# California State Route 103

State Route 103 (SR 103) is a state highway in the U.S. state of California that forms part of the Terminal Island Freeway in Los Angeles and Long Beach. It runs from State Route 47 near Terminal Island north to State Route 1 (Pacific Coast Highway) in Long Beach. At the south end of SR 103, the Terminal Island Freeway runs south with SR 47 over the Commodore Schuyler F. Heim Bridge to its end at Ocean Boulevard on Terminal Island, at the former Long Beach Naval Shipyard. SR 47 then turns west there to its end at Interstate 110.
Beyond SR 1, the freeway is owned by the City of Long Beach to its end at Willow Street. For a time, this segment had the unusual unsigned designation of State Route 103U, with the U signifying "un-relinquished", because the state legislature had removed this segment from the state highway system in 1983 but the City of Long Beach did not agree to take it over until 2000. The portion is still signed as part of SR 103 instead of SR 103U.
SR 103 does not directly connect to any other freeways. It was originally planned to continue north to the Interstate 710 and Interstate 405 interchange. The Terminal Island Freeway is heavily used by trucks carrying cargo to and from the Port of Los Angeles and Port of Long Beach. Because of its isolation from residential and business areas, and the industrial-looking neighborhood it runs through, the freeway is frequently used to film freeway scenes for major motion pictures. Terminator 2: Judgment Day, Mr. & Mrs. Smith, and The Fast and the Furious were three movies that used it for location purposes.

## Route description

The state route begins at Interstate 710 in Long Beach as a concurrency with SR 47. It then begins as a freeway, whence it follows the Schuyler Heim Bridge over the Cerritos Channel, entering the city of Los Angeles midway through the bridge. It then leaves SR 47 and reenters Long Beach, where it meets SR 1. The SR 103 state highway designation officially ends at SR 1, but the freeway, now controlled by the City of Long Beach from this point on, continues north and ends at an intersection with Willow Street.
SR 103 is part of the California Freeway and Expressway System, and is part of the National Highway System, a network of highways that are considered essential to the country's economy, defense, and mobility by the Federal Highway Administration.

## History

Prior to 1969, Route 103 was what is now State Route 15 and Interstate 15 from Interstate 5 to State Route 163 in San Diego. (I-15 was U.S. Route 395, which used SR 163, until 1969.)
The entire Terminal Island Freeway was once part of State Route 47, and was to continue north to Interstate 10 near downtown Los Angeles. SR 47 was redefined in 1983 to split from the freeway north of the Schuyler Heim Bridge, and the part from SR 47 to Willow Street became SR 103. The part north of SR 1 was later removed from the legal definition, existing for a time as State Route 103U - U for unrelinquished - before it was traded on August 25, 2000, with the city of Long Beach for Interstate 710 from SR 1 south to Ocean Boulevard. The city has since explored plans to remove this portion of the freeway.

## Exit list

Except where prefixed with a letter, postmiles were measured on the road as it was in 1964, based on the alignment that existed at the time, and do not necessarily reflect current mileage. R reflects a realignment in the route since then, M indicates a second realignment, L refers to an overlap due to a correction or change, and T indicates postmiles classified as temporary (for a full list of prefixes, see California postmile § Official postmile definitions). Segments that remain unconstructed or have been relinquished to local control may be omitted. The entire route is in Los Angeles County.
| Location | Postmile | Exit | Destinations | Notes |
| Long Beach | 3.50 | | Berth T136 Gate 2 | Continuation beyond SR 47 |
| Long Beach | 3.50 | | I-710 north / SR 47 south – Downtown Long Beach, Piers B-J and T, San Pedro | South end of SR 47 overlap; south end of SR 103 |
| Long Beach | ​ | South end of freeway | South end of freeway | South end of freeway |
| Long Beach | 3.58 | 4 | New Dock Street | Southbound exit & northbound entrance |
| Long Beach–Los Angeles line | 3.88 | Schuyler Heim Bridge over Cerritos Channel | Schuyler Heim Bridge over Cerritos Channel | Schuyler Heim Bridge over Cerritos Channel |
| Los Angeles | 4.570.00 | 5 | SR 47 north (Anaheim Street) / Pier A Way | North end of SR 47 overlap; northbound exit and southbound entrance |
| Los Angeles | 0.90 | | Anaheim Street | No northbound exit |
| Long Beach | 1.59 | | SR 1 (Pacific Coast Highway) – Long Beach, Santa Monica | |
| Long Beach | 1.59 | North end of state maintenance | North end of state maintenance | North end of state maintenance |
| Long Beach | ​ | | Willow Street – Carson, Long Beach | At-grade intersection |
| 1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi Concurrency terminus Incomplete access |||||
* 1 2 3 4 5 Indicates that the postmile represents the distance along SR 47 rather than SR 103.