Foothill Blvd
Construction of Foothill Boulevard began as early as the 1910s, with the goal of connecting communities along the southern foothills of the San Gabriel Mountains. During the 1920s, construction expanded as efforts intensified to establish a continuous thoroughfare that would also serve as a northern bypass of central Los Angeles. The route was gradually improved again at some locations, such as around Tujunga Wash, in the late 1930’s. Plans at the time called for a new crossing of the Arroyo Seco above Devil’s Gate but never completed. Foothill Blvd as a named road still has a break from the Arroyo Seco to eastern Pasadena.
The section between Pasadena and San Fernando had been designated State Legislative Route 9 in 1909 and became part of signed State Route 118 in 1934. The segment extending from San Fernando to Newhall Pass was designated State Legislative Route 157 but remained unsigned. In 1963, the entire route from Pasadena to Newhall Pass was redesignated as Route 210 and eventually signed as I-210 as freeway sections were completed. The last section, frequently used in the TV show “CHiPs”, was opened to traffic in 1983. State Route 118 now ends at I-210 as a freeway near San Fernando.
