Imagine no 405 Freeway?
405 Construction. Sepulveda was eventually rerouted so the 405 could b-line through.
On Monday, April 4, 1960 the bridge across the Sepulveda Pass was completed.
The new Mulholland Dr Bridge received few headlines. After all, the bridge overlooked an undeveloped canyon. No freeway ran beneath it. No rapid route between West Los Angeles and the San Fernando Valley existed.
Now renamed Kiewit Infrastructure West, the contractor that built Mulholland Drive Bridge will later demolish it (ironic) . The San Diego Freeway that carried 100,000 vehicles per day at Olympic Bl in 1965 now carries more than 300,000 vehicles each workday, making it one of the busiest freeways in the United States.
It is a long history.
The main portion of Mulholland Dr-westward from the Cahuenga Pass in Hollywood past the Sepulveda Pass-opened in 1924 under a different name: the Mulholland Highway. It was built by a consortium of Hollywood Hills landowners. Their goal was to bring development to the Hollywood Hills and make a few dollars for themselves.
Even the road's name evokes Southern California history. Mulholland Drive (and Mulholland Highway) are named after engineer William Mulholland, a giant in Southern California history for his role in bringing distant water to chronically thirsty Los Angeles in 1913.
With Mulholland's aquaducts feeding Los Angeles, its population exploded. Consequently, in May, 1958, the State Division of Highways-this preceded the creation of Caltrans-called for bids on a $10-million highway construction project.
Besides closing a 4.1-mile gap in US-101 and funding other work on the San Diego Freeway, the 1958 contract required the relocation of 1.1 miles of Mulholland Dr south. The Los Angeles Times called it "a mammoth project." Once moved, Mulholland Dr would cross a new 579-foot-long bridge: Mulholland Dr Bridge.
When completed, relocating Mulholland Dr and building Mulholland Dr Bridge cost $1,824,000.
In June 1960, bids were opened for a $14-million contract to extend the San Diego Freeway 7.4 miles from Brentwood to Valley Vista Bl in the San Fernando Valley. Mulholland Dr Bridge would finally span a freeway.