| Imperial Highway | |
| Location: | California |
| Maint: | Local jurisdictions, Caltrans (for the portion between SR 39 and SR 91) |
| Length Mi: | 105 |
| Inauguration Date: | 1931 |
| Part Of: |
|
| Direction A: | Southeastern |
| Terminus A: | near Ocotillo |
| Junction: | |
| Direction B: | Northwestern |
| Terminus B: | Vista Del Mar in Playa Del Rey |
The Imperial Highway is a west-east thoroughfare in the counties of Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Diego, and Imperial in the U.S. state of California. The main portion of the existing route begins at Vista Del Mar in Los Angeles near the Los Angeles International Airport and ends at the Anaheim–Orange city line at Via Escola where it becomes Cannon Street. Historically, the Imperial Highway extended from Vista Del Mar to Calexico, where a portion of the highway still exists. The original route was replaced with other highways, leading the older portions of the Imperial Highway to fall out of use.[1]
The total length of the Greater Los Angeles portion of the Imperial Highway is approximately 41miles, of which 14miles run through Orange County and 27miles through Los Angeles County.
Between SR 91 and SR 39, Imperial Highway is signed as State Route 90. A de facto freeway portion of the route in Yorba Linda is also known as the Richard M. Nixon Freeway.
The portion in Los Angeles County between Lakewood Boulevard and Valley View Avenue is located about one mile north of, and runs parallel to, Rosecrans Avenue.
Starting from Cannon Street & Via Escola in Orange, going east to west Cannon Street becomes Imperial Highway upon entering Anaheim. The highway then passes through the cities and communities of Anaheim Hills, Yorba Linda, Placentia, Brea, Fullerton, La Habra, La Mirada, Santa Fe Springs (some sections in La Mirada and Santa Fe Springs are next to unincorporated LA County), Norwalk, Downey, South Gate, Lynwood, Los Angeles (Watts, and South LA – a portion after South LA is in unincorporated LA County), Inglewood, Hawthorne, El Segundo (southside of street only), and Westchester (part of Los Angeles on the northside). Imperial Highway ends at Dockweiler Beach on Vista Del Mar near Playa Del Rey, just past LAX.
Along its route, Imperial Highway crosses over or under these freeways from west to east:
Metro Local lines 120 and formerly 625 run via Imperial Highway, as well as Norwalk Transit line 4; Metro line 625 ran between Pershing Drive and La Cienega Boulevard. Metro line 120 runs between Aviation Boulevard and Norwalk Station, and Norwalk line 4 between Norwalk Station and Beach Boulevard. Imperial intersects with the Metro A and C Lines at Wilmington Avenue in Willowbrook at the Willowbrook/Rosa Parks station. There is also another C Line station at Aviation Boulevard.
Western terminus coordinates (El Segundo):
Eastern terminus coordinates (Anaheim):
Imperial Highway was built in large part because of lobbying from the Imperial Highway Association, founded in 1929. The Imperial Highway Association lobbied city and county governments to build Imperial Highway, gaining cities along the way until the highway finished construction in 1961.
Imperial Highway was initially conceived as a commercial route connecting Imperial County to Los Angeles County.[2] [3] A segment remains today in Imperial County which connects Interstate 8 near Ocotillo. Another segment adjacent to Lake Elsinore (Riverside County) was once indicated on 1960s vicinity maps by H.M. Gousha (Gousha), publisher of street maps.
There are other Imperial Highways in the United States, including one in San Diego (better known as Imperial Avenue) and in the Detroit suburbs of Redford Township, Michigan and Westland, Michigan. Despite the name, Westland's version runs a mere three blocks, north from Bock Street, then northeast from Hambleton Street, across John Hauk Road and stopping at Pardo Street. (It used to continue to Ford Road, but this section has been a hardware store parking lot since the 1970s.)