page_title: California State Route 90
section_title: History
hierarchical_section_title: California State Route 90 / History
caption_attribution_description: English: Although Imperial Highway (SR-90) clearly goes north at this intersection, it is signed as west in order to be consistent with the rest of the route. This sign directs traffic to the on-ramp from Esperanza Rd. / Orangethorpe Ave. near the intersection of Anaheim, Yorba Linda, and unincorporated Orange County, California.
context_page_description: State Route 90 is a state highway in the U.S. state of California that consists of two unconnected pieces in Greater Los Angeles.
  Most of the western portion of SR 90 is the Marina Freeway, a short freeway in southwestern Los Angeles and the nearby suburbs, linking Marina del Rey to the rest of Greater Los Angeles. SR 90 begins at Lincoln Boulevard near Marina del Rey as the Marina Expressway. It then goes past a few intersections before becoming the Marina Freeway. It then continues eastward approximately along the border between the Del Rey and Westchester neighborhoods of the city of Los Angeles before terminating in Slauson Avenue in southern Culver City to just past Culver Boulevard.
  The eastern portion of SR 90 runs along Imperial Highway between Beach Boulevard in La Habra and State Route 91 in Anaheim Hills, also passing through Brea and Yorba Linda. A stretch in Yorba Linda between Yorba Linda Boulevard and Orangethorpe Avenue was relinquished to the city in 2002 and built to freeway standards. The city renamed it the Richard M.
context_section_description: Legislative Route 221 (the Slauson Freeway, now the Marina Freeway) was defined in 1947 to run from pre-1964 Legislative Route 60 (now State Route 1) east to pre-1964 Legislative Route 165 (now Interstate 110). A 1959 extension took it east to pre-1964 Legislative Route 170 (now Interstate 605).
  To the east, Legislative Route 176 (the Yorba Linda Freeway, now also the Marina Freeway) was defined in 1939 from pre-1964 Legislative Route 62 (now State Route 39) east and southeast to pre-1964 Legislative Route 43 (now State Route 91). A 1959 extension took it west to pre-1964 Legislative Route 174 (later State Route 42) near Norwalk.
  In the 1964 renumbering, LR 221 was assigned State Route 90, but LR 176 all became part of State Route 42, along with the connecting LR 174 to the west. The piece of LR 176 between I-605 and SR 39 was reassigned to SR 90 in 1965, and the rest east to SR 91 became part of SR 90 in 1968 (at the same time as SR 42 became Interstate 105).
  Originally planned as the Slauson Freeway, Route 90 was slated to extend across southern Los Angeles County and northern Orange County, ending at the Riverside Freeway in eastern Anaheim.  However, by the 1960s, community opposition had reduced it to what is effectively a minor spur of I-405 to Marina Del Rey (derisively dubbed the "Slauson Cutoff" by comedian Johnny Carson).  It was renamed the Richard M. Nixon Freeway for a brief period in the early 1970s, but after Nixon's resignation in the wake of the Watergate scandal, its name was changed to the current appellation.
  From I-405 west to Centinela Avenue, the Marina Freeway is 8 lanes wide, before it quickly narrows to 4 lanes at the Culver Boulevard exit.  The freeway ends approximately ¹⁄₂ mile (800 m) west of Culver Boulevard, and continues as an expressway. There has been talk of extending the Marina Expressway slightly west of Lincoln Boulevard (Route 1) to Admiralty Way (approximately ¹⁄₄ mile, 400 m) to accommodate ongoing expansion of the Marina Del Rey area. Strong opposition to this makes actualization of this plan uncertain.
  There were once plans to connect the two sections via the Slauson Freeway and Yorba Linda Freeway, mostly parallel to Slauson Avenue, but this was never built. The full route was added to the California Freeway and Expressway System in 1959.
  In 2002 the City of Yorba Linda assumed responsibility for Imperial Highway to complete various construction projects within city limits when the State Assembly passed AB 887; it lost its state route designation in the process and is now called the Richard M. Nixon Parkway within the city.
  By 2005, construction on the western end of the Marina Freeway began, to extend the freeway terminus from Culver Boulevard to approximately ¹⁄₂ mile (800 m) west of Culver Boulevard by building a full interchange at Culver. The freeway extension was completed in early 2007. The freeway extension also allows Route 90 drivers to avoid a traffic signal at Alla Road (just west of Culver Boulevard.). After the end of the freeway, a pair of frontage roads operating as an expressway continues as Route 90 up to Route 1 (Lincoln Boulevard). Signalized intersections occur at Mindanao Way and Lincoln Boulevard, which is the end of the expressway in Marina del Rey. The reason for the extension is to relieve traffic congestion on surface streets.
caption: A sign at Esperanza Rd. / Orangethorpe Ave.
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