Answered By: Shauna Redmond
Last Updated: Sep 18, 2015     Views: 86

The first freeway in California (in fact, in the western United States) was the Arroyo Seco Parkway, later renamed the Pasadena Freeway. Construction began on March 22, 1938 and the freeway was dedicated on December 30, 1940. The Arroyo Seco Parkway section of the Pasadena Freeway was designated a Historical Parkway by the California legislature in 1992, and on July 23, 1999, it was named a National Historic Civil Engineering Landmark--the first transportation system to be awarded this honor.