{{short description|Former highway in California}} {{Redirect|CA 42|the congressional district|California's 42nd congressional district}} {{Use American English|date=March 2025}} {{Use mdy dates|date=January 2025}} {{Infobox road | state = CA | type = SR | route = 42 | map_notes = SR 42 last routing highlighted in pink. | length_mi = | length_round = | length_ref = | established = 1960 | decommissioned = 2000 | direction_a = West | terminus_a = {{jct|state=CA|SR|1}} in Westchester | junction = {{plainlist |*{{jct|state=CA|I|405}} in Inglewood *{{jct|state=CA|I|110}} in Los Angeles *{{jct|state=CA|I|710}} in South Gate *{{Jct|state=CA|I|605}} In Norwalk }} | direction_b = East | terminus_b = {{jct|state=CA|I|5}}{{efn|The direct interchange with I-5 has since been demolished in 2013, 13 years after SR 42 was officially decommissioned.}} in Norwalk | counties = Los Angeles | previous_route = 41 | next_route = 43 | previous_type = CA | next_type = CA }}
'''State Route 42''' ('''SR 42''') is a decommissioned state highway in the southern region part of the U.S. state of California, running along '''Manchester Avenue''', '''Manchester Boulevard''' and '''Firestone Boulevard''' in Los Angeles and the cities south of it. In its final official routing that lasted from 1968 to 2000, SR 42 ran from State Route 1 west of Inglewood (near Los Angeles International Airport) east to what was then a direct interchange with Interstate 5 in Norwalk.<ref name="metro.net"/> Though signed as SR 42, it was officially Route 105 until it was replaced by the parallel Interstate 105 on October 14, 1993.<ref name="bridgelog" /> The entire route was deleted from the California Freeway and Expressway System in 2000, with the remaining portion of SR 42 being relinquished to local jurisdictions in that year.<ref name="cah 42">[https://cahighways.org/041-048.html#042 California Highways: Former State Route 42]</ref> The direct interchange with I-5 was later demolished in 2013 in favor of widening that portion of the Interstate.<ref name="metro.net"/> However, some SR 42 signs may still remain along the route.<ref name="cah 42"/>
==Route description== State Route 42 began at Lincoln Boulevard (State Route 1) as Manchester Avenue. East of Sepulveda Boulevard, Manchester Avenue crossed into Inglewood, where it is known as Manchester Boulevard. It jogged about two blocks to the north just west of Interstate 405, and back to the south after passing downtown Inglewood. Upon crossing back into Los Angeles, it again became Manchester Avenue.
At Central Avenue, SR 42 entered the unincorporated community of Florence-Graham. It then became Firestone Boulevard and passed through South Gate and Downey, and ended in Norwalk at a merge with Interstate 5 (the Santa Ana Freeway).
Two Metro stations serves the corridor: * {{LACMTA icon|A}} {{LAMs|Firestone}} * {{LACMTA icon|J}} {{LAMs|Manchester}}
==History== '''Legislative Route 174''' was defined in 1933 to run from pre-1964 Legislative Route 60 west of Inglewood east to pre-1964 Legislative Route 2 near Santa Ana.<ref name="cah LR 174">[https://cahighways.org/169-176.html#LR174 California Highways: Legislative Route 174]</ref> It was signed as '''State Route 10''' in the initial signage of routes in 1934, running from State Route 3 (now State Route 1) to U.S. Route 101 near the present junction of Interstate 5 and Anaheim Boulevard. (US 101 and LR 2 left the current I-5 alignment north onto Anaheim Boulevard, eventually entering downtown Los Angeles via present State Route 72.)
