page_title: Interstate 10 in California
section_title: Santa Monica Freeway
hierarchical_section_title: Interstate 10 in California / Route description / Santa Monica Freeway
caption_attribution_description: English: The en:Santa Monica Freeway (en:Interstate 10) eastbound at the en:Harbor Freeway (Interstate 110) interchange on July 14, 2004
context_page_description: Interstate 10 is a transcontinental Interstate Highway in the United States, stretching from Santa Monica, California, on the Pacific Ocean, to Jacksonville, Florida. The segment of I-10 in California 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 Freeway and the San Bernardino Freeway, linked by a short concurrency on I-5 at the East Los Angeles Interchange. I-10 also has parts designated as either the Rosa Parks Freeway, the Redlands Freeway, or the Christopher Columbus Transcontinental Highway.
context_section_description: The Santa Monica Freeway is the westernmost segment of I-10 and a small section of State Route 1 (SR 1), beginning at the McClure Tunnel in Santa Monica and ending southeast of downtown Los Angeles at the East Los Angeles Interchange.
  I-10 begins its eastward journey in the city of Santa Monica when SR 1 turns into a freeway and heads east. SR 1 exits onto Lincoln Boulevard and heads south while I-10 continues east. Soon after it enters the city of Los Angeles, I-10 has a four-level interchange with I-405. I-10 then continues through Sawtelle, Rancho Park, Cheviot Hills, Beverlywood and Crestview in West Los Angeles, Lafayette Square and Wellington Square in Mid-City, Arlington Heights, West Adams and Jefferson Park into downtown Los Angeles. On the western edge of downtown, I-10 has an interchange with I-110 to the south and SR 110 to the north. I-10 then travels along the southern edge of downtown to the East Los Angeles Interchange.
  At the East Los Angeles Interchange, SR 60 diverges east towards Riverside and Pomona. I-10 then turns north, running concurrently with I-5 for approximately 1.5 miles (2.4 km). Then, I-10 heads east and merges with the traffic from the spur to US 101 onto the San Bernardino Freeway.
  The freeway is 14 lanes wide (two local, five express in each direction) from the Harbor Freeway (I-110) interchange to the Arlington Avenue off-ramp. Most of these lanes are full at peak travel times (even on Saturdays). The remainder of the freeway varies between eight and 10 lanes in width. The whole freeway opened in 1965 with 4 to 6 lanes, with a formal dedication held in 1966.
  While the construction of the Century Freeway several miles to the south reduced traffic congestion to a considerable amount by creating an alternate route from downtown to the Los Angeles International Airport, the Santa Monica Freeway is still one of the busiest freeways in the world. All three freeway-to-freeway interchanges along its length are notorious for their congestion, and are routinely ranked among the top 10 most congested spots in the United States.
  Due to the high traffic volume, car accidents are so common that the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) has constructed special accident investigation sites separated from the freeway by fences. These enable the California Highway Patrol to quickly clear accidents from the through traffic lanes, and the fences reduce congestion by preventing rubbernecking (in which vehicles slow down so their occupants can watch the accident investigation).
  The Santa Monica Freeway is considered the border between West Los Angeles and South Los Angeles. Part of the freeway also skims the Byzantine-Latino quarter, which is home to many immigrants affiliated with the Eastern Orthodox Church.
caption: The Santa Monica Freeway interchange with the Harbor Freeway, as seen by traffic going eastbound on the Santa Monica
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