Figueroa Street

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Figueroa Street

Figueroa Street sign in Los Angeles
Namesake	José Figueroa
Maintained by	Los Angeles County Department of Public Works
Length	25.00 mi (40.23 km)
Coordinates	34°2′59″N 118°15′34″W / 34.04972°N 118.25944°W / 34.04972; -118.25944
South end	Harry Bridges Boulevard in San Pedro
Major junctions	Sunset Boulevard / Cesar Chavez Avenue Gap in route San Fernando Road SR 134 near Eagle Rock Gap in route Marengo Drive
North end	Chevy Chase Drive in La Cañada Flintridge

Staples Center at 12th Street

Figueroa Street is a major north-south street in Los Angeles County, California, spanning from the Los Angeles neighborhood of Wilmington north to Eagle Rock. A short, unconnected continuation of Figueroa Street runs just south of Marengo Drive in Glendale to Chevy Chase Drive in La Cañada Flintridge.

The street is named for General José Figueroa (1792 – September 29, 1835), governor of Alta California from 1833 to 1835, who oversaw the secularization of the missions of California.

On "Mamba Day", August 24, 2020, then-Los Angeles City Council President Herb Wesson and council member Curren Price announced plans to rename the segment of Figueroa Street between Olympic Boulevard and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard as Kobe Bryant Boulevard, in honor of professional basketball player Kobe Bryant.^[1]

Route description[]

Figueroa Street (left), Harbor Freeway (center), and S Broadway (right) night aerial from the south, with downtown Los Angeles in the distance. Figueroa Street turns and become less visible at the University of Southern California.

One of the longer streets in the city, it runs in a north/south direction for more than 30 miles (48 km) from its southern terminus at Harry Bridges Boulevard in the Wilmington neighborhood to Chevy Chase Drive in the city of La Cañada Flintridge at the north end.

From its south end at Harry Bridges Boulevard to Downtown Los Angeles, Figueroa Street runs north parallel to the Harbor Freeway (Interstate 110) in South Los Angeles. The only portion of this segment of Figueroa Street that lies outside Los Angeles city limits is in the city of Carson. South of the Los Angeles Financial District, Figueroa Street passes well-known locations including the University of Southern California, the Los Angeles Convention Center, and Staples Center/L.A. Live.

Between Olympic Boulevard and 3rd Street in downtown Los Angeles, Figueroa Street forms a one-way pair with Flower Street, with northbound traffic staying on Figueroa and southbound traffic diverting to Flower.

After passing through downtown near Bunker Hill and South Park, the southern portion of Figueroa Street ends near the overcrossing of Sunset Boulevard over the Arroyo Seco Parkway (SR 110) in Chinatown. The northern portion of the street resumes at San Fernando Road in Cypress Park. An early routing of Figueroa Street in this area was originally part of U.S. Route 66, today a part of the Arroyo Seco Parkway (State Route 110).^{[clarification needed]} The noted Figueroa Street Tunnels were once a part of that same stretch of roadway.

After resuming at San Fernando Road, Figueroa continues to run roughly parallel to the Arroyo Seco Parkway until it reaches York Boulevard in Highland Park. Afterwards, it heads north to its terminus near the Scholl Canyon Landfill just past its junction with the Ventura Freeway (State Route 134) in Eagle Rock. A short, unconnected continuation of Figueroa Street runs from a residential area just south of Marengo Drive in Glendale to end at Chevy Chase Drive just over the city limit line in La Cañada Flintridge.

