Every time I see a vintage photo of a new LA freeway, it boggles my mind that any Southern California freeway could ever have been this empty. This shot was taken on September 13, 1957. The photographer was facing south on the Golden State Freeway (aka “the 5”) toward what is now the interchange with the Ventura Freeway (aka “the 134.”) With traffic so light, I guess anyone with a camera could just stop his car on the median strip and take a photo. In fact, he could have just walked across those lanes without risking his life!
Facing southwest on the Golden State Freeway near what is now the Ventura Freeway interchange, Los Angeles, September 13, 1957
Heh, I’m so glad you called it “the 5.” I couldn’t for the life of me remember which freeway was called the Golden State. I was about to google it.
You ain’t the only one, honey. I couldn’t have told you what the 5’s real name is!
LOL!
Because we’re so used to freeways filled with cars and us traveling on them, pictures like this one also make one realize how much actual land these freeways take up. Just do a photo search of “Empty Los Angeles Freeways” and this is even more apparent!
Normally, there’s not a lot of those kinds of pictures. The earthquake in 1994 brought a lot of those and the first couple pandemic years a great many more.
I loved when the 105 was opened. It was virtually empty for weeks, maybe a few months. I can remember glancing down at my speedometer and seeing I was going over 90 mph without even realizing it.
In the early days of the pandemic, my wife and I were driving on this freeway at just about this spot and it looked as empty as it does in this photo. I remember saying to her at one point, “Look behind us – there’s not a car anywhere in sight.”