Historic endpoints of US highway 60/70 in Los Angeles

Photo credits: Andy Field
Additional research: Casey Cooper; Nathan Edgars; Jake; Steve Riner

Highway Approx. time period
US 60 1933-1966
US 70 1935-1965

US 60 was extended west to California in 1932: to San Bernardino initially, and then to L.A. the following year. In 1934, US 70 was extended further west, also entering California. It may have ended at Mecca at first, but by 1935 it was co-signed with US 60 from Mecca through Palm Springs to Beaumont (which today is part of greater Los Angeles). From there, the two routes split, but continued to braid with each other all the way into downtown L.A. That's close enough to the Pacific Ocean that I tend to think of US 60 and US 70 as being among the grand old coast-to-coast routes. They came in on Ramona Boulevard (along with US 99):

Gousha, c. 1947

You can see how US 60/70/99 passed under Macy Street, then turned west, and then north on Mission Road, approaching Macy from the south. The photo below was taken looking west from that final curve in Ramona Blvd:


c. 1940, Automobile Club of Southern California; digitally reproduced and hosted by University of Southern California

To the right was Macy (which carried US 101 at the time). But there was a grade separation there with no access between the two roads, so US 60/70/99 continued ahead (the landmark building in the distance is Los Angeles City Hall) and then intersected Mission. There, all three routes were directed north to Macy. US 60/70 ended there, but US 99 continued with US 101.

Most people wouldn't even recognize the names of these roads. Macy is now called Cesar Chavez Avenue. Ramona was upgraded to a freeway - initially it was called the "Ramona Freeway", but already by the 1960s it was known by today's moniker: the "San Bernardino Freeway", which now carries I-10. In fact, it would not be possible to take a photo from the same location as the photo above - that intersection was completely erased by the interchange where the Hollywood, San Bernardino, and Santa Ana freeways converge. The corridor straight ahead (originally the Aliso Street r.o.w.) is now occupied by an eastbound freeway ramp. In the opposite direction, Aliso continued east all the way to Pleasant. But today, all that's left of that segment of Aliso is a short stub (now called Summit Avenue), which branches off Pleasant and quickly dead-ends at the interchange.

The photo below is looking east on Chavez (nee Macy):

Google Maps Street View, 2009

In 1926, this ornate bridge over the Los Angeles River replaced an earlier wooden structure - just in time to serve the US highway system that was soon to be commissioned. Macy became US 101, and just ahead at the traffic signal, the west beginning of US 60/70 was to the right on Mission. Traffic went south a block or two, then turned east on Ramona, which passed underneath Macy about four blocks ahead. Below we're looking north on Mission at Chavez:

Google Maps Street View, 2009

US 60/70 ended here, but US 99 continued to the left with northbound US 101; southbound US 101 was to the right. That situation lasted for only 20 years at the most - the freeway interchange was already complete by the time of the aerial photo shown below:

CalTrans Library, c. 1955 (submitted by Cooper)

We're looking roughly north; the expressway coming from the bottom and curving off to the left over the Los Angeles River is modern US 101. The expressway coming in from the right is the San Bernardino. So that interchange marked the west end of US 60/US 70 for another 10 years or so, until those routes were truncated out of Los Angeles in the 1960s.

The other (smaller) bridge over the river was Macy (today's Cesar Chavez). Just this side of the San Bernardino, a road branches off Macy and comes toward the camera, parallel to the Santa Ana. That's Pleasant Avenue - US 101 traffic was routed along Macy and Pleasant until these freeways were built. The photo below shows the historic west beginning of US 60/70 from what's now the Santa Ana (northbound US 101):

c. 1958 (attribution unknown)

US 60/70 began to the right. Within a few years, the "Ramona" was renamed the "San Bernardino", and I-10 traffic was routed along it - the photo below shows a more recent view from roughly the same location:

Field, Dec. 2001

The photo below is from the opposite direction (south on US 101):

Field, Dec. 2001

To the left was the final Los Angeles beginning of US 60/70. More about these routes can be found on my main US 60 and US 70 pages.