California Roads - I-5 NB - San Diego-L.A.

San Diego to Los Angeles



Courtesy Matt Kleiman and the right shape, which is rare in California. The one I took atop the page is the decidedly wrong California shape.


Brand new, so there's no excuse for such shoddy craftsmanship.


NB speedometer check post, courtesy Matt Kleiman and gone now. Thanks to Dominic Ielati for explaining what was going on with these, which have since disappeared.


Interestingly, although NB Exit 11B feeds straight into Plaza Blvd. EB, all of the other Exit 11B ramps are to and from 8th St. two blocks to the north.


Click on the last photo for an older version courtesy Matt Kleiman. Note that EXIT ONLY has become EXIT mysteriously. CA 15 becomes I-15 less mysteriously, after passing I-805, and someday will be completely absorbed into I-15.


The last photo is on the Exit 15B ramp. The right fork turns into Pershing Drive, but that sign's not button copy. Check out the ancient VMS in the third photo.


The last photo is courtesy Lou Corsaro. The truck restrictions sign set off the left one or two lanes, depending on total number, for cars to battle it out for master of the traffic jam.


The last two photos are on the left and right of the same overpass. I don't know what was covered, but it happened years ago.


The last photo is on the Exit 19 ramp (Old Town Ave.). The right arrow is technically Hortensia St., and it is a consistent pastime of Caltrans to always label the actual intersected street regardless of its importance, but really, Hortensia is just a dead end in a few blocks, so the right arrow ought to point to San Diego Ave.


Down the Exit 20 ramp and onto the eastern fork. It's not the best idea to have all of the arrows on both signs angled to the right, even if the ramp does curve that way. Just a tad misleading.

You'll want to check out the signs off this exit (21) on the Mission Bay page.


A run of photos up to Exit 72 and down the ramp.


I make fun of CalTrans for being late to the game with exit numbers, but in fact, they've had them for decades! These are the remnants of a 1971 "experiment" to see what would happen if they put exit numbers on a few freeways in L.A. First of all, I'll note that they had the full exit tab back then, not the "we can't increase sign area" abominations that are shoved into the margins of everything they do now. Second of all, these signs are 43 years old in these photos, and signs normally should last about 12. Third and last of all, these are the only 1971 exit numbers left on I-5, so that tells you what their findings were.


The last two photos are left and right on the same gantry. I-10 is now Exit 134, but US 101 has no exit number. That's actually not an error, in CA thinking, because it continues the Santa Ana Freeway name. Okay then, wise guys, why isn't I-5 a numbered exit? One of the two has to be.


The last few photos feature I-5 NB with traffic from I-10 EB, but technically not with I-10. To explain, I-10 follows US 101 to the San Bernardino Freeway, but there's no WB link onto 101 SB, and no link in either direction from 101 to the Santa Monica Freeway (I-10 to the west). I-5 has all the connections and nearly enough lanes to make it work. The third and fourth photos are on the same gantry, left and right sides; I got too much resolution to feel right about downsizing the photo 50%. So enjoy your button copy.

Continue north on I-5 NB
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Exit 1A to I-805
Onto CA 15
Onto CA 75
Onto CA 163
To Pacific Highway (old US 101)
Onto I-8
Onto Morena Blvd.
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Onto US 101
Onto Fourth St.
Onto I-10
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