Sepulveda Boulevard

Sepulveda Boulevard

Maintained by	Bureau of Street Services, City of L.A. DPW, Co. of L.A. DPW, Caltrans
Length	42.8 mi (68.9 km)
North end	I-5 in San Fernando
Major junctions	SR 118 in Mission Hills US 101 in Van Nuys SR 2 in West Los Angeles I-10 in West Los Angeles I-105 near LAX Airport I-110 West Carson / Carson
South end	SR 103 in Long Beach

Sepulveda Boulevard is a street in Los Angeles, California, which stretches some 42.8 miles (about 69 km) from Rinaldi Street at the north end of the San Fernando Valley to the city limits of Hermosa Beach, where it "jumps" 1.3 miles (2.1 km) east and continues on to Long Beach. It generally runs north-south, passing underneath two of the runways of Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). It is the longest street in the city and county of Los Angeles.

History

Sepulveda Boulevard is named for the Sepulveda family of San Pedro, California. The termination of Sepulveda is on a part of the Sepulveda family ranch, Rancho Palos Verdes, which consisted of 31,619 acres (127.96 km²) of the Palos Verdes Peninsula. In 1784 the Spanish land grant for Rancho San Pedro was issued to Juan Jose Dominguez by King Carlos III—the Spanish Empire. A judicial decree was made by Governor José Figueroa which was intended to settle the land dispute between the Domínguez and Sepúlveda families. The rancho was formally divided in 1846, with Governor Pío Pico granting Rancho de los Palos Verdes to José Loreto and Juan Capistrano Sepulveda.

Route

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  Sepulveda Boulevard from a Boeing 757 on approach to LAX

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  Sepulveda Boulevard Tunnel

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  Sepulveda Blvd., Sepulveda Pass

There is a Sepulveda Boulevard in Sylmar, in the San Fernando Valley, starting at San Fernando Road and ending at Roxford Street, which is now used primarily as a service road along the Golden State Freeway (Interstate 5). Prior to the construction of the San Diego Freeway (Interstate 405), the two present-day sections of Sepulveda Boulevard were connected; the Interstate 5 / Interstate 405 interchange was built over the old boulevard between Roxford and Rinaldi streets.

The main portion of Sepulveda Boulevard now begins at Rinaldi Street in Mission Hills and heads south, running parallel to the 405 through North Hills and Van Nuys. After intersecting Ventura Boulevard in Sherman Oaks, it crosses under the 405 and climbs the Sepulveda Pass in a serpentine fashion, peaking at Mulholland Drive (although it does not intersect it, rather tunneling beneath it) near the Skirball Cultural Center. It once again parallels the 405 through a small canyon in Bel Air before flattening out in Brentwood, into the Los Angeles Basin.

Sepulveda Boulevard functions as a primary thoroughfare through West Los Angeles and upon entering Culver City it merges with Jefferson Boulevard just north of Slauson Avenue. Heading directly south through Westchester, Sepulveda merges with Lincoln Boulevard on the north side of Los Angeles International Airport (LAX). After the merge with Lincoln, it becomes signed as State Route 1. It then tunnels under the runways of LAX and the western terminus of Interstate 105 into El Segundo and the South Bay.

In the South Bay, Sepulveda Boulevard runs from El Segundo through Manhattan Beach and enters Hermosa Beach, where it becomes Pacific Coast Highway (PCH), at Artesia Boulevard, and continues its southern journey.

At Torrance Boulevard (formerly Opal Street) in Redondo Beach, the road turns east a few blocks to Camino Real, then south by southeast to Torrance, where Sepulveda begins again. (That is because originally PCH was Camino Real in Redondo, and it cut and curved directly through to the Camino Real of today.) The roadway is part of El Camino Real, with historic bells along the street to indicate this.

Sepulveda Boulevard runs southeast through Torrance, Harbor Gateway (from Western Avenue to Normandie Avenue) and the unincorporated area of Los Angeles County known as West Carson (from Normandie to the Harbor Freeway (Interstate 110). It then continues eastward through Carson to Long Beach, where the name changes to Willow Street.

Public transportation

Public transit along Sepulveda Boulevard is provided by several different bus lines. The north south-part provides bus service in the San Fernando Valley by Metro Local line 234 and Metro Rapid line 734, through the Sepulveda Pass by Metro Local line 233 and Metro Rapid line 761, through West Los Angeles, Culver City and LAX by Culver City Transit Line 6 and Rapid 6, and through El Segundo and Manhattan Beach by Metro Local line 232. The west-east portion of Sepulveda Boulevard provides bus service by Torrance Transit line 7. The Orange Line serves a station a block west of Sepulveda Boulevard in Van Nuys. The Metro Expo Line is proposed to operate a rail station at Exposition Boulevard, beginning in 2015.

Major intersections

Location	Destinations	Notes
San Fernando	I-5 (Golden State Freeway) / I-405 (San Diego Freeway)	North end of arterial
Mission Hills	SR 118 (Ronald Reagan Freeway)
Van Nuys	US 101 (Ventura Freeway)
Sherman Oaks	Former (BUS) US 101 (Ventura Boulevard)
West Los Angeles	SR 2 (Santa Monica Boulevard) I-10 (Santa Monica Freeway)
Venice Boulevard	Former SR 187
Culver City	SR 90 (Marina Freeway)
Westchester	Former SR 42 (Manchester Boulevard)	Beginning of SR 1 overlapping
El Segundo	I-105 (Century Freeway)
Manhattan Beach
Artesia Boulevard	Former SR 91
Hermosa Beach
Redondo Beach	Torrance Boulevard Ending of SR 1 overlapping	Ending of Metro Green Line (at Marine Avenue)
Torrance	Former SR 107 (Hawthorne Boulevard)
Western Avenue	Former SR 213
Harbor Gateway
West Carson	I-110 (Harbor Freeway)
Carson
Long Beach	Name changes to Willow Street	South end of arterial

Popular Culture

• Sepulveda Boulevard is referenced in the 1947 song Pico and Sepulveda by Freddy Martin and his orchestra.

• Tiny Toons Adventures has an episode titled and set on Sepulveda Boulevard.

References

• "A landscape of names" (PDF). Los Angeles Times. Retrieved January 27, 2006. 
• Sepulveda Boulevard Roadtrip

External links

• Illustrated tour of Sepulveda Boulevard