History
SR 55 was built in 1931 and originally numbered Route 43. It was built from the southern terminus of SR 1 (the Pacific Coast Highway, or "PCH") and continued northbound on roughly the same route it follows today, following Newport Road (today Newport Boulevard) northeast to Tustin, and then Tustin Avenue north to near its current terminus at SR 91. From here, Route 43 continued east on what is now SR 91 towards Riverside. In 1959, the highway was renumbered as Route 55, and its route was shortened from Route 1 to the also-renumbered Route 91. The freeway portion from Chapman Avenue to SR 91 opened on January 18, 1962, at a cost of $4.6 million (about $68.6 million today). The segment between SR 73 and Chapman Avenue opened in 1966.
SR 55 was the first freeway in Orange County to receive carpool lanes, opened in October 1985 between I-405 and SR 91. The stretch of SR 55 between Mesa Drive and 19th Street in Costa Mesa was opened in 1992; plans to extend SR 55 freeway south from 19th Street to State Route 1 were never realized due to community opposition, fueling an amendment to the city charter to prevent this extension.
In 1995, the direct carpool lane ramps between I-5 and SR 55 were completed; these were the first in Orange County. The year also saw further widening of SR 55 between SR 22 and McFadden Avenue. Between 1996 and 2002, the fifth lane in both directions was constructed between I-5 and SR 91, funded with a sales tax of half a cent approved by Measure M. In April 2007, the Orange County Transportation Authority approved funds to study the feasibility of extending the Costa Mesa Freeway south to 17th Street via tunnels or flyover ramps. The segment of SR 55 from Finley Street to the Newport Channel bridge was legally authorized to be turned over to the city of Newport Beach in 2009.
SR 55 was formerly called the Newport Freeway. In 2010, the stretch between Chapman and Katella avenues in the City of Orange was renamed the Paul Johnson Freeway for longtime local radio television traffic reporter Paul Johnson, who died the same year.
Read more about this topic: California State Route 55
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