110 – Pasadena Freeway

I especially love the tunnels and the «pass» when you enter Downtown LA and Chinatown from Elysian Park. The Freeway also offers stunning views of the San Rafael Hills other hills. The bad thing is the traffic.

Ah, I love driving this freeway on the weekends and the middle of the night (weekdays not so much for obvious reasons…). The Arroyo Seco Parkway is like your mini Nurburgring. just drop it into 2^nd/​3^rd gear when hitting those sharp curves. oh man

I hate this Freeway but at the same time love it. Man people here can’t drive but it is a scary thrill game… just saying. Good way to link between cities until you actually hit your destination and then the traffic jam fun begins. There is some scenery that is cool.

I love this freeway, and so does my R1… When we are smashing through here at 80+mph taking the twisties and curvy’s! I love it!!! It feels so… so…FREEING! Dropping a knee to maneuver a tight corner, speeding up on the straight away!!! Whenever I need to go to DTLA, this is my go to freeway!

The oldest highway in the U.S. Is truly one of the best designed. Tight twists and turns, curves followed by beautifully smooth straightaways, slow then fast. I’m an enthusiastic driver and have put many, many makes and models through these incredible lanes and I’ll never get bored. Make this your commute, even if it’s the long way!
And If you must commute though this highway, I envy you.
This «track» deserves five stars, no less!

Ya’ know… I’m convinced that this freeway was the progenitor for the race car game «Need For Speed».
Traversing a good 45 – 50 miles from the ports of San Pedro directly into Pasadena and or DIRECTLY THROUGH the very heart of DTLA, you will, without a doubt find yourself taking the 110 freeway.
From south to north, this freeway allows you to FULLY and feasibly acknowledge just how wide and magnificent Los Angeles truly is and ultimately… just why Vicodin was TRULY invented.
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Fellow Unilocalers, let’s talk «Traffic 110»…
Without a doubt can I attest that a guaranteed 20 mile stretch of the freeway itself occupies the drive between San Pedro & the 105 freeway. While the 405 intersects this region, this area is a bit more void of traffic and its proximity to the water makes it a breath of fresh air.
Departing the «core» of LA and traveling north to south however, most commuters consider making it this far out to be nothing short of an accomplishment as the feat from having mustered through stop-​and-​go gridlock prior is enough to induce a brain aneurism.
Continuing north on the 110 past the 405 (north/​south as well… don’t ask me about CA geography, I just live here) and beyond the 105 (east/​west) you’ll note yourself to be just between Inglewood (to your west) & Watts (to your east).
Lock your doors.
Side note: I absolutely love the intersection overpass here! The soaring ramps from former carpool lanes… now home to FastTrak are a definite sight. This place totally rivals something from ‘The Jetsons’ & I’ve witnessed traffic form here merely from passersby grabbing their videophones to marvel at the gravity defying splendor.
Thereafter, the freeway becomes an ABSOLUTE CLUSTERPHUK as it narrows to make its way further into the city. Anticipate traffic at this point being something similar to a Wes Craven or Stephen King thriller.
Like just about all of the freeways around here, without warning, you can find your perfectly planned commute going completely to Hell in a Berkin bag! A brisk 75mph drive can morph into a 7mph night terror at the blink of an eye due to CalTrans & …(sighs) the introduction of these poorly thought out FastTrak lanes.
Jesus take the wheel!
These former carpool lanes have solidified themselves as now being a seemingly pathetic ploy in extorting additional tax monies & are yet… another prime example of why LA traffic exist in the 1^st place. —BECAUSE NOBODY HERE WANTS TO PAY AN ABSURD FARE JUST TO DRIVE THE HELL AROUND TOWN!!! There… I said it–
Thinking about sneaking across the doubled-​lines? Just wait until you receive your complimentary $.32 ticket within the mail. It’ll likely cost you $ 5 through your bank simply to pay off! GTFOH!!!
Moving forward & beyond my rant… if you’re lucky enough to make it Downtown without stopping off for a burrito… or a back rub, then count your blessings. This is where sh! t gets REAL!!!
The 60 having just merged into the 10 within the East LA/​Boyle Heights areas as well as the 5 freeway traveling south to San Diego & north to San Francisco and lastly the 101 Hollywood freeways ALL MERGE TOGETHER HERE.
Baby… You’ve got to see it to believe it!
Picture your cable cord, DVR cord, outlet extension cord & the cord to your living room lamps ALL BECOMING ENTANGLED resulting in sparks that inevitably ignite a massive fire!!!
That just about sums up traffic within DTLA ^.
It’s as if the city has gone into labor here & the traffic being generated is the result of the city dilating!
No matter what the time, day or night, there will ALWAYS be traffic here!
Ironically though,…this is typically the area that I begin noticing the «cloud over LA» forming. For the record, it’s –NOT– LA smog. ITS POT BEING SMOKED BY FELLOW PISSED OFF COMMUTERS!
Foraging beyond DTLA’s high-​rises (my favorite part of town, lol) you’ll note the freeway to have taken on its own theme.
Think: Fast & Furious here. What was previously a mind-​scrambling saunter through the city, seemingly becomes the next commercial for Acura.
The countless hairpin turns bypassing gorgeous scenery are next to NASCAR & I can’t help but think… WOW! This is the same freeway that managed to somehow define & pave the way for the city we now know as LA.
Hereon, the freeway’s entry ramps are (…coughs) —- THAT LONG!, & allege the speed to be 5 mph when the law CLEARLY requires you enter at the same speed as ongoing traffic which is guaranteed to be doing 90!!!
The conclusion of your journey however, is your ‘landing’ in beautiful Pasadena making it worth your drive out.
It goes w/​o stating that this is without hesitation why I moved to the city! The tunnels, the turns, the twist! I love it! Nothing says, «Welcome to LA» like traffic accompanied by whiplash–
Lastly, I’m compelled to propose a toast …“TO THE 110″, for hands down (reaches for Bluetooth) proving me correct in my theory that:
LA HAS NO SPEED LIMITS. Just speed SUGGESTIONS!

