California State Route 103


State Route 103 is a state highway in the U.S. state of California that forms part of the Terminal Island Freeway in Los Angeles and Long Beach. It runs from State Route 47 near Terminal Island north to State Route 1 in Long Beach.
Beyond SR 1, the freeway extends north to Willow Street with the unusual designation of State Route 103U, with the U signifying "un-relinquished". This is due to the fact that state legislature removed this segment from the state highway system but has not yet passed legislation to hand over its ownership to the City of Long Beach. South of the end of SR 103, the Terminal Island Freeway runs south with SR 47 over the Commodore Schuyler F. Heim Bridge to its end at Ocean Boulevard on Terminal Island, at the former Long Beach Naval Shipyard. SR 47 turns west there to its end at Interstate 110.
SR 103 does not directly connect to any other freeways. It was originally planned to continue north to the Interstate 710 and Interstate 405 interchange. The Terminal Island Freeway is heavily used by trucks carrying cargo to and from the Port of Los Angeles and Port of Long Beach. Because of its isolation from residential and business areas, and the industrial-looking neighborhood it runs through, the freeway is frequently used to film freeway scenes for major motion pictures. , Mr. & Mrs. Smith, and The Fast and the Furious were three movies that used it for location purposes.

Route description

The state route begins at Interstate 710 in Long Beach, where it instantly begins an overlap with SR 47. It then begins as a freeway, whence it follows the Schuyler Heim Bridge over the Cerritos Channel, entering the city of Los Angeles midway through the bridge. It then leaves SR 47 and reenters Long Beach, where it meets SR 1. The SR 103 state highway designation officially ends at SR 1, but the freeway, now controlled by the City of Long Beach from this point on, continues north and ends at an intersection with Willow Street.
SR 103 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.

History

Prior to 1969, Route 103 was what is now State Route 15 and Interstate 15 from Interstate 5 to State Route 163 in San Diego.
The entire Terminal Island Freeway was once part of State Route 47, and was to continue north to Interstate 10 near downtown Los Angeles. SR 47 was redefined in 1983 to split from the freeway north of the Schuyler Heim Bridge, and the part from SR 47 to Willow Street became SR 103. The part north of SR 1 was later removed from the legal definition, existing for a time as State Route 103U - U for unrelinquished - before it was traded on August 25, 2000, with the city of Long Beach for Interstate 710 from SR 1 south to Ocean Boulevard.

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