Orange Crush interchange | |
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The Crush | |
![]() Orange Crush Interchange, from I-5 Southbound | |
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Location | |
Orange, California Santa Ana, California | |
Coordinates | 33°46′48″N117°52′45″W / 33.7801°N 117.8792°W |
Roads at junction | ![]() ![]() |
Construction | |
Type | Hybrid Interchange |
Spans | 13 |
Lanes | 34 |
Constructed | by Department of Public Works |
Opened | 1959 |
Maximum width | 8,290 ft (2,530 m) |
Maintained by | Caltrans |
Tolls | None |
The Orange Crush interchange, frequently called The Crush, is a freeway interchange in the cities of Orange and Santa Ana, California, near the city limits of the cities of Anaheim, and Garden Grove. The Disneyland Resort, The Outlets at Orange, St. Joseph Hospital, Children's Hospital of Orange County, the UCI Medical Center, Westfield MainPlace, Angel Stadium of Anaheim, Honda Center, Platinum Triangle and the Lamaroux Justice Center of the Superior Court of California of the County of Orange are all located at or near the interchange. [1]
This interchange of the Santa Ana (Interstate 5), Garden Grove (State Route 22), and Orange (State Route 57) freeways was listed in the 2002 Guinness World Records book as the most complex road interchange in the world. The name of the interchange, credited to KNX Radio traffic and weather reporter Bill Keene, [2] is a play on the name of the Orange Crush soda.
The interchange comprises four freeway segments and 13 bridges (i.e. there are five freeway "paths" of travel into the complex) of three major highways:
The 2002 edition of the Guinness World Records book cites this as the most complex road interchange in the world, stating that it is an intersection of 34 different routes, when taking into account collector/distributor roads, surrounding on- and off-ramps (such as Bristol Street/La Veta Avenue, Broadway/Main Street), and direct carpool-to-carpool flyovers. Adding to the complexity is that of the five possible directions to enter the interchange, entering eastbound on SR-22 is the only approach that allows motorists to exit the interchange in all possible directions of travel. This is a result of the acute intersecting angles of SR-57 and I-5, as well as the fact that the interchange is approximately 3 miles (4.8 km) from SR-22's eastern terminus at SR-55, which also intersects I-5 several miles south of the Orange Crush. [5]
In addition, although it is not a vehicular road, the Santa Ana River coincidentally crosses I-5 at the Orange Crush area, forming a large "X" visible from space imagery in the heart of Orange County. Its bike path offers bicyclists an alternative route through the Orange Crush, avoiding signals backed up with vehicles getting on or off freeways there during rush hour. Normal traffic is exacerbated during game times for the Angels or Ducks, whose home venues (Angel Stadium and the Honda Center, respectively) lie in very close proximity to the Crush.
Significant construction funded by Measure M in the late 1990s and early 2000s has greatly added capacity and increased the safety of motorists traveling through the interchange. Most of the transitions were re-aligned and/or widened during this reconstruction, including the addition of HOV transitions between SR 57 and I-5. Prior to and since its reconstruction, driving through was and is challenging and, combined with heavy traffic volume, has resulted in frustrating traffic congestion, hence the name "Orange Crush."
In late 2004 the Orange County Transportation Authority began a construction project to widen the entire length of SR 22, including the stretch through the Orange Crush Interchange. This project also added new HOV lanes to SR 22, but no direct HOV connectors from I-5 to SR 22 were constructed. Construction called for the closing of the connector from eastbound SR 22 to southbound I-5 for one year, from November 2005 to November 2006. The project was completed at the end of November 2006. [6]
The Orange County Transportation Authority (OCTA) is the transportation planning commission for Orange County, California, in the Los Angeles metropolitan area. OCTA is responsible for funding and implementing transit and capital projects for the transportation system in the county, including freeway expansions, express lane management, bus and rail transit operation, and commuter rail funding and oversight.
Interstate 605 is a 27-mile-long (43 km) major north–south auxiliary Interstate Highway in the Greater Los Angeles urban area of Southern California. It runs from I-405 and State Route 22 (SR 22) in Seal Beach in Orange County to I-210 just south of the Irwindale–Duarte border in Los Angeles County. The San Gabriel River Freeway closely parallels the San Gabriel River for most of its alignment, hence its name, which is one of the few Southern California freeways not named after a city along its route.
State Route 91 (SR 91) is a major east–west state highway in the U.S. state of California that serves several regions of the Greater Los Angeles urban area. A freeway throughout its entire length, it officially runs from Vermont Avenue in Gardena, just west of the junction with the Harbor Freeway, east to Riverside at the junction with the Pomona and Moreno Valley freeways.
State Route 55 (SR 55) is an 18-mile (30-km) long north–south state highway that passes through suburban Orange County in the U.S. state of California. The portion of the route built to freeway standards is known as the Costa Mesa Freeway. SR 55 runs between Via Lido south of Pacific Coast Highway in Newport Beach and the Riverside Freeway in Anaheim to the north, intersecting other major Orange County freeways such as SR 22, SR 73, and Interstate 405 (I-405).