Early maps produced by the Automobile Club of Southern California measured distances to Los Angeles from the club's headquarters at the intersection of Figueroa Street with Adams Boulevard.^[2]

History[]

Entrance of Grammy Museum at L.A. Live

Figueroa was originally called Calle de los Chapules (or Grasshopper Street). Chapules (or chapul in the singular form) is not the standard Spanish word for grasshopper which is saltamonte. Chapul is from the Nahuatl of Durango and Nayarit (also known as Mexicanero) and means grasshopper.^[3] Later in the 1880s it became known as "Pearl Street". Figueroa Street originally was a few blocks west of Pearl but joined Pearl Street further south. Pearl Street was changed to Figueroa and the northern portion of the old Figueroa Street was renamed Boylston.^[4] The section of what is now Figueroa in Highland Park above Avenue 39 was known as "Pasadena Avenue" until Figueroa was extended through Elysian Park. The portion of what is now Figueroa between the Los Angeles River and Avenue 39 was originally known as Dayton Avenue until the Arroyo Parkway went through.^[5] Prior to construction of the Harbor Freeway, Figueroa St. carried U.S. Route 6 to Pacific Coast Highway south from the Four-Level Interchange.

On April 2, 2011, a portion of Figueroa Street at Jefferson Boulevard was blocked off for the "Orange Carpet" and the grandstand for the broadcasting of the 2011 Kids' Choice Awards.

In South Los Angeles, Figueroa Street has the highest number of prostitution-related arrests in Los Angeles.^[6]

Future[]

Kobe Bryant Boulevard[]

On August 24, 2020, then-Los Angeles City Council President Herb Wesson and council member Curren Price announced plans to rename the 3-mile (4.8 km) segment of Figueroa Street between Olympic Boulevard and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard as Kobe Bryant Boulevard.^[7][8] It would be renamed in honor of professional basketball player Kobe Bryant, who along with his daughter Gianna and seven others were killed in a helicopter crash on January 26, 2020.^[9][10] The segment of Figueroa between Olympic and Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard passes by the Staples Center, the home to the Los Angeles Lakers who Bryant played with throughout his entire 20-year career and is dubbed the "House that Kobe built".^[11][12] In October 21, 2020, the vote to consider the proposal was delayed by the council, and a new date has yet to be stated as of June 2021.^[13]

"My Figueroa" development plan and 2028 Summer Olympics[]

The Figueroa Corridor Streetscape project is a city led effort to beautify and improve the boulevard by adding pedestrian friendly amenities. The beautification project began on 7th street in Downtown Los Angeles, by Staples Center and terminates at Exposition Park at USC. The project began in 2017 and was completed by the end of 2018.^[14] It aimed to improve transit and pedestrian access, protected bike lanes totally protected by physical barriers, a more organized and efficient street by adding better signalization and signage, high-visibility crosswalks, transit platforms, more street trees, public art and wider sidewalks. The $20 million Figueroa Corridor Streetscape project was funded by a Proposition 1C grant.^[15] After delays, work was expected to commence in the summer of 2016^[16] and was expected to be completed by March 2017, when the prop 1C grant expires.^[17] The Los Angeles 2028 organizing committee plan to use this corridor as a planned "Live Site", an area dedicated as a central pedestrian corridor, linking all of the Downtown LA venues together during the 2028 Olympic & Paralympic Games.^[18]

Major intersections[]

Location	Destinations	Notes
San Pedro	John S Gibson Boulevard	Continuation beyond Harry Bridges Boulevard
	Harry Bridges Boulevard to I-110	Southern end of Figueroa Street
	SR 1 (Pacific Coast Highway)
Carson	Sepulveda Boulevard
	To Main Street / I-405 south	Frontage road; no access to I-405 north
Los Angeles	Rosecrans Avenue
	El Segundo Boulevard
	Imperial Highway
	Century Boulevard
	Manchester Avenue	Former SR 42
	Florence Avenue
	Slauson Avenue
	Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard	South end of proposed Kobe Bryant Boulevard
	Washington Boulevard
	Pico Boulevard
	Olympic Boulevard	North end of proposed Kobe Bryant Boulevard; south end of one-way pair where northbound traffic stays on Figueroa Street, and southbound traffic joins from Flower Street then Olympic Blvd.
	Wilshire Boulevard
	5th Street to SR 110 (Arroyo Seco Parkway)
	3rd Street to SR 110 (Arroyo Seco Parkway)	North end of one-way pair where northbound traffic stays on Figueroa St. and southbound traffic diverts to 3rd Street then Flower Street
	Sunset Boulevard / Cesar Chavez Avenue
	SR 110 north / Alpine Street
	Gap in route
	San Fernando Road / Riverside Drive to I-5 south (Golden State Freeway)
	SR 110 south (Arroyo Seco Parkway)
	Avenue 26 to I-5 south (Golden State Freeway) / SR 110 north (Arroyo Seco Parkway)
	Colorado Boulevard
	SR 134 (Ventura Freeway)
	Scholl Canyon Road	Continuation beyond SR 134
Gap in route
Glendale	Marengo Drive
La Cañada Flintridge	Chevy Chase Drive	North end of Figueroa Street

