California Incline
The California Incline, facing north
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| Former name(s) | Sunset Trail |
|---|---|
| Part of | California Avenue |
| Namesake | California |
| Type | Slanted road |
| Owner | City of Santa Monica |
| Maintained by | Caltrans |
| Length | 1,400 ft (400 m) |
| West end |
 SR 1 (Pacific Coast Highway) |
| East end | Ocean Avenue |
| Construction | |
| Completion | 1896 |
The California Incline is a slanted road in Santa Monica, California, connecting Ocean Avenue with State Route 1 (Pacific Coast Highway, PCH). It technically runs along California Avenue, a major east–west street in Santa Monica.
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. A roadway structure 1,400 feet (430 m) in length was built in 1932. It is a vital street in Santa Monica, linking the 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.
The California Incline was identified as structurally deficient in the early 1990s. In 2007, the City of Santa Monica secured federal highway funds to replace the structure with one meeting current seismic standards. 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. 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.
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. It was also portrayed in popular video game Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas.
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