Santa Monica Freeway

Interstate 10
Route information
Maintained by Caltrans
NHS	Entire route
Major junctions
Major intersections	I-405 in Culver City I-110 / SR 110 in Los Angeles
Location
Country	United States
State	California
Highway system
Southern California freeways

The Santa Monica Freeway is the westernmost segment of Interstate 10, beginning at the western terminus of I-10 at the Pacific Coast Highway in Santa Monica, California and ending southeast of downtown Los Angeles at the famous East Los Angeles Interchange. (I-10 continues as the San Bernardino Freeway.) The section between the Harbor and San Diego freeways is also signed as the Rosa Parks Freeway. The freeway is signed as the Christopher Columbus Transcontinental Highway in Santa Monica. The freeway is 14 lanes wide (2 local, 5 express in each direction) from the Harbor Freeway interchange to the Arlington Avenue offramp; most of these lanes are full at peak travel times (even on Saturdays). The remainder of the freeway varies between 8 and 10 lanes in width. The whole freeway was opened in 1964.

While the construction of the Century Freeway several miles to the south eased traffic congestion to a considerable amount by creating an alternate route from downtown to Los Angeles International Airport, the Santa Monica Freeway is still one of the busiest freeways in the world. All three freeway-to-freeway interchanges along its length are notorious for their congestion and are routinely ranked among the top 10 most congested spots in the United States.

Accidents

A typical traffic jam on the Santa Monica Freeway, at 2:30 p.m. on a Wednesday afternoon

Due to the high traffic volume, car accidents are so common that Caltrans has constructed special Accident Investigation Sites separated from the freeway by fences. These enable the California Highway Patrol to quickly clear accidents from the through traffic lanes, and the fences reduce congestion by preventing rubbernecking (where cars slow to watch the accident investigation).

Fame

Downtown Los Angeles skyline as seen from the freeway. A slight traffic jam is ahead.

The Santa Monica Freeway is the freeway for which ground is being broken in the film L.A. Confidential. It is also remembered for a partial collapse west of downtown (at the large interchange with La Cienega, Venice and Washington boulevards) after the 1994 Northridge Earthquake. The title of punk rock legends The Minutemen's 1984 double album, Double Nickels on the Dime, is trucker slang referring to the freeway's then-current speed limit of 55 miles per hour (90 km/h).

Legal definition

The Santa Monica Freeway is Route 10 from Route 1 to Route 5, as named by the State Highway Commission on April 25 1957.

The Rosa Parks Freeway is Route 10 from Route 110 to Route 405, as named by Assembly Concurrent Resolution 134, Chapter 2 in 2002.

Major Cities

The Santa Monica Freeway interchange with the Harbor Freeway, as seen by traffic going westbound on the Santa Monica

Control Cities officially in bold.

• Santa Monica (Westbound)
• West Los Angeles
• Mar Vista
• Rancho Park
• Palms
• Beverlywood
• Crenshaw
• Carthay Circle
• Country Club Park
• Koreatown
• West Adams
• South Los Angeles
• Los Angeles (Eastbound)

Sign marking an entrance to the Santa Monica Freeway.