Transportation[]

Metro Local Line 81 bus stop at Figueroa and 65th Streets, Los Angeles, California. Metro Local Line 81 runs on Figueroa Street.

The Metro C and J lines operates a station underneath Interstate 105 at Figueroa Street. Metro Local Line 81 operates on Figueroa Street between Colorado Boulevard and Interstate 105 and Torrance Transit Line 1 between Interstate 105 and the Harbor Gateway Transit Center. The Metro E Line has 5 stations nearby. Two of which are shared with the Metro A Line, one being a major hub connecting to the Metro B and D lines. The Metro J Line runs on Figueroa Street in Gardena and between 23rd and 6th Streets in Downtown: Northbound J line trips to El Monte Bus Station continue north on Figueroa Street to serve the 7th Street / Metro Center and finally turn right on 6th street, leaving Figueroa Street. Southbound J Line trips to Harbor Gateway Transit Center or San Pedro run south on Flower Street from 5th Street to the Harbor Transitway. There are 6 J Line street stops located on Figueroa Street: Figueroa/190th/Victoria; Northbound only: Figueroa/23rd, Figueroa/Washington, Figueroa/Pico, Figueroa/Olympic, and Figueroa/7th . In addition, there are 7 Metro J Line Stations served on the Harbor Transitway and Harbor Freeway close to Figueroa Street: 37th Street/USC, Slauson, Manchester, Harbor Freeway, Rosecrans, Carson, and Pacific Coast Hwy. The Harbor Transitway is located on the I-110 freeway, between Figueroa Street and Broadway. The Lincoln/Cypress Station for the Metro L Line on Avenue 26 at its intersection with Lacy Street is about a 5-minute walk from Figueroa Street.

Notable landmarks[]

Education[]

• Luther Burbank Middle School
• Florence Nightingale Middle School
• Optimist High School
• Sycamore Grove School
• University of Southern California

Buildings on Figueroa[]

• 

  Bonaventure Hotel, 404 South Figueroa

• 

  Jonathan Club, 545 South Figueroa

• 

  Engine Co. 28, 644 South Figueroa (1912 fire station)

• 

  HSBC Building at Seventh Street, 2012

• 

  Original Pantry Cafe, 9th Street and Figueroa

• 

  Variety Arts Center Building, 938-940 South Figueroa, 1980, Julius Shulman photo

• 

  Hotel Figueroa, 939 South Figueroa (photo 2009)

• 

  Los Angeles Convention Center at Pico Boulevard and Figueroa

• 

  Bob Hope Patriotic Hall, 1816 South Figueroa

• 

  Stimson House (1891), 2421 South Figueroa

• 

  St Vincent de Paul Catholic Church, Figueroa at Adams Boulevard (NorthWest corner)

• 

  Automobile Club of Southern California, Figueroa at Adams Boulevard (SouthWest corner)

• 

  Felix Chevrolet (iconic neon sign), Figueroa at Jefferson Boulevard (photo: John Margolies, 1977)

• 

  Galen Center on the USC campus at Jefferson Boulevard, 2007

• 

  Banc of California Stadium, Exposition Park, and historic palm tree

References[]

External links[]

Wikimedia Commons has media related to Figueroa Street.

Route map: