# La Cienega Boulevard

La Cienega Boulevard is a major north–south arterial road in the Los Angeles metropolitan area that runs from the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood in the north to El Segundo Boulevard in Hawthorne in the south. It was named for Rancho Las Cienegas, literally "The Ranch Of The Swamps," an area of marshland south of Rancho La Brea.

## Route description

La Cienega Boulevard's northern terminus is the Sunset Strip in West Hollywood. It runs as a surface street in a due south direction through Beverly Hills and a section known as "Restaurant Row" for its historic tradition of upscale restaurants. South of Olympic, La Cienega runs through between the Pico-Robertson, South Carthay, and Crestview neighborhoods of West Los Angeles. South of the Santa Monica Freeway, the I-10, it briefly borders Culver City, and passes the La Cienega/Jefferson station of the Metro E Line.
Between Obama Boulevard and Manchester Avenue, most of La Cienega Boulevard is a divided, limited access expressway with few traffic signals. In the late 1940s, as part of the proposed Laurel Canyon Freeway, La Cienega was constructed to freeway standards with several grade-separated interchanges. Emergency call boxes like those found along the area's freeways were also installed along that stretch in the early 1970s. The Laurel Canyon Freeway was never completed. This stretch of La Cienega passes through the Kenneth Hahn State Recreation Area, Baldwin Hills, the Inglewood Oil Field, and Ladera Heights.
South of Manchester Avenue, La Cienega becomes a surface street once more, running parallel to the San Diego (405) Freeway through Inglewood. It terminates at El Segundo Boulevard in Hawthorne along the west side of the freeway. A non-contiguous segment also named La Cienega Boulevard runs along the east side of the 405 freeway, roughly between El Segundo Boulevard and Rosecrans Avenue in an unincorporated strip of Los Angeles County.

### La Cienega Design Quarter

The area of La Cienega Boulevard, from Beverly Boulevard to Santa Monica Boulevard, and its satellite streets is known as the La Cienega Design Quarter. Its shops and galleries house many antiques, furniture, rugs, accessories and art. Art dealer Felix Landau operated his trend-setting gallery there in the 1960s.

### Restaurant Row

La Cienega in Beverly Hills, north of Wilshire Boulevard, is known as Restaurant Row because it features many upscale restaurants. From Wilshire in Beverly Hills traveling north the best known establishments include Benihana, The Stinking Rose, Darioush, the original Lawry's the Prime Rib, Hakobe, Tokyo Table - Tokyo City Cuisine, Matsuhisa, Fogo de Chão, Gyu-Kaku, Woo Lae Oak, The Bazaar by José Andrés, and Morton's.

## Etymology

La Cienega Boulevard is named after Rancho Las Cienegas Mexican land grant roughly in the region now called "West Los Angeles." The Spanish phrase la ciénaga translates into English as "the swamp" and the area named "Las Ciénegas" was a continual marshland due to the course of the Los Angeles River through that area prior to a massive southerly shift in 1825 to roughly its present course. The difference in spelling in Los Angeles between the Castilian Spanish word ciénaga and the name of the thoroughfare, which is common in other Iberian languages like Extremaduran, originated with the name of the ranch.

## Transportation

Metro Local lines 105 runs on La Cienega Boulevard. An elevated light rail station for the Metro E Line is located at Jefferson Boulevard. An underground station for the Metro D Line at Wilshire Boulevard is currently under construction.

## Major intersections

The entire route is in Los Angeles County.
| Location | mi | km | Destinations | Notes |
| Hawthorne–Del Aire line | 0 | 0.0 | El Segundo Boulevard to I-405 (San Diego Freeway) | South end of La Cienega Boulevard; I-405 north exit 44 |
| Del Aire | 0.2 | 0.32 | I-405 south (San Diego Freeway) | I-405 south exit 44/El Segundo Boulevard |
| Del Aire | 0.5 | 0.80 | 120th Street | |
| Los Angeles–Lennox line | 0.9 | 1.4 | I-405 south (San Diego Freeway) | I-405 south exit 45B/Imperial Highway east |
| Los Angeles–Lennox line | 1.0 | 1.6 | Imperial Highway to I-405 north (San Diego Freeway) | I-405 north exit 45B |
| Los Angeles–Lennox line | 1.2 | 1.9 | I-405 south (San Diego Freeway) – Long Beach | I-405 south exit 45B/Imperial Highway west |
| Los Angeles–Lennox line | 1.9 | 3.1 | I-405 south (San Diego Freeway) | Next to I-405 south exit 46/Century Boulevard east |
| Los Angeles–Inglewood line | 2.0 | 3.2 | Century Boulevard to I-405 north (San Diego Freeway) – LAX | I-405 north exit 46 |
| Los Angeles–Inglewood line | 2.2 | 3.5 | I-405 south (San Diego Freeway) | I-405 south exit 46/Century Boulevard west |
| Inglewood | 2.5 | 4.0 | Arbor Vitae Street | |
| Inglewood | 3.0 | 4.8 | I-405 south (San Diego Freeway) / Olive Street | I-405 south exit 47 |
| Inglewood | 3.1 | 5.0 | Manchester Boulevard | Former SR 42 |
| Inglewood | 3.3 | 5.3 | Florence Avenue | |
| Inglewood | 3.5 | 5.6 | I-405 south (San Diego Freeway) – Long Beach | Interchange; I-405 south exit 47; no access from La Cienega Boulevard northbound |
| Los Angeles–Inglewood line | 4.3 | 6.9 | Centinela Avenue | |
| South end of expressway ||
| Ladera Heights | 5.0 | 8.0 | Slauson Avenue – Ladera Heights | Interchange; former SR 90 |
| Ladera Heights | 5.0 | 8.0 | Stocker Street | |
| Los Angeles–Culver City line | 6.8 | 10.9 | Kenneth Hahn State Recreation Area | Interchange |
| Los Angeles | 7.4 | 11.9 | South end of expressway | South end of expressway |
| Los Angeles | 7.4 | 11.9 | Obama Boulevard | |
| Los Angeles | 7.8 | 12.6 | Jefferson Boulevard | |
| Los Angeles | 8.0 | 12.9 | Fairfax Avenue to I-10 (Santa Monica Freeway) | |
| Culver City | 8.2 | 13.2 | Washington Boulevard | |
| Los Angeles | 8.5 | 13.7 | Venice Boulevard (SR 187) | |
| Los Angeles | 8.6 | 13.8 | I-10 (Santa Monica Freeway) – Santa Monica, Los Angeles | Interchange; I-10 exit 7A |
| Los Angeles | 9.8 | 15.8 | Pico Boulevard | |
| Los Angeles–Beverly Hills line | 10.2 | 16.4 | Olympic Boulevard | |
| Beverly Hills | 10.6 | 17.1 | Wilshire Boulevard | |
| Los Angeles | 11.0 | 17.7 | San Vicente Boulevard | |
| Los Angeles | 11.1 | 17.9 | 3rd Street | |
| Los Angeles | 11.3 | 18.2 | Beverly Boulevard | Center of the so-called "studio zone" |
| West Hollywood | 11.8 | 19.0 | Melrose Avenue | |
| West Hollywood | 12.3 | 19.8 | Santa Monica Boulevard (SR 2) | |
| West Hollywood | 12.6 | 20.3 | Sunset Boulevard | North end of La Cienega Boulevard |
| 1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi |||||