story of Route 10S. Lastly, we’ll cover projects and names on the segment.

Here’s the link to the show:

And here’s the link on Spotify for Creators:

Here are some relevant links (I may edit this to add more links in later):

• California Highways:
  • The 10^th State Route:
    • LRN 37
    • US 40
    • Chronology: Phase I: A Highway System is Established (1897-1914)
  • LRN 10 Related:
    • LRN 10
    • Route 198
  • Sign Route 10 Related:
    • Sign Route 10
    • Route 42
    • US 101
    • I-105
    • LRN 174
  • Post-1964 Route 10 / I-10 Related (Santa Monica Freeway segment):
    • I-10
    • Sign Route 6
    • Sign Route 26
    • LRN 173
    • LRN 166
    • LRN 171
    • LRN 172
• Gribblenation Blogs:
  • The 10^th State Route:
    • Interstate 80 in the Sierra Nevada Mountains
    • Donner Pass; hunting for the Dutch Flat & Donner Lake Road and abandoned Central Pacific Railroad Tunnels
    • Trans-Sierra Highway Passes; Interstate 80 Donner Summit
    • Old US Route 40 on Donner Pass Road
  • LRN 10 Related:
    • Former US Route 101 and California State Route 198 in San Lucas
    • Challenger Adventures in the Coast Range Part 4; California State Route 198 between US 101 and I–5
    • California State Route 198
    • Old California State Route 198 in Kings County
    • Old California State Route 198 Tulare County
    • Chisholm Ferry/Bridge Location and early Legislative Route Number 10
    • Former California State Route 198 at the bottom of Lake Kaweah
  • Sign Route 10 Related:
    • Former California State Route 42 and Former California State Route 10
    • Former US Route 101, US Route 91, California State Route 10 and California State Route 18 in Anaheim
    • Interstate 105
  • Post-1964 Route 10 / I-10 Related (Santa Monica Freeway portion):
    • California State Route␠6 and the second California State Route␠26
• Other Links:
  • California @ AARoads (Andy Field):
    • Interstate 10
    • Interstate Guide: Interstate 10
  • Southern California Regional Rocks and Roads (Michael Ballard):
    • East Los Angeles Interchange
    • I–10
  • LA Street Names: Olympic Blvd
  • LA DOT: Transportation Topics and Tales: Milestones in Transportation History in Southern California
  • PBS SoCal:
    • Creating the Santa Monica Freeway
    • Before the ‘Carmageddon’: A Photographic Look at the Construction of 5 SoCal Freeways
  • Santa Monica Freeway Cap: City of Santa Monica Downtown Community Plan, 2023
  • 1994 Earthquake Reconstruction: The 1994 earthquake broke the 10 Freeway. How L.A. rebuilt it in record time (LA Times)
  • ENR West: LA Freeway Reopens Eight Days After Fire; Repairs to Continue

We encourage you to explore our back catalog through this site or our Spotify for Creators home.