State Route 22 is an east–west state highway in the U.S. state of California that connects Long Beach with northern Orange County. It runs between Pacific Coast Highway in Long Beach and the Costa Mesa Freeway in Orange by way of Garden Grove. The westernmost part of SR 22 runs along Long Beach's 7th Street. From West Garden Grove to its eastern terminus in Orange, it is known as the Garden Grove Freeway. It is one of the two principal east–west routes in Orange County.
State Route 57 (SR 57), also known as the Orange Freeway for most of its length, is a north–south state highway in the Greater Los Angeles Area of the U.S. state of California. It connects the interchange of Interstate 5 (I-5) and SR 22 near downtown Orange, locally known as the Orange Crush, to the Glendora Curve interchange with I-210 and SR 210 in Glendora. The highway provides a route across several spurs of the Peninsular Ranges, linking the Los Angeles Basin with the Pomona Valley and San Gabriel Valley.
The Santa Ana Freeway is one of the principal freeways in Southern California, connecting Los Angeles and its southeastern suburbs including the freeway's namesake, the city of Santa Ana. The freeway begins at its junction with the San Diego Freeway, called the El Toro Y, in Irvine, signed as I-5. From there, it generally goes southeast to northwest to the East Los Angeles Interchange, where it takes the designation of U.S. Route 101 (US 101). It then proceeds 2.95 miles (4.75 km) northwest to the Four Level Interchange in downtown Los Angeles. Formerly, the entirety of the route was marked as US 101 until the 1964 highway renumbering, which truncated US 101 to the East Los Angeles Interchange and designated the rest of the freeway as I-5.
Interstate 405 is a major north–south auxiliary Interstate Highway in Southern California. The entire route is known as the northern segment of the San Diego Freeway. I-405 is a bypass auxiliary route of I-5, running along the southern and western parts of the Greater Los Angeles urban area from Irvine in the south to Sylmar in the north.
The Hollywood Freeway is one of the principal freeways of Los Angeles, California and one of the busiest in the United States. It is the principal route through the Cahuenga Pass, the primary shortcut between the Los Angeles Basin and the San Fernando Valley. It is considered one of the most important freeways in the history of Los Angeles and instrumental in the development of the San Fernando Valley. It is the second oldest freeway in Los Angeles. From its southern end at the Four Level Interchange to its intersection with the Ventura Freeway in the southeastern San Fernando Valley, it is signed as part of U.S. Route 101. It is then signed as State Route 170 north to its terminus at the Golden State Freeway.
State Route 85 is a state highway which connects the cities of southern San Jose and Mountain View in the U.S. State of California. The highway intersects with major highways such as I-280, SR 17, and SR 87. The route serves as a bypass of U.S. Route 101 in the Santa Clara Valley area, running through the foothill cities of Los Gatos, Saratoga, Cupertino, roughly paralleling the Santa Cruz Mountains up to its interchange with I-280.
State Route 60 (SR 60) is an east–west state highway in the U.S. state of California. It serves the cities and communities on the eastern side of the Los Angeles metropolitan area and runs along the south side of the San Gabriel Valley. It functions as a bypass route of Interstate 10 (I-10) through the area between the East Los Angeles Interchange in Los Angeles and Beaumont. SR 60 provides a route across several spurs of the Peninsular Ranges, linking the Los Angeles Basin with the Pomona Valley and San Gabriel Valley. The highway also runs concurrently with SR 57 and I-215. Portions of SR 60 are designated as either the Pomona Freeway or the Moreno Valley Freeway.
State Route 237 is a state highway in the U.S. state of California that runs from El Camino Real in Mountain View to Interstate 680 in Milpitas. Known as the Southbay Freeway for most of its length, SR 237 runs south of the San Francisco Bay, connecting the East Bay to the Peninsula.
The Four Level Interchange is the first stack interchange in the world. Completed in 1949 and fully opened in 1953 at the northern edge of Downtown Los Angeles, California, United States, it connects U.S. Route 101 to State Route 110. In 2006, the interchange was officially renamed in the memory of Los Angeles traffic and weather reporter Bill Keene.
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Interstate 10 (I-10) is a transcontinental Interstate Highway in the United States, stretching from Santa Monica, California, to Jacksonville, Florida. The segment of I-10 in California, also known as the Pearl Harbor Memorial Highway, runs east from Santa Monica through Los Angeles, San Bernardino, and Palm Springs before crossing into the state of Arizona. In the Greater Los Angeles area, it is known as the Santa Monica and San Bernardino freeways, linked by a short concurrency on I-5 at the East Los Angeles Interchange. I-10 also has parts designated as the Rosa Parks and Sonny Bono Memorial freeways. Some parts were also formerly designated as the Christopher Columbus Transcontinental Highway. However, the California State Legislature removed this designation following the passage of a bill on August 31, 2022. I-10 is also known colloquially as "the 10" to Southern California residents
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Interstate 5 (I-5) is a major north–south route of the Interstate Highway System in the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific Coast between the Mexican border and the Canadian border. The segment of I-5 in California runs across the length of the state from the Mexican border at the San Ysidro Port of Entry in the San Ysidro neighborhood of San Diego to the Oregon state line south of the Medford-Ashland metropolitan area. It is the longest interstate in California at 796.77 miles (1,282.28 km), and accounts for more than half of I-5's total length of 1,381.29 miles (2,222.97 km). It is also the second longest stretch of Interstate Highway with a single designation within a single state after I-10 in Texas.
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