Interstate 5

Interstate 5, or I-5, is an interstate highway along the west coast of the United States. Its odd (as opposed to even) number indicates that it is a north-south highway (though in much of the southern half of California it runs in a northwest-southeast direction). Its south terminus is at the international border between the United States and Mexico a few miles south of San Diego. Its north terminus is at the international border between the United States and Canada near Blaine, Washington. This highway links the majority of the metropolitan areas in California (San Diego, Los Angeles, and Sacramento); Oregon (Eugene, Salem, and Portland); and Washington (Olympia, Tacoma, and Seattle). A metropolitan area which is not linked by this highway is San Francisco. San Francisco is about 80 miles (130 km) west of the I-5 alignment. Nevertheless, San Francisco is still 'interstate accessible' via Interstate 80 (I-80), a major east-west interstate that junctions with I-5 in Sacramento. This interstate highway, Interstate 15, Interstate 10, Interstate 8, and U.S. Route 101 serve as the primary roads that link the Los Angeles/San Diego Metropolitan areas and the rest of the nation. Detailed information on the sections of I-5 in Southern California can be found on the Golden State Freeway, Santa Ana Freeway, and San Diego Freeway pages.

History

The portion of this highway from Los Angeles, California to San Ysidro, California was also co-signed as US 101 until the late 1960s. The portion of this highway from Lebec, California to Red Bluff, California roughly follows old US 99W. The western branch of Interstate 5, called Interstate 5W, was replaced by I-505 and I-580, the main spur into the San Francisco Bay Area. What is now I-5 would have been designated Interstate 5E.

Length

b>Miles km state
gcolor="#87CEEB" colspan="4"|
96.53 1281.89 California
08.14 495.90 Oregon
76.62 445.18 Washington
gcolor="#87CEEB" colspan="3"|
381.29 2222.97 Total

Major cities along the route

In California south of Tracy, I-5 skirts along the more remote western edge of the great Central Valley, and thus here is removed from population centers such as Bakersfield, California and Fresno, California with state highways providing connections. Interstate 580 provides a loop-route connection to San Francisco, California and the San Francisco Bay Area.

Junctions with other interstates in California (south to north)

Junctions with other interstates in Oregon/Washington (south to north)

Spur routes

Notes

  • Of the existing three-digit Interstate highways, I-105 is the lowest number.
  • Interstate 5 is the only Interstate highway to touch both the Canadian and Mexican borders; it may be considered part of the Pan-American Highway, a road that runs from Alaska, United States to Chile. It continues into Vancouver, Canada as BC Provincial Highway 99, and crosses from San Diego to adjacent Tijuana, where it becomes Mexico Route 1D.
  • The highest elevation on I-5 is Siskiyou summit, at 4,310 feet, in Oregon, about three miles north of the California border.
  • There were plans to build a spur into Salem, Oregon, called I-305, as well as a spur in Portland off of I-405, called I-505, but they were never built. However, a stub of I-505 exists as a long exit ramp to US-30.
  • The interstate bisects the University of California, San Diego campus.

References and external links

05 5 05 05

 

<< PreviousWord BrowserNext >>
treaty of utrecht (disambiguation)
belgarath the sorcerer
treaty of rome
edvac
bristol beaufighter
bryn mawr, pennsylvania
from russia with love
bristol beaufort
john mauchly
sea of azov
binac
atlantic coast conference
big east conference
whirlwind (computer)
magnetic core memory
light gun
apomixis
kevin o'neill (comics)
p 80 shooting star
milo burcham
jack cole (artist)
437 bc
436 bc
sausage
kerry
interstate 99
archelaus
judea
sarnia, ontario
interstate 97
tx 0
graphics tablet
chris hadfield
ivan sutherland
foreign sales corporation
sketchpad
james doohan
new jersey turnpike
tx 2
max flow min cut theorem
joker
wild card
court jester
hypertalk