АҚШ Батыс Жағалауының Көлік Артериясы

Interstate Highway along the West Coast of the United States

the Wedding Present song

Interstate 5 (I 5) is the main north–south Interstate Highway on the West Coast of the United States, running largely parallel to the Pacific Coast of the contiguous U. S. from Mexico to Canada. It travels through the states of California, Oregon, and Washington, serving several large cities on the West Coast, including San Diego, Los Angeles, Sacramento, Portland, and Seattle. It is the only continuous Interstate highway to touch both the Mexican and Canadian borders. Upon crossing the Mexican border at its southern terminus, the highway continues to Tijuana, Baja California, as Mexican Federal Highway 1 (Fed. 1). Upon crossing the Canadian border at its northern terminus, it continues to Vancouver as British Columbia Highway 99 (BC 99). I 5 was originally created in 1956 as part of the Interstate Highway System, but it was predated by several auto trails and highways built in the early 20th century. The Pacific Highway was built in the 1910s and 1920s by the states of California, Oregon, and Washington, and was later incorporated into U. S. Route 99 (US 99) in 1926. I 5 largely follows the route of US 99, with the exception of portions south of Los Angeles and in the Central Valley of California. The freeway was built in segments between 1956 and 1978, including expressway sections of US 99 that were built earlier to bypass various towns along the route. US 99 was removed in 1972.

The southern terminus of I 5 is at the Mexican border at the San Ysidro Port of Entry, the busiest land border crossing in the Western Hemisphere; the crossing handles a daily average of 70,000 vehicles and 20,000 pedestrians crossing northbound and connects with Mexican Federal Highway 1 in Tijuana. The freeway splits in San Diego's San Ysidro neighborhood, with I 5 traveling northwest through Chula Vista and National City on the John J. Montgomery Freeway and I 805 serving the eastern neighborhoods. I 5 follows the shore of San Diego Bay and intersects State Route 15 (a continuation of I 15) near Naval Station San Diego. The freeway then travels around Downtown San Diego and San Diego International Airport before reaching a junction with I 8. I 5 bisects the University of California, San Diego campus, merging with I 805 nearby, and follows the Pacific coastline through the northern suburbs of San Diego. Between Oceanside and San Clemente, an 18 mile (29 km) stretch of the San Diego Freeway passes through Marine Corps Base Camp Pendleton before entering Orange County. At Dana Point, I 5 turns inland and heads north through Mission Viejo to the El Toro Y interchange in Irvine, where I 405 splits and carries the San Diego Freeway designation. The freeway intersects I 605 in Downey and I 710 in Commerce before reaching the city of Los Angeles. At the East Los Angeles Interchange near Downtown Los Angeles, I 5 intersects US 101 and begins a short concurrency with I 10 on a section of the Golden State Freeway. After passing Pyramid Lake, I 5 makes several turns as it follows a series of narrow valleys to reach the second highest point of its entire length, Tejon Pass (elevation 4144 feet (1263 m)) in the Tehachapi Mountains. At Wheeler Ridge near the south end of the valley, State Route 99 splits from the freeway to serve Bakersfield and other major cities in the Central Valley, while I 5 stays to the west. Now named the West Side Freeway, From the summit, I 5 descends by 2,300 feet (701 m) over 6 mile (10 km) at a 6 percent grade to reach the Rogue Valley. The freeway passes through Ashland and Medford, running parallel to Oregon Route 99, and turns west to follow the Rogue River to Grants Pass, where it intersects US 199. I 5 then turns north and crosses a series of passes in the Klamath Mountains to reach the Umpqua Valley, where it follows the South Umpqua River to Roseburg. The highway enters the Willamette Valley near Cottage Grove and forms the boundary between the cities of Eugene and Springfield. After crossing the Willamette River, I 5 intersects Oregon Route 126, which carries I 105, and Oregon Route 569; both highways provide connections to Eugene and Springfield. I 5 then travels due north through farmland on the east side of the Willamette River, passing a junction with US 20 in Albany, and bisects eastern Salem near the state capitol campus. From Salem, I 5 turns northeast and passes Woodburn before crossing the Willamette River on the Boone Bridge in Wilsonville, at the south end of the Portland metropolitan area. The freeway travels through the southern suburbs of Portland, intersecting I 205 in Tualatin and Oregon Route 217 in Tigard before entering the city proper. I 5 then turns northeast to follow Barbur Boulevard (part of Route 99W) and navigate the Terwilliger curves. The freeway continues north through the South Waterfront neighborhood, crossing under the Portland Aerial Tram and the western approach to the Ross Island Bridge (carrying US 26) before reaching an interchange with I 405.

