California State Route 55

State Route 55
Route information
Defined by S&HC § 355
Maintained by Caltrans
Length:	18 mi[citation needed] (29 km)
Existed:	1964 – present
Major junctions
South end:	SR 1 in Newport Beach
	I-405 in Costa Mesa I-5 in Tustin
North end:	SR 91 in Anaheim
Highway system
State highways in California(list • pre-1964) History • Unconstructed • Deleted • Freeway • Scenic ← SR 54 SR 56 →

State Route 55 (SR 55) is an 18-mile (30-km) long north–south highway in the U.S. state of California. The portion of the route built to freeway standards is known as the Costa Mesa Freeway (formerly the Newport Freeway). SR 55 runs between the Pacific Coast Highway (State Route 1 in Newport Beach to the south and the Riverside Freeway (State Route 91) in Anaheim to the north.

Route description

This route is part of the California Freeway and Expressway System.^[1]

Starting at Finley Avenue on Newport Boulevard in Newport Beach, 0.3-mile (0.48 km) south of SR 1, Route 55/Newport Boulevard is a 4-lane expressway for approximately three-quarters of a mile to its intersection with 17th Street in Costa Mesa. It then follows a traditional street routing through a retail and commercial section of Costa Mesa until its intersection with 19th Street. Following the 19th Street intersection, Route 55 becomes an eight-lane below-grade freeway that bisects the northbound and southbound lanes of Newport Boulevard until the Mesa Drive undercrossing. North of Fair Drive, Route 55 is an at-grade or above-grade freeway, with the exception of a one mile (1.6 km) stretch between the 1st Street/4th Street exit and the 17th Street exit in Santa Ana which is below-grade.

The segment on Newport Boulevard includes a limited-access interchange at SR 1. The southbound side of the Costa Mesa Freeway does not have a direct link to northbound Interstate 5, the Santa Ana Freeway. Route 55 is known to be crowded due to it being the primary free link from job centers in Irvine, Santa Ana and Costa Mesa to SR 91, which leads to commuter communities of the Inland Empire and other places northeast of Orange County.

SR 55 was the first freeway in Orange County to receive carpool lanes,^[2] opened in 1985. The stretch of the 55 between Fair Dr. and 19th Street in Costa Mesa was opened in 1990; plans to extend the 55 freeway south from 19th Street to State Route 1 were never realized, but in April 2007, the Orange County Transportation Authority approved funds to study the feasibility of extending the Costa Mesa Freeway south to 17th Street via tunnels or flyover ramps.^[2] Route 55 from Route 91 to Costa Mesa is known as the Costa Mesa Freeway, as named by Assembly Concurrent Resolution 177, Chapter 86 in 1976.^[3]

History

Route 55 was originally built in 1931 and was originally numbered as Route 43. It was built from the southern terminus of SR 1 (the Pacific Coast Highway, or "PCH") and continued northbound on the same route it follows today, through the cities of Newport Beach, Tustin, Costa Mesa, Orange and Anaheim, and then went eastward through Riverside on what is known today as Route 91 to link with Interstate 215. In 1959 the freeway was renumbered as Route 55, and its route was shortened from Route 1 to the also-renumbered Route 91.^[4]

Today, Route 55 is a heavily-travelled corridor linking southern Orange County with Route 91, the main corridor between the Inland Empire and the Los Angeles Metropolitan Area, as well as Interstate 5, the main north–south corridor for California. A HOV lane has been built along the entire route, with its own off- and on-ramps. However, congestion is still very prevalent throughout the day, as is the norm with many Orange County freeways; Route 55 experiences a peak daily traffic volume of 262,000 vehicles and 17,292 trucks.^[5]

The entire freeway section of Route 55, approximately 16 miles (26 km), is called the Costa Mesa Freeway. It was formerly called the Newport Freeway, with the name being changed by the legislature in 1976. Caltrans did not begin changing signs to reflect the name change until the early 1990s. In 2010, the stretch between Chapman and Katella avenues in the City of Orange was renamed the Paul Johnson Freeway for longtime local radio television traffic reporter Paul Johnson, who died the same year.^[6]

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 Orange County.