this freeway is my favorite in southern California. the best moments are during the fall, winter, and spring months when there is greenery along one’s drive through the portion known as the Arroyo Parkway. it’s rare to find on a highway designed to channel cars, but if you would just take it easy on one of the clear sunny days that now occur more frequently in this region due to climate change, one can see how profoundly NICE Los Angeles is while headed north on the 110.
drivers love using the Arroyo Parkway portion to test their skills, especially when it’s raining and dark. the roadway curves back and forth quite a bit and the 110 has never had the best drainage. with the erratic rain patterns of southern california, this makes the asphalt extra slick due to the buildup of oil and particulates on our road surfaces. during these times, an urge to drive as fast as possible takes over many drivers and i often have to detour tragic endings that clog up the viaduct for hours. be careful as the on– and off-​ramps are for slower speeds, adding a lot of sudden transitions from 60mph to 5mph as drivers shuttle on and off.
i’ve also found the approach into Downtown impressive. it is an iconic vista, showing how this vast metropolis can swallow you up as you become just one more drop in the teeming sea of 110-​S lane merges. this is often a frustrating portion of the 110 for people because the Downtown Exits elicit a flurry of activity from impatient, anxious, and poorly positioned drivers. seeing this, a part of me fully comprehends how bad driving is for everybody, but another part of me can’t help but enjoy this experience that can only be achieved en masse with other people.
the portion south of Downtown is a more predictable driving experience with exits on the right and an Express lane on the left. i like the city of Torrance, which this freeway passes through. the 110 stays interesting til the very end, when exits to the Port of Los Angeles, the Vincent Thomas Bridge, and the Port of San Pedro appear. i’ve never been great at navigating this portion, which has always made it an adventure when going to Long Beach.
a highly recommended thoroughway, to be traversed by any method of your own choosing.

