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Highway in California
The stretch of SR 126 between Santa Paula and the Los Angeles County line has seen an unusually high amount of traffic fatalities and other injurious accidents. Head on collisions were very frequent on the older, curvy, two laned sections, earning this portion of the road its nickname, "Blood Alley". An article from the Los Angeles Times in 1996, noted 34 fatalities between 1990 and 1994. Though the highway has since been improved in most areas, traffic fatalities are still quite common. In Los Angeles County, SR 126 is known as Henry Mayo Drive. The highway continues east to an interchange with I 5. At this interchange the SR 126 designation terminates, and the road continues into Santa Clarita as Newhall Ranch Road. SR 126 is part of the California Freeway and Expressway System, and is part of the National Highway System, a network of highways that are considered essential to the country's economy, defense, and mobility by the Federal Highway Administration. SR 126 is eligible to be included in the State Scenic Highway System, but it is not officially designated as a scenic highway by the California Department of Transportation.

In 1958, the freeway was originally planned to follow the northern banks of the Santa Clara River, connecting US 101 to US 99 (I 5 today) and US 6 (SR 14 today) through what is now Santa Clarita. In the mid 1960s, construction of the 4 lane freeway began immediately northeast of Oxnard at US 101 and immediately east of Santa Clarita at US 6.

In the face of anti development pressure from Ventura County citizens, and suffering from severe financial problems as a result of the 1971 Sylmar earthquake and the late 1970s California tax revolt, Caltrans abandoned its plans. The freeway, which by then had reached Santa Paula, terminates at a four way intersection immediately east of the city. From there, a 4 lane undivided highway continues on toward I 5. The eastern approach of SR 126 was abandoned midway through the interchange's construction at SR 14. Two long on ramps and a large graded plateau are all that remain of the approach. The only remnants of these plans are the two long ramps to and from SR 14 at the Sierra Highway interchange (exit 6A) in Santa Clarita, and Newhall Ranch Road, a six to eight lane divided local road that continues from the current terminus of SR 126 at Interstate 5 and roughly follows the original 1958 route to just past Bouquet Canyon Road on the north side of the Santa Clara River. Newhall Ranch Road changes to Golden Valley Road 1.75 miles east of Bouquet Canyon Road, and continues to SR 14, roughly one mile south of the original planned terminus of SR 126.

The 1984 Summer Olympics Organizing Committee was allowed to close the freeway portion between Ventura and Santa Paula for cycling practice for the 100 Kilometer Team Trials on two consecutive Thursdays.

On March 27, 2010, the City of Santa Clarita completed the decade long Cross Valley Connector (CVC) project, which sought to connect SR 126 directly to SR 14 roughly along the original route alignment. The city maintained route is named Newhall Ranch Road on the western segment, and Golden Valley Road on the eastern segment. The two segments meet at the intersection of Newhall Ranch Road and Golden Valley Road, where Golden Valley Road turns and continues northeast.

In 2017, Caltrans began construction along the 1.75 mile eastern end of SR 126, upgrading the 6 lane divided highway to an 8 lane freeway. A new interchange replaced the traffic signal at Commerce Center Drive. The interchange is sequentially numbered as exit 13, as exit 12 is 27 mile (43 km) away in Santa Paula near the eastern end of the Santa Paula Freeway section of SR 126. It is the only known instance of a sequential numbered exit in California. If the state's normal exit numbering system had properly been applied, Commerce Center Drive should have been numbered as exit 39 instead, as it is approximately 39 mile (63 km) away from SR 126's western terminus.