When America’s first freeway—the Arroyo Seco Parkway—opened, it connected downtown Los Angeles with Pasadena. This shot was taken on when one of its segments opened. I can count at least 16 motorcycle cops and enough official cars to form a line back as far as we can see, so it was a pretty big deal. Seeing an empty freeway just makes me want to jump on my bicycle and tear down one that clear roadway before “progress” takes over and chokes every lane in each direction.
Mike M says: “This is December 30, 1940 and the vehicles are the Third Coast Artillery deploying antiaircraft guns from March Field and the 160th Infantry National Guard. This convoy is headed to the official dedication ceremony, but sections of the road had already been open for public usage since the previous July, being fully open by November. That could be Major General Jacob Fickel in the car behind the motorcycles.”
My wife’s grandmother told her that the inside joke in Pasadena was that the Parkway was built so that the moneyed matrons in Pasadena had an easy route to Bullock’s Wilshire!
I remember a family drive from south LA to Alhambra to visit a grandmother using the Arroyo Seco. Not quite adrive since my mother was sitting behind my oldest brother (16), with my middle brother 13, behind her on the 3 hp Cushman motor scooter while my sister (9) and me (10) were in the sidecar. We actually made it there and back!
When America’s first freeway—the Arroyo Seco Parkway—opened, it connected downtown Los Angeles with Pasadena. This shot was taken on when one of its segments opened. I can count at least 16 motorcycle cops and enough official cars to form a line back as far as we can see, so it was a pretty big deal. Seeing an empty freeway just makes me want to jump on my bicycle and tear down one that clear roadway before “progress” takes over and chokes every lane in each direction.
My wife’s grandmother told her that the inside joke in Pasadena was that the Parkway was built so that the moneyed matrons in Pasadena had an easy route to Bullock’s Wilshire!
There might even be a grain of truth to that!
I remember a family drive from south LA to Alhambra to visit a grandmother using the Arroyo Seco. Not quite adrive since my mother was sitting behind my oldest brother (16), with my middle brother 13, behind her on the 3 hp Cushman motor scooter while my sister (9) and me (10) were in the sidecar. We actually made it there and back!
A modern miracle!
Since 1977 I’ve lived less than a mile from this freeway, in the Highland Park area of Northeast Los Angeles