Highway Pictures

Last modified August 25, 2006

Signs that aren't there anymore
White CA Shield

An old black and white California shield in Vista in 1975. This style was used between 1956 and 1964, when the current green and white shield was introduced.
Co-signing of Interstate 10 with US 60 in Banning, California in 1974. This US 60 sign lasted until the late 70s.
Interstate 15 in Temecula in 1974 was signed as Temporary I-15/CA 79/US 395/CA 71.
Interstate 15 in Escondido in 1974. At the time it was routed on what is now Centre City Pkwy.
The Pasadena Freeway (at the time CA 11) north of downtown Los Angeles in 1974 at the first of the four Figueroa Street Elysian Park tunnels, built 1931. Destination signs to Bakersfield for I-5 have since been changed to Sacramento.

Eastbound Interstate 880 near Sacramento in 1975. This is now I-80, the 880 designation was moved to replace part of CA 17 in the Bay Area.
California 7 being changed to Interstate 710 in 1985.
Interstate 15E near Perris, CA in 1978. This road is now I-215.
Colorado Blvd in Pasadena was still signed as US 66 in 1974.

Left to right:

Original design for Variable Message Signs in California. Southbound US 101 at Melrose, Los Angeles, 1984.

I-15 / US 66/91/395 sign assembly. This shot (captured from TV) was probably taken in the Cajon Pass in the early 1960s.

Dunes Flamingo Road exit from I-15 in Las Vegas in the early 1990's. Now it's just Flamingo Road.
... and one that's back

Official US 66 signs were put back up on Foothill Blvd (CA 66) in the Fontana area in 2001.

Left: US 101 though Hollywood from Mulholland Drive, 1986. Click to enlarge.

Right: The Pasadena Freeway tunnels.

California 163 in Balboa Park, San Diego. Built in 1947.

California 163 at Washington Street, San Diego. When the Washington Street bridge was built in 1942, wood rail was used to conserve steel for the war effort. The connector further down wasn't constructed until 1947.

The ultimate freeway interchange: Interstate 805 at Interstate 8 in San Diego.

Both photos: CalTrans Photo Gallery.

Left: The Four Level Interchange in 1954, not long after it opened. This is in downtown Los Angeles at the intersection of US 101 and CA110.
Right: The Grapevine (US 99) winding down to the Central Valley in the late 1930's.

A freeway that isn't there anymore

The Embarcadero Freeway (I-480, later CA 480) in San Francisco, a double deck freeway, was built in 1959 and torn down in 1993.

Starts and Ends

Interstate 5

Peace Arch Park, north end of Interstate 5, Blaine, Washington.

South end of Interstate 5, San Ysidro, California.
Aerial view of the Mexico border crossing (37k).

Interstate 10

Left: West end of Interstate 10, Santa Monica, Ca.
Right: East end of Interstate 10, Jacksonville, Fla.

Interstate 40

Western start of Interstate 40 in Barstow, California, from northbound Interstate 15, in 1992. Note the patches on the signs (lower right photo) covering the old US 91 and US 66 shields (DLK's Highway Page shows these signs before they were patched). A little further down I-40 there was a mileage sign indicating the distance to its eastern end in North Carolina. The 15/40 interchange has been reconstructed since this photo was taken.

Interstate 80

Western start of Interstate 80, San Francisco, 1975.

Eastern start of Interstate 80 from the New Jersey Turnpike (I-95), just west of New York City.

US 101

Current southern start of US 101, in Los Angeles at Interstate 5. US 101 used to follow the route of Interstate 5 south to the Mexican Border.

US 395

Southern start of US 395, Hesperia, California, at Interstate 15. Prior to the mid 1970's, 395 continued south along the routing of I-15 to Devore, I-215, back to I-15 in Murrieta, then on CA 163 to the old Coronado Ferry Landing (now Seaport Village) in San Diego.
Orange County Tollways

In the mid-1990's, three tollways were built in Orange County. They are the San Joaquin Hills (CA 73), Eastern (CA 133 and CA 241 north of CA 133), and Foothill (CA 241 south of CA 133) Tollways.

The tollways use a different style of "Freeway Entrance" signing. Around 2005 they were replaced with the style on the right.

Tomato Springs Toll Plaza, just south of the CA 241 / CA 133 interchange. FasTrack is an automated toll system that requires a transponder in the car.

Another Caltrans blooper. This is at eastbound Alton Pkwy.

Transition from northbound CA 241 to southbound CA 133.

View of the CA 133 tollway from its north end at CA 241. Bridges in the distance are for the I-5 interchange, where CA 133 changes to a free road.

I-5 at CA 73. Original signing on CA 73 (shown here) was an off-color blueish green. It was replaced in 2002 with the new reflective green signs.

I-5 / CA 73 interchange over Camino Capistrano, old US 101.

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© 1997-2006 Mark Furqueron