Interstate 105 (abbreviated I-105, and colloquially referred to as The 105 or the one-oh-five) is an interstate highway in southern Los Angeles County, California that runs east-west from near the Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) to Norwalk. It is officially known as the Glenn Anderson Freeway for the Democratic California politician who advocated its construction. The 105 has also been referred to as the Century Freeway, especially during its planning stage.

This route is part of the California Freeway and Expressway System.

Route description

Major cities Bolded cities are officially-designated control cities for signs
El Segundo (westbound) Inglewood Hawthorne Lennox Gardena Athens Watts Willowbrook Compton Lynwood South Gate Paramount Downey Bellflower Norwalk (eastbound)

The 105, completed in 1993, begins at Sepulveda Boulevard (State Route 1) on the southern edge of Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), adjacent to the city of El Segundo. It proceeds generally eastward from there on, crossing the Los Angeles and San Gabriel Rivers before terminating just east of the San Gabriel River Freeway (Interstate 605) in western Norwalk.

The freeway stops short of intersecting with the Santa Ana Freeway (Interstate 5), its parent interstate.

I-110/105 interchange

The Harbor Freeway/I-105 interchange, officially the Judge Harry Pregerson Memorial Interchange, is located in South Central Los Angeles, about 5 miles north of SR 91 Gardena Freeway, and about 4 miles south of I-10 Santa Monica Freeway. It is the junction of Interstate 110 (the Harbor Freeway) and Interstate 105.

The interchange is the first in California to include a bus/light rail connection (the Harbor Freeway Green Line station, with connections to the Harbor Transitway and local buses), and has direct HOV connections. It was completed in 1993 and received an award of merit in "excellence in highway design" for urban highways from the Federal Highway Administration in 1996.

The I-110/105 is the tallest level interchange in Southern California. The I-105 westbound to I-110 northbound HOV Ramp reaches 170 feet high.

I-405/105 interchange

The San Diego freeway/105 intechange, officially the Sadao S. Munemori Memorial Freeway Interchange, is located in West Los Angeles, about a mile east of the Los Angeles International Airport. It it named in honor of posthumous Medal of Honor recipient Sadao S. Munemori, a Los Angeles native until his internment and member of the 100th infantry battalion of the 442 Regimental Combat Team.

Route 105 from Route 1 to Route 605 is known as the Glenn Anderson Freeway, as named by Senate Concurrent Resolution 34, Chapter 83 in 1987.

History

The 105 was an integral part of Caltrans' 1960s master plan for the Southern California freeway system, but did not open until 1993. Many factors contributed to the delay. The growth of the environmentalist movement in the 1960s created resistance to new freeway construction. Fiscal difficulties brought about by the 1971 Sylmar earthquake and the California tax revolt of the late 1970s further hampered Caltrans' construction efforts.

However, the major source of resistance to the freeway's construction was community opposition, and the side effects of these demands. By the early 1970s, most of the areas in the freeway's path (and thus slated to be demolished) were predominantly African-American. Resentment over previous freeway projects' effects on other black communities resulted in significant modifications to the original route. Most cities along the way, weary of the noise and visual blight created by elevated freeways, demanded that the route be built far below grade in a "trench." Also another source for resistance to the freeway's construction was that much of the areas along the I-105 path was going to be built in low income, high crime neighborhoods, which also delayed the freeway's construction until the crime in the areas went down. For his city at the center of the route, Lynwood Councilman John D. Byork fought tirelessly for the completion of the Freeway, for which he was called the "Father of the Century Freeway". His efforts, markedly at the Southern California Association of Goverments had assured that the homes demolished in Lynwood had resulted in better transportation for all in Los Angeles.

After construction began in the 1980s, failure to perform a full survey of the area's groundwater deposits, combined with the 20-30 foot below-grade trench through the city of Downey, resulted in buckling and cracking along the eastern portions of the route. At one point a large sinkhole opened in the Bellflower Boulevard on-ramp. This resulted in construction of an elaborate pump system along the freeway between the interchanges with I-710 and I-605.

Norwalk, opposed to the freeway's proposed route through the center of the city, blocked the route from reaching its intended terminus at the (Interstate 5); however, Caltrans had already decided to abandon that section due to the inability of the severely congested Santa Ana Freeway to accommodate any more traffic. The freeway eventually replaced Manchester Avenue and Firestone Boulevard (both State Route 42), which were roads roughly parallel to the freeway.

Throughout the difficulties, Congressman Glenn M. Anderson (D-San Pedro) tirelessly advocated for the route's construction, touting its possibilities for congestion relief along Century, Manchester, and Firestone Boulevards and the Imperial Highway; it has succeeded in these tasks, as well as relieving pressure on the Santa Monica (I-10) and San Diego (I-405) Freeways for travelers between Downtown Los Angeles and LAX. After Anderson's death in 1994, Caltrans honored him by renaming the freeway in his honor. However, the route's original name, "Century Freeway", is still used on a number of maps.

Previously, the I-105 designation has been used for U.S. Route 101 (the Santa Ana Freeway) from I-5 (the Golden State Freeway) at the East Los Angeles Interchange to the connection to I-10 (the San Bernardino Freeway; this connection had been I-110); it went back to U.S. 101 in 1968. Source: Kurumi 3di Interstates

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 entire route is in Los Angeles County.

Location	Postmile	#	Destinations	Notes
El Segundo	R0.00	1A	Imperial Highway west	Continuation beyond SR 1
Los Angeles	R0.50	1		Signed as exits 1B (south) and 1C (north) westbound
	R1.24	1D	Nash Street – LAX Airport	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
	R1.79	2A	La Cienega Boulevard, Aviation Boulevard	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
Hawthorne	R2.11	2B		Signed as exit 2 eastbound
	R3.05	3	Hawthorne Boulevard	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
	R3.32	3	Prairie Avenue
Inglewood	R4.71	5	Crenshaw Boulevard
Los Angeles	R6.77	7A	Vermont Avenue
	R7.39	7B
	R8.90	9	Central Avenue
Compton	R9.78	10	Wilmington Avenue
Lynwood	R11.51	12	Long Beach Boulevard
	R13.47	13
Paramount	R14.13	14	Garfield Avenue	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
	R14.65	15	Paramount Boulevard, Garfield Avenue	Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
Bellflower	R15.76	16
Downey	R16.64	17	Bellflower Boulevard
Norwalk	R17.82	18		Eastbound exit and westbound entrance; signed as exits 18A (south) and 18B (north)
	R17.91		Norwalk Metro Station	HOV only
	R18.15		Studebaker Road	At-grade intersection; HOV only

References

External links

• California @ WestCoastRoads.com - Interstate 105
• Photo Exhibit: Constructing Interstate 105