all parts of the 110 above the 101, fun! Everything else below I have no idea why it exist.
Though I would like someone to tell me why they put the 5 fwy exit lights few months back and then realized it sucked and no one followed it. Then put regular markers back on. Thanks for wasting our tax dollars CALTRANS

How do you rate a freeway? Um. Lets see. I grew up in Pasadena. I learned how to drive on this freeway. I drove this freeway every day to work. I now drive a very fast muscle car and would give anything to have this freeway all to myself for one night with no cops. So for that. It would get a 6 star rating. However. Let’s take one star off because the on and off ramps SUCK. Seriously. People cannot figure them out and they never will, so they are irritating. Then we have to take another star off because people cannot drive around curves, there should be lessons for this. It’s not the freeway’s fault, but again, it’s about the experience. So that brings me to 4. I know I started at 6, but that’s because I couldn’t bring it in my heart to downgrade it to a 3, but I had to knock off 2 stars.

Hate it or Love It… This Freeway can be the worst or your best friend.. My advice is to you is to get the FastTrak, it’s better than waiting in traffic with others… FastTrak is the definition of A Free way

Unilocal’s 365 Review Challenge 2014 #202 — #365
This freeway is fun on compared to all the wider freeways in Socal because it feels as if you’re on a speed track with the sharp turns and narrow pathways. I had a lot of fun driving my Camry on the 110, I feel I got to test my car’s performance and it was a total PLUS for me.
Besides driving on the freeway, you pass a lot of old buildings and bridges that have been around to decades. At night it is pretty scary because there are hardly any street lights and whenever I make a sharp turn, I turn on my high beams to check how close I am to the curb when driving 60 — 75.
Anyways being one of the oldest freeways in the US; I don’t think it was designed for a car to speed up to 80 mph, LOL!

Although this freeway was paved not too long ago, I still have to change lane to avoid certain potholes.
110 freeway used to be 11 many years ago.
For some reason, it is kinda fun to honk your horn continuously while going through the tunnels.
Driving on 110 Arroyo segment near Pasadena requires the driver to be in full alert.
This is a fun road if you have a fun driving machine and it is in the middle of the night with no other car around. You can feel all the curves hugging your tires.
Avoid driving around 4am-​ish. Several accidents happened around that time and death was involved.
Lane #1 is the smoothest. Lane #2 is most likely the safest. I never drive on lane #3 or the slow lane.

Here’s a different version of «living history». It’s the world’s first freeway, but chances are you already know that. What you may not know is that it has not been updated beyond the obligatory repaving. It’s exactly six narrow lanes wide, feels like you’re driving your Hot Wheels down the track, past the parks and under the beautiful overpasses, connecting the downtowns of Los Angeles and Pasadena just like it did in 1948. It has the most character of any limited-​access highway in greater Los Angeles.
This means, of course, that it’s not up to Interstate standards. And if anything goes wrong, it can be quite dangerous. Drivers do take it slower, but not by much. The exits require you to slow down immediately to take the 15mph right turns, and the entrances are even worse, requiring you to immediately speed up to 50mph from a stop and with no merge lanes. There is no shoulder, so if you have an accident, it ties up traffic after you get another 2 – 3 cars involved. This is not the parkway to be texting while driving.
It’s not a very convenient arterial, as it doesn’t connect the many freeways in LA with any other freeway in Pasadena. So you take it for what it is: an immersion into what these roads were like in the mid-​twentieth century before the lawyers got involved. If you drive it to commute, you’ll be cursing under your breath. But if you drive it for this historical experience, you’ll be saying «cool!»

This freeway to me is like a race road once I pass the Golden State Frwy. all the way to California Blvd., its pedal to the metal, both hands on the wheel, one eye in the front the other glued to the rear view mirror, this is the oldest freeway in L.A. old hist. route 66 there are a few sharp turns, some hairpin loops, people driving under 75 mph. please keep to the right. not the center lane that’s my lane and please drive safely and watch out for the other driver’s cuz they aren’t watching you.

