page_title: Interstate 5 in California
section_title: Los Angeles County
hierarchical_section_title: Interstate 5 in California / Route description / Los Angeles County
caption_attribution_description: English: Interstate 5 approaching the Newhall Pass Interchange
context_page_description: Interstate 5 is a major north–south route of the Interstate Highway System in the United States, stretching from the Mexican border at the San Ysidro crossing to the Canadian border near Blaine, Washington. From San Ysidro, the segment of I-5 in California runs north across the length of the state, and crosses into Oregon south of the Medford-Ashland metropolitan area. It is the more important and most-used of the two major north–south routes on the Pacific Coast, the other being U.S. Route 101, which is primarily coastal.
  This highway links the major California cities of San Diego, Santa Ana, Los Angeles, Stockton, Sacramento, and Redding. The Interstate bypasses the San Francisco Bay area, which is about 80 miles west of the highway. I-5 is generally referred to as "5" in Northern California, and is often called "the 5" in the Southern California area.
  I-5 has several named portions: the Montgomery Freeway, San Diego Freeway, Santa Ana Freeway, Golden State Freeway, and West Side Freeway.
context_section_description: After crossing the county line, I-5 goes through several cities southeast of Los Angeles, including La Mirada, Santa Fe Springs, and Norwalk. In Downey, I-5 intersects I-605, which serves as a north–south connector route between the cities east of Los Angeles, including those in the San Gabriel Valley. I-5 then enters Commerce, passing the Citadel Outlets shopping center, and intersects I-710 before entering the large unincorporated community of East Los Angeles and later the city proper of Los Angeles. When the freeway reaches the East Los Angeles Interchange one mile (1.6 km) east of downtown Los Angeles, I-5 becomes the Golden State Freeway as US 101 takes over the Santa Ana Freeway designation. At this interchange, I-10, SR 60, and US 101 intersect; I-10 continues north on I-5 for about two miles (3.2 km) before continuing east towards San Bernardino and points farther east.
  On the north side of downtown, I-5 follows the Los Angeles River, intersects SR 110 and SR 2 and passes along the eastern side of Griffith Park. The route continues through the San Fernando Valley, intersecting the Ventura Freeway (SR 134). It briefly enters the city of Glendale and then Burbank, passing near Burbank Airport before reentering the Los Angeles city limits and intersecting the northern end of the Hollywood Freeway (SR 170). Near the city of San Fernando, I-5 intersects SR 118. Following this, I-5 intersects three routes in succession: the northern end of I-405, the western end of I-210, and the southern end of SR 14 at the Newhall Pass interchange. It then crosses the Newhall Pass through the Santa Susana Mountains into the Santa Clarita Valley. I-5's carpool lanes also have direct connectors with the carpool lanes on the SR 170 and SR 14 freeways (an additional direct connector with the HOV lanes on I-405 near Mission Hills is planned.) This allows a continuous HOV lane to run from Palmdale to North Hollywood via SR 14 to I-5 to SR 170.
  I-5 continues along the western city limits of Santa Clarita and passes Six Flags Magic Mountain, intersecting SR 126 just north of there. The Golden State Freeway then rises sharply, passing by Lake Castaic and undergoing a unique crossover resulting in a left-driving configuration for about 5 miles before the highway crosses back into its standard alignment. This stretch also boasts the second-largest median in California after I-8's In-Ko-Pah grade. It passes Pyramid Lake and intersects SR 138 before crossing the Tejon Pass through the Tehachapi Mountains, with Path 26 power lines generally paralleling the freeway. After entering Kern County, the freeway sharply descends for 12 miles (19 km) from 4,144 feet (1,263 m) at the Tejon Pass to 1,499 feet (457 m) at Grapevine near the southernmost point of the San Joaquin Valley, approximately 30 miles (48 km) south of Bakersfield and five miles (8.0 km) south of its interchange with SR 99 at Wheeler Ridge.
caption: I-5 in the Newhall Pass Interchange, where it meets the 210 and 14 freeways in northern Los Angeles
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