Note: the present alignment of I-5 between Chapman Avenue in Anaheim and Main Street in Santa Ana was also part of LR 174, after a short concurrency of LR 2 and LR 174 in Anaheim. LR 2 used those two streets through Orange, but US 101 was moved to LR 174 once it was built, and so that part of LR 174 was never signed as SR 10. The bypassed section of LR 2 became State Route 51 in the 1964 renumbering, but was removed from the state highway system in 1965.<ref name="cah 51">[https://cahighways.org/049-056.html#051 California Highways: Unsigned State Route 51]</ref>
By 1942, the piece of SR 10 east of State Route 19 (Lakewood Boulevard) had been designated U.S. Route 101 Bypass.<ref>[http://members.cox.net/mkpl2/hist/droz-laca42.jpg 1942 Gousha Los Angeles and vicinity map] {{webarchive|url=https://web.archive.org/web/20060424144455/http://members.cox.net/mkpl2/hist/droz-laca42.jpg |date=2006-04-24 }}</ref> U.S. Route 101 moved to the present Interstate 5 alignment, formerly US 101 Bypass, by 1959, and SR 10 was truncated to the present I-5/Firestone Boulevard junction.<ref>[http://members.cox.net/mkpl2/hist/map-ca1955-la.jpg 1955 Gousha Los Angeles district map] {{webarchive |url=https://web.archive.org/web/20110726003121/http://members.cox.net/mkpl2/hist/map-ca1955-la.jpg |date=July 26, 2011 }}</ref>
{{Infobox road small |state=CA |type=CA 1957 |route=10 |location=Inglewood - Norwalk |formed=1934 |deleted=1960 }} Around 1960, SR 10 was renumbered to State Route 42 due to the nearby Interstate 10 (numbered in 1957).<ref name="cah 42"/> This change, which would have normally happened in the 1964 renumbering, was done early due to the closeness of I-10. Route 42 was legislatively defined in that renumbering, running not only from SR 1 to I-5, but beyond to State Route 91 in Anaheim Hills. This route split from the existing SR 42 in Norwalk and ran east along unbuilt pre-1964 Legislative Route 176 to the intersection of State Route 39 (Beach Boulevard) and Imperial Highway. East of SR 39, Imperial Highway was state-maintained, and carried pre-1964 LR 176 and post-1964 SR 42 to its end at SR 91.<ref>[https://cahighways.org/maps/1963renumber.jpg District VII State Highway Numbering Map], September 20, 1963</ref> The whole route, from SR 1 to SR 91, had been added to the California Freeway and Expressway System in 1959.<ref name="cah 105">[https://cahighways.org/105-112.html#105 California Highways: Interstate 105]</ref><ref name="cah 90">[https://cahighways.org/089-096.html#090 California Highways: State Route 90]</ref>
{{Infobox road small |state=CA |type=SR |route=105 |location=Inglewood - Norwalk |formed=1968 |deleted=1993 }} In 1965, the unbuilt part from Interstate 605 east to SR 39 was transferred to State Route 90, which had been defined in 1964 to end at I-605; this left a gap in SR 42. The part of SR 42 west of I-605 was added to the Interstate Highway System as Interstate 105 in March 1968,<ref name="cah Interstates">[https://cahighways.org/itypes.html California Highways: Interstate Highway Types and the History of California's Interstates]</ref> and the legislative changes were made that year - that piece became Route 105, and the piece east of SR 39 became a further extension of SR 90.<ref name="cah 42"/>
Despite being officially Route 105 since 1968, the route continued to be signed as SR 42, not only along its defined alignment from SR 1 to I-605, but past I-605 to Interstate 5 (which had loosely become part of SR 90 in 1965).<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.westcoastroads.com/california/images005/i-005_nb_exit_120b_01.jpg |title=October 21, 2000 photo of signage on Interstate 5 north at former SR 42 |access-date=March 23, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20051105230809/http://www.westcoastroads.com/california/images005/i-005_nb_exit_120b_01.jpg |archive-date=November 5, 2005 |url-status=dead }}</ref>
