Figueroa Street

Figueroa Street is a street in Los Angeles County, California named for General José Figueroa (1792 – 9 September 1835), governor of Alta California from 1833 to 1835, who oversaw the secularization of the missions of California. One of the longer streets in Los Angeles, it runs in a north/south direction for more than 30 miles (48 km) between the communities of Eagle Rock and Wilmington. Termini are at Harry Bridges Boulevard in San Pedro, and just north of the Ventura Freeway west of Pasadena, with a break between San Fernando Road in Cypress Park and College Street in Chinatown.

An early routing of Figueroa Street near downtown Los Angeles was part of U.S. Route 66, today a part of the Arroyo Seco Parkway. The noted Figueroa Street Tunnels were once a part of that same stretch of roadway. Figueroa resumes its course near the overcrossing of Sunset Boulevard over the Pasadena Freeway, just north of the "stack" or four-level interchange. The road passes through downtown Los Angeles near Bunker Hill and South Park. South of the Financial District, Figueroa Street services some popular locations including Staples Center/L.A. Live, the Los Angeles Convention Center, and the University of Southern California. For the rest of its southbound journey, Figueroa Street runs parallel to the Harbor Freeway (Interstate 110) in South Los Angeles. The only portion of Figueroa Street that lies outside Los Angeles city limits is in the city of Carson, but it soon reenters Los Angeles near Wilmington. The street ends at Harry Bridges Boulevard north of the Los Angeles neighborhood of San Pedro.

Some of the southern termini was once part of U.S. Route 6 before its almost total decommissioning through California in 1964; indeed, Figueroa Street at Pacific Coast Highway was the actual western terminus of that highway, although maps show that US 6 went as far east as Atlantic Avenue in Long Beach.

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.

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