Interstate 405 California

Interstate 405 California
History
North End
South End

Overview

I-405 at I-10 - Los Angeles, CA

Interstate 405 (San Diego Freeway) within the four level interchange at I-10 (Santa Monica Freeway) in Los Angeles. 05/31/15

Following the San Diego Freeway, Interstate 405 is a major highway linking the northern and southern parts of the greater Los Angeles metropolitan area between the San Fernando Valley and Orange County. Always busy, at all hours of the day or night, I-405 is the most direct route between San Diego and Northern California. Additionally, it serves Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) and a number of coastal cities including Costa Mesa, Huntington Beach, Long Beach and Santa Monica.

Route Information

  • North End – Los Angeles, CA

  • South End – Irvine, CA

  • Mileage – 72.15

  • Cities – Irvine, Costa Mesa, Huntington Beach, Long Beach, Carson, Los Angeles, Torrance, Hawthorne, Inglewood, Culver City

  • Junctions – I-5 I-110 I-105 I-10

Source: December 31, 2021 Interstate Route Log and Finders List

I-405 Annual Average Daily Traffic (AADT)

Source: 2017 Traffic Volumes – Caltrans Traffic Census Program

I-405 at Mulholland Dr - Sepulveda Pass

Heading north through Sepulveda Pass, Interstate 405 (San Diego Freeway) passes under Mulholland Drive by the Skirball Cultural Center. Construction in 2011-13 replaced this arched concrete span with an expanded bridge. 08/26/07

History

Interstate 405 replaced the original route of California State Route 7 through the greater Los Angeles area. Portions of SR 7 were ugpraded to a freeway in 1957 and later designated as I-405 by 1963. West of I-605, I-405 was completed before 1965. The stretch of freeway east of I-605 followed by 1969.1

Highway Guides

North End I-5 – San Fernando Valley, Los Angeles, California

I-405 North at I-5

I-405 north at I-5 - San Fernando Valley

Interstate 405 defaults onto I-5 north after the modified diamond interchange (Exit 72) with Rinaldi Street at the Mission Hills community in Los Angeles. 03/06/15

I-405 north at I-5 - San Fernando Valley

The final confirming marker for Interstate 405 northbound. The San Diego Freeway converges with the Golden State Freeway (I-5) east of Lower Van Norman Lake. 03/06/15

I-405 north at I-5 - San Fernando Valley

The northbound lanes of I-405 merge with the Truck Bypass lanes of I-5 beyond a tunnel below the Golden State Freeway mainline. 03/06/15

I-405 north at I-5 - San Fernando Valley

An end shield formally concludes Interstate 405 (San Diego Freeway) in San Fernando Valley. 03/06/15

I-5 North at I-405

I-5 north at I-405 - San Fernando Valley

Interstate 5 separates with a truck bypass through the wye interchange at the north end of I-405. The outside roadway returns to I-5 ahead of the exchange with Interstate 210 (Foothill Freeway). 07/07/15

I-5 north at I-405 - San Fernando Valley

The truck bypass concept is fairly common in Southern California. In addition to the truck bypass with I-405 at Irvine, others on I-5 are located at the separation with both SR 14 and SR 99. 07/07/15

I-5 South at I-405

I-5 south at I-405 - San Fernando Valley

Interchange sequence sign outlining the succeeding ramps along I-5 southbound for Exit 159 / Roxford Street, the truck bypass for I-5/405 and the San Diego Freeway mainline at Exit 158. 07/10/22

I-5 south at I-405 - San Fernando Valley

The parclo interchange (Exit 159) with Roxford Street for the Sylmar neighborhood in San Fernando Valley precedes the southbound I-5/405 split by one mile. 07/10/22

I-5 south at I-405 - San Fernando Valley
I-5 south at I-405 - San Fernando Valley

The truck bypass lanes depart from Interstate 5 a half mile before the wye interchange (Exit 158) with I-405 (San Diego Freeway). 07/10/22

I-5 south at I-405 - San Fernando Valley

Interstate 5 continues south from I-405 with three lanes plus an HOV lane toward Burbank, Glendale, Downtown Los Angeles, Norwalk and Orange County. 07/10/22