This is my favorite Frwy in town, as long as there is no accidents or old lady’s cruising. I learned how to drive on this Freeway’s curves years ago. Still fun to drive for me.
This is the oldest highway in the U.S. Originally designed for the first cars with the tunnels being built 1^st, that’s why the on ramps and off ramps have no acceleration and deceleration lanes. You know with the Stop sign on the on ramp and the 5 mph sign on the off ramps. Perfect only for sports cars.
Best way between Pasadena and DTLA. Formerly known as Pasadena Frwy now reverted back as Arroyo Seco Parkway.

You’re a bitch, plain and simple. Whoever conceived you should be tied up to a car and dragged full speed by their balls on you. Having an entrance to the 110 and an exit downtown so close together makes perfect sense (transition from the WB 101 to the SB 110)…IT IS MERGING HELL. Can’t tell you how many close calls I’ve had by people cutting me off just to barely make it to the exit in the short distance they have.
You have slowpokes in every lane from San Pedro to the 10. To add insult to injury, you have more traffic jams because the carpool lanes have become toll lanes and have been closed off to 99% of people, whose tax money already pays for it mind you. Because you know, only the rich should be able to enjoy the luxury and convenience of carpool lanes while us po’ people should get migraines sitting in traffic. Then you have Downtown which never flows faster than 5 mph. I will concede when it’s not packed, you’re a fun ride from the 5 all the way to Pasadena with all your voluptuous curves and no big rigs allowed rule. But being the bitch you are, you had to fudge it up somehow and that is with your short entrance ramps. Your playing with your life just trying to get in, to live and die in LA literally.

I know it is strange to write about something as commonplace as a freeway. Nontheless, I feel it is justified. Aternatively known as the Arroyo Seco Parkway, an historical landmark in its own right, SR110 (not to be confused with I-​110), there is a plethora of history waiting at many of the exits including a peek into Los Angeles’ Victorian Past at the Heritage Square Museum.
I am well aware that time travel is not possible… yet, but this little stretch of highway running from Downtown LA to Pasadena is as close as you can get to hopping in Doc Brown’s Delorean. This was the stretch of road my father used to take me on to lull me to sleep when I was an infant insomniac. With a posted speed limit of 55, California’s and the Western United State’s first freeway is curvy and narrow with on ramps that will make a certain part of your anatomy pucker. The speed limit may be slow, but this is the fastest route from Downtown to Pasadena and you will never have to worry about a big rig slowing down your commute as they are auto non grata on this small stretch of concrete.

I live in DTLA.
My sister lives in Pasadena.
So let’s just say this review is for the section between those 2 areas since I’m on this part of the freeway at least 3x per week …
So if you’ve ever been in traffic here on a weeknight due to the new paving they are doing, you’ll hate this freeway. But if you’re driving on the newly paved roads due to that construction … you’ll love it.
So that’s why I’m torn on this freeway. I’ve been on both those occasions.
I love the fact that you can just turn on your favorite EDM station and pretend like you’re playing a video game. Or you can be stuck behind someone following the 40 MPH limit on the turns and really wish you could just pass them up, but it’s pretty difficult on this 3 lane freeway.
All in all, if you want to know about the history of this freeway … here you go:
If you want to experience it the way I love it, stay away during rush hour, Dodger games and construction times … other than that, drive sober, enjoy pushing your cars on turns that I’m sure you’ll enjoy all while enjoying a historic view.
Safely, of course.

Soooo, finally got the toll evasion ticket in the mail and guess what… it was only .45 cents… that’s right, .45 cents. Thank goodness we did not decide to leave the fast track lane once the triple line became solid! That, my Unilocal friends would have cost us a cool $ 391!
The fee is incremental… the longer you wait to pay, the more you pay… I did a whole lot of sweating and hand wringing for absolutely nothing!

This freeway needs a big broom. It’s dirty!
This is the most dangerous freeway I have ever been on, and, lucky me, I have to drive twice every day. It’s windey, dirty and to get on it, you have to play chicken. You go from a dead stop to rush on the freeway whenever you see a clearing in the lane because there are no on-​ramps.