Location	Postmile [7][8][9]	Exit [10]	Destinations	Notes
Newport Beach	0.00		Newport Boulevard	Continuation beyond SR 1
	0.27	1	SR 1 (Pacific Coast Highway) – Laguna Beach, San Diego, Long Beach	Interchange; former US 101 Alt.
Costa Mesa	1.51		East 17th Street
	1.82		Harbor Boulevard
	2.02		19th Street
	South end of freeway
		2	Newport Boulevard	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
	R2.77	3	Victoria Street, 22nd Street
	R3.78	4	Del Mar Avenue, Fair Drive
	R4.73	5A	SR 73 north (Corona del Mar Freeway) to I-405 north (San Diego Freeway) – Long Beach	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
	R4.73	5A	SR 73 south (Corona del Mar Freeway) – San Diego via toll road
	R5.34	5B	Baker Street
	R5.99	6A	I-405 north (San Diego Freeway) – Long Beach	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
	R5.99	6B	I-405 south (San Diego Freeway) – San Diego, John Wayne Airport	Signed as exit 6 northbound
Santa Ana	R6.99	7	MacArthur Boulevard, Main Street
	R7.85	8	Dyer Road	Signed as exits 8A (east) and 8B (west) southbound
	R9.44	9	Edinger Avenue
Tustin	R9.96	10A	McFadden Avenue – Tustin	Signed as exit 10 southbound
	10.45	10B	I-5 north (Santa Ana Freeway) – Santa Ana	Northbound exit and southbound entrance; former US 101 north
	10.45	11A	I-5 south (Santa Ana Freeway) – San Diego	Former US 101 south
	10.98	11B	4th Street, Irvine Boulevard
	11.79	12	17th Street – Tustin, Santa Ana	Signed as exits 12A (east) and 12B (west) southbound
	12.97	13	SR 22 west (Garden Grove Freeway) – Long Beach
	13.70	14	Chapman Avenue (CR S25 east) – Orange	Signed as exits 14A (east) and 14B (west) northbound
Orange	15.24	15	Katella Avenue (CR S18 south) – Villa Park
	16.98	17	Lincoln Avenue, Nohl Ranch Road	Lincoln Avenue was former US 91 south / former SR 18 south
Anaheim	R17.88	18A	SR 91 west (Riverside Freeway) – Los Angeles	Northbound exit and southbound entrance; former SR 14 north
	R17.88	18B	SR 91 east (Riverside Freeway) – Riverside	Northbound exit and southbound entrance; former US 91 north / former SR 18 north
	R17.88		91 Express Toll Lanes	Northbound left exit and southbound entrance
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi      Concurrency terminus •      Closed/Former •      Incomplete access •      Unopened

References

1. ^ CA Codes (shc:250-257)
2. ^ ^{a b} OC Set To Study New End to 55 Freeway. Los Angeles Times. pp. 2. http://www.thetransitcoalition.us/newspdf/lat20070422a.pdf. Retrieved 2007-04-22. 
3. ^ 2007 Named Freeways, Highways, Structures and Other Appurtenances in California. Caltrans. pp. 59. http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/tsip/hseb/products/Named_Freeways.pdf. Retrieved 2007-03-27. 
4. ^ SR-55 Background and History
5. ^ http://www.dot.ca.gov/hq/traffops/saferesr/trafdata/truck2005final.pdf
6. ^ http://www.mediabistro.com/tvspy/longtime-knbc-traffic-reporter-gets-his-own-freeway_b6968
7. ^ California Department of Transportation, State Truck Route List (XLS file), accessed February 2008
8. ^ California Department of Transportation, Log of Bridges on State Highways, July 2007
9. ^ California Department of Transportation, All Traffic Volumes on CSHS, 2005 and 2006
10. ^ California Department of Transportation, California Numbered Exit Uniform System, State Route 55 Freeway Interchanges, Retrieved on 2009-02-05.