I-5 south at I-405 - San Fernando Valley

Interstate 405 (San Diego Freeway) skirts the western edge of Los Angeles, traversing the Santa Monica Mountains south to Santa Monica, Los Angeles International Airport (LAX), Long Beach and Irvine. 07/10/22

I-405 North End Throwback

I-5 south at I-405 - 2013

Replaced by Fall 2016, this porcelain enamel was the first referencing Interstate 405 on I-5 south. 07/07/13

I-5 south at I-405 - 2013

The button copy interchange sequence sign preceding the I-5/405 truck route was replaced in 2017. 07/07/13

I-5 south at I-405 - 2013

Previous overheads at the I-5/405 southbound split assigned Exit 158 for the San Diego Freeway. 07/07/13

South End I-5 – Irvine, California

I-405 South at I-5

I-405 south at I-5 - Irvine, CA

Exit 1 B to Bake Parkway extends south along the commercialized west side of Interstate 5 (Santa Ana Freeway) to Bake Parkway. Interstate 405 (San Diego Freeway) converges with I-5 at a wye interchange in one half mile. 06/17/06

I-405 south at I-5 - Irvine, CA

A slip ramp (Exit 1 A) to the I-5 southbound truck lanes for Lake Forest Drive follows the exit for Bake Parkway. 06/17/06

I-405 south at I-5 - Irvine, CA

The elevated HOV lanes linking I-405 and I-5 appear beyond the separation of Exit 1 A for the I-5 Truck Bypass lanes to Lake Forest Drive at the Irvine and Lake Forest city line. 05/05/12

I-5 south at I-405 - Irvine, CA

Interstate 405 south converges with southbound I-5 ahead of the Truck Bypass lanes and the parclo interchange with Lake Forest Drive. 05/31/15

I-405 south at I-5 - Irvine, CA

During peak hour traffic, the interchange joining I-405 south with I-5 is often congested. 07/03/05

I-5 North at I-405

I-5 north at I-405 - Irvine, CA

Travelers along Interstate 5 (San Diego Freeway) northbound may use the high occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes, the main lanes, or truck lanes to connect with I-405 north at Exit 94 A. 07/09/18

I-5 north at I-405 - Irvine, CA

Leading directly toward Downtown Los Angeles, I-5 transitions onto the Santa Ana Freeway. The San Diego Freeway branches west from I-5 along I-405 to Long Beach and Los Angeles International Airport (LAX) before rejoining Interstate 5 in the San Fernando Valley. 07/09/18

I-5 north at I-405 - Irvine, CA

The HOV lanes separate for I-5 north to Santa Ana and I-405 (San Diego Freeway) north to Long Beach ahead of Exit 94 A from the general travel lanes. 07/09/18

I-5 north at I-405 - Irvine, CA

A single lane flyover partitions from the I-5 HOV lanes for I-405 through Irvine. The total number of lanes at this wye interchange exceeds 20. 07/09/18

I-5 north at I-405 - Irvine, CA

Exit 94 A departs Interstate 5 northbound with three lanes for I-405 (San Diego Freeway) to Fountain Valley, Westminster and Seal Beach in Orange County. The Santa Ana Freeway leads I-5 northwest to Tustin, Santa Ana and Anaheim. 07/09/18

I-5 Truck Bypass Lanes North at I-405

I-5 Truck Bypass lanes north at I-405
I-5 Truck Bypass lanes north at I-405

Four lanes lead north along the I-5 Truck Bypass roadway from Lake Forest Drive to the parclo A2 interchange with Bake Parkway. A left exit for Interstate 405 (San Diego Freeway) follows. 07/13/09

I-5 Truck Bypass lanes north at I-405

Advancing north from the Bake Parkway exit ramp, the truck bypass lanes partition with two lanes for I-405 north and Irvine Center Drive and two lanes for I-5 (Santa Ana Freeway) ahead of Alton Parkway in Irvine. 07/13/09

I-5 Truck Bypass lanes north at I-405

The bridge separation for I-405 north from the truck bypass lanes dates back to 1968 as part of the original wye interchange between the two freeways. 07/13/09

I-405 South End Throwback

I-5 north at I-405 - 2005
I-5 north at I-405 - 2005

I-5 north at the separation with I-405 prior to the addition of exit numbers for the San Diego Freeway. 03/25/05

Sources:

  1. California Highways (www.cahighways.org): Route 405.

Page updated July 28, 2022.