The highway enters Vancouver at the north end of the Interstate Bridge and immediately intersects Washington State Route 14 near the Fort Vancouver National Historic Site. The freeway passes near downtown Vancouver and continues north through the city's suburbs before being rejoined by I 205 at Salmon Creek. I 5 travels north along the Columbia River to Kelso and Longview, where it switches to following the Cowlitz River between the Willapa Hills and Cascade foothills. The freeway then turns northwest to traverse a prairie and the adjacent cities of Chehalis and Centralia while concurrent with US 12. I 5 continues north to a junction with US 101 in Tumwater, near Olympia and the state capitol campus. The freeway skirts the southeast side of downtown Olympia and turns east to cross Joint Base Lewis–McChord (formerly Fort Lewis and McChord Air Force Base). I 5 then turns north to enter Tacoma but bends east to intersect I 705, a short spur into Downtown Tacoma. The freeway turns north again after leaving Tacoma and its nearby seaport near Fife to traverse the suburbs of South King County. I 5 intersects its eastern bypass of Seattle, I 405, in Tukwila near Seattle–Tacoma International Airport. It then turns north to intersect Washington State Route 520 near Eastlake and crosses the Ship Canal Bridge over Portage Bay, which lies between Lake Union and Lake Washington. I 5 continues through northern Seattle, passing the University District near the University of Washington campus and Green Lake before leaving the city. I 5 continues through the northern suburbs of Seattle and turns northeasterly in Lynnwood, where it is rejoined by I 405, which serves the Eastside region. The freeway travels north through Everett, skirting the city's downtown and intersecting US 2, and leaves the Seattle metropolitan area for the rural Skagit Valley. I 5 descends into the valley and travels through Mount Vernon and Burlington before climbing into the Chuckanut Mountains, where it turns west towards Bellingham Bay (part of the Salish Sea). The freeway travels around downtown Bellingham and turns northwest to continue across the rural Fraser Lowland. I 5 terminates at the Peace Arch Border Crossing on the Canadian border, adjacent to the eponymous monument, in Blaine. The highway becomes British Columbia Highway 99, which continues northwest to Vancouver. This trail was based on an older network of Native American footpaths connecting the Pacific Northwest with California's Central Valley. By the 1820s, trappers from the Hudson's Bay Company were the first non Native Americans to use the route of today's I 5 to move between today's Washington state and California. During the second half of the 19th century, mule trains, stagecoaches, and the Central Pacific railroad also followed the route of the Siskiyou Trail. It cost an estimated $2.3 billion in 1979 dollars (equivalent to $ in dollars) to construct all of I 5. This direct route also bypasses San Francisco and the rest of the San Francisco Bay Area. Original plans called for a loop Interstate with a directional suffix, I 5W. This route now roughly corresponds to I 580 from I 5 south of Tracy to Oakland, I 80 from Oakland to Vacaville, and I 505 from Vacaville to I 5 near Dunnigan. I 5W and most of the other Interstates around the country with directional suffixes were eventually renumbered or eliminated. Nevertheless, San Francisco is still listed as a control city on northbound I 5 between SR 99 and I 580. By the early 21st century, sections of I 5 had deteriorated due to a maintenance backlog as well as high traffic volumes. Several bridges in Oregon were reconstructed or repaired to accommodate use by heavy freight vehicles. The Washington State Department of Transportation used a temporary structure to restore access across the river while a permanent bridge replacement was built. That process was completed September 15, 2013. On December 18, 2017, an Amtrak train derailed on an overpass crossing I 5 near Tacoma, Washington, and blocked several lanes of traffic. The I 5 corridor forms part of the West Coast Electric Highway, a partnership between the states of California, Oregon, and Washington to build and maintain a network of charging stations for electric vehicles. The pact was formed in 2009 and the first charging stations—spaced apart—opened in 2011. In 2019, the three states also broke ground on a similar charging network for electric trucks along I 5 called the West Coast Clean Transit Corridor Initiative. The program is a collaboration of nine utilities and two agencies representing municipal utilities, and aims to enable electric freight and delivery trucks to operate along the entire West Coast corridor.