California Incline

The California Incline is a slanted road in Santa Monica, California, connecting Ocean Avenue with the Pacific Coast Highway (State Route 1) ("PCH"). It technically is the last link, the western end of California Avenue, a major east–west street in Santa Monica.

California Incline

The California Incline, facing north
Former name(s)	Sunset Trail
Part of	California Avenue
Type	Slanted road
Owner	City of Santa Monica
Maintained by	City of Santa Monica
Length	1,400 ft (430 m)
West end	SR 1 (Pacific Coast Highway)
East end	Ocean Avenue
Construction
Completion	1896

History and overview

California Incline depicted on a postcard, circa 1930 to 1945

The California Incline was originally a walkway known as Sunset Trail, which was cut through the bluffs to provide beach access to pedestrians in 1896.^[1][2] A roadway structure 1,400 feet (430 m) in length was built in 1932.^[3] It is a vital street in Santa Monica, linking PCH with Ocean Avenue and California Avenue, bisecting Palisades Park. It begins at an intersection with Ocean Avenue and California Avenue, at the top of the Palisades, extending to PCH at the base of the bluffs.

2015–16 reconstruction

The California Incline was identified as structurally deficient in the early 1990s.^[4][5] In 2007, the City of Santa Monica secured federal highway funds to replace the structure with one meeting current seismic standards.^[6] The new bridge consists of a pile-supported reinforced concrete slab structure with a width of 51 feet 8 inches (15.75 m), an increase of 5 feet 8 inches (1.73 m) over the previous structure.^[7][8] The project cost $17 million, with 88.5% coming from federal funds and the balance from local funds. Construction began in April 2015 and took 17 months to complete. The roadway reopened to the public on September 1, 2016. The rebuilt structure includes wider sidewalks and bicycle lanes.^[6]

Popular culture

The California Incline has been featured in various films, including It's a Mad, Mad, Mad, Mad World (1963) and Knocked Up (2007). It was also featured in the hardboiled crime novel In a Lonely Place (1942), written by Dorothy B. Hughes.^[9] It was also portrayed in some video games including Street Racing Syndicate, Midnight Club II, Midnight Club: LA (and its Remix version), American Truck Simulator, and Grand Theft Auto V.^[10]

See also

• McClure Tunnel