Jay Fisher of the New York Times’ Automotive section takes a closer look at the curiosity that is the Pasadena Freeway, also known as the Arroyo Seco Parkway. It is California’s first freeway, and it remains a prominent alignment of Route 66.
And though it is still a freeway, it certainly does not resemble one in many ways:
It’s easy to see why people focus on the roadway design (editor’s note: lots of great photos on the link). The Pasadena Freeway is striking by today’s freeway standards. Rather than cut as straight a route as possible between point A and point B, it follows the contours of the Arroyo Seco, a usually dry riverbed. And in so doing, the freeway winds its way through one of Los Angeles’s most fabled canyons; amongst other things, it is the birthplace of California’s nature-inspired take on the Arts and Crafts architecture movement.
Following the riverbed also means the roadway has numerous low-speed curves and “at grade” construction, engineering talk for a road which runs at actual ground level, instead of being elevated or sunken like most freeways. Along the way, bridges and train trestles traverse the roadway, connecting city life on the hills above. And at one point northbound traffic passes through a series of Art Deco tunnels. All the while native landscaping sprouts up to match the surrounding environment. And only the barest of guardrails separates the directions of traffic (which itself replaced the original traffic-separating choice of shrubs).
And what’s also interesting is why the Arroyo Seco Parkway was built in the first place:
At one time the Arroyo Seco, situated well inland, stretching from downtown Los Angeles to the San Gabriel Mountains, was a destination for desirable living in the Los Angeles area. Initially a winter destination for wealthy citizens from the East Coast (upon completion of the transcontinental railroad), Pasadena became, by the late-19th century and early-20th century, a well-to-do city in its own right. And it was a place where people loved their cars. In the early-20th century, Pasadena had the highest per capita car ownership of any mid-sized city in the United States.
However, most jobs remained to the south in Los Angeles, and this eventually led to an essential ingredient that goes along with cars and roads: traffic. Aside from downtown Los Angeles, nothing was worse than traffic along Figueroa Street, the main route at the time from Pasadena to Los Angeles. Traffic was bad enough, just before the freeway opened, to draw the attention of Gov. Culbert L. Olson, who described it as “terrifying,” with its mix of people, horses, wagons, streetcars, and cars.
So the freeway essentially was built to help alleviate traffic snarls by commuters. Some things never change.
The difference is, the highway’s engineers actually brought some aesthetic concerns to the design, and not just efficiency.