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Thursday, Mar 28, 2024

Freeway Bottleneck Report Features Valley Slow Spots

A federal report on freeway bottlenecks found that four of the 30 slowest stretches of road in the nation are either in the San Fernando Valley or feed into it. The report, released Monday with the title “Unclogging America’s Arteries 2015,” ranked the 101 freeway between Sepulveda Boulevard and Laurel Canyon Boulevard as the seventh biggest bottleneck in the country. The 405 freeway between Burbank and Ventura boulevards ranked No. 29. As for feeder routes, the 405 freeway between Venice and Wilshire boulevards in West Los Angeles ranked No. 4, and the 101 freeway between Franklin Avenue and Glendale Boulevard ranked No. 5. They feed traffic into the Valley through the Sepulveda and Cahuenga passes, respectively. The report also put an economic value on slow traffic, estimating the country would save $39 billion over 20 years if the 30 biggest bottlenecks were fixed. Those bottlenecks use 35 million gallons of gasoline a year, the report estimated. “To unclog America’s arteries will require significant investments – not only in capacity but also in the form of improved operations and technologies to lessen impacts and get traffic moving,” the reported said. “Reinvesting in our critical infrastructure advances national economic competitiveness, safety, the environment, and quality of life for millions of Americans.” Six of the top 10 bottlenecks were in the Los Angeles metro region. The worst section of freeway in the country was a 12-mile stretch of I-90 in Chicago. The worst in California, ranking No. 2 nationally, was a section of the 405 freeway between the 22 and 605 freeways in Orange County.

Joel Russel
Joel Russel
Joel Russell joined the Los Angeles Business Journal in 2006 as a reporter. He transferred to sister publication San Fernando Valley Business Journal in 2012 as managing editor. Since he assumed the position of editor in 2015, the Business Journal has been recognized four times as the best small-circulation tabloid business publication in the country by the Alliance of Area Business Publishers. Previously, he worked as senior editor at Hispanic Business magazine and editor of Business Mexico.

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