Interstate 105 was constructed from 1982 to 1994.<ref name="cah 105" /> Even after the new route was finished, the old route continued to be signed as SR 42, even after the last section was relinquished in mid-2000.<ref name="cah 42"/> Some signs still remained in 2004.<ref>{{Cite web |url=http://www.westcoastroads.com/california/images701/i-710_sb_exit_013_02.jpg |title=July 6, 2004 photo of signage on Interstate 710 south approaching Firestone Boulevard |access-date=March 23, 2006 |archive-url=https://web.archive.org/web/20070929090853/http://www.westcoastroads.com/california/images701/i-710_sb_exit_013_02.jpg |archive-date=September 29, 2007 |url-status=dead }}</ref> Since the widening of Interstate 5 between Interstate 605 and the Los Angeles-Orange County line, Firestone Boulevard does not connect with it anymore, instead ending at Bloomfield Avenue. Access to Firestone Boulevard from I-5 is now via Rosecrans Avenue.<ref name="metro.net">{{cite news|last=Upton|first=Kim|date=March 3, 2013|title=Firestone Boulevard Ramps Will Close Permanently, plus Other Closures and Work on the I-5 South|url=https://thesource.metro.net/2013/03/29/firestone-boulevard-ramps-will-close-permanently-plus-other-closures-and-work-on-the-i-5-south/|work=TheSource|access-date=April 11, 2018}}</ref>
==Major intersections== {{CAinttop|former=yes|county=Los Angeles|post_ref=<br><ref name=bridgelog>{{Caltrans bridgelog|date=July 2007}}</ref><ref>California Department of Transportation, [https://traffic-counts.dot.ca.gov/ All Traffic Volumes on CSHS], 1996</ref>}} {{CAint |location=Los Angeles |lspan=3 |postmile=0.00 |pmspan=2 |road=West Manchester Avenue |notes=Continuation beyond SR 1 }} {{CAint |mile=none |road={{jct|state=CA|SR|1|name1=Lincoln Boulevard}} |notes=West end of SR 42 }} {{CAint |postmile=1.32 |road=Sepulveda Boulevard |notes= }} {{CAint |location=Inglewood |lspan=3 |postmile=2.91 |road={{jct|state=CA|I|405|name1=San Diego Freeway}} |notes=Interchange }} {{CAint |postmile=3.83 |road=La Brea Avenue |notes=Former SR 107 }} {{CAint |postmile=5.42 |road=Crenshaw Boulevard |notes= }} {{CAint |location=Los Angeles |lspan=7 |postmile=6.42 |road=Western Avenue |notes=Former SR 213 }} {{CAint |postmile=7.42 |road=Vermont Avenue |notes= }} {{CAint |postmile=7.93 |road=Figueroa Street |notes= }} {{CAint |postmile=8.04 |road={{jct|state=CA|I|110|name1=Harbor Freeway|city1=Los Angeles|city2=San Pedro}} |notes=Interchange<!-- Former US 6/SR 11 --> }} {{CAint |postmile=8.19 |road=Broadway |notes= }} {{CAint |postmile=8.39 |road=Main Street |notes= }} {{CAint |postmile=9.44 |road=Central Avenue |notes=East end of Manchester Avenue; west end of Firestone Boulevard }} {{CAint |location=Florence-Graham |postmile=10.97 |road=Alameda Street |notes=Former SR 47 }} {{CAint |location=South Gate |lspan=3 |postmile=11.61 |road=Long Beach Boulevard |notes= }} {{CAint |postmile=14.53 |road={{jct|state=CA|I|710|name1=Long Beach Freeway|city1=Pasadena|city2=Long Beach}} |notes=Interchange<!-- Former SR 15/SR 7 --> }} {{CAint |postmile=14.81 |road=Garfield Avenue |notes= }} {{CAint |location=Downey |postmile=17.45 |road={{jct|state=CA|SR|19|name1=Lakewood Boulevard|city1=Long Beach|city2=Pasadena}} |notes= }} {{CAint |location=Norwalk |lspan=3 |postmile=18.82 |road={{jct|state=CA|I|605|name1=San Gabriel River Freeway}} |notes=Interchange }} {{CAint |postmile=none |road=Imperial Highway |notes=Former SR 90 }} {{CAint |postmile=none |road={{jct|state=CA|I|5|name1=Santa Ana Freeway|dir1=south|city1=Santa Ana}} |notes=Interchange; eastbound exit and westbound entrance; east end of SR 42. The entrance and exit were permanently closed in 2013 with the widening of I-5, and thus motorists have since been redirected south on Bloomfield Avenue and east on Rosecrans Avenue. }} {{Jctbtm}}
==See also== *{{portal-inline|California Roads}} *{{portal-inline|Greater Los Angeles}}
==Notes== {{Notelist}}
==References== {{Reflist|30em}}
==External links== {{Attached KML|display=title,inline}} {{commons category}} *[http://www.aaroads.com/california/ca-042.html California @ AARoads.com - State Route 42] *[https://www.cahighways.org/041-048.html#042 California Highways: SR 42]
{{Streets in Los Angeles}}
042 State Route 042 State Route 042 Category:Transportation in Los Angeles Category:Inglewood, California Category:Downey, California Category:Norwalk, California Category:U.S. Route 101