Study: 405 Remains Busiest Interstate in a U.S. City

By Matthew Sanderson

The 405 Freeway through Los Angeles serves an estimated 379,000 vehicles per day, once again making it the country's busiest interstate in a city, according to a report released by the U.S. Department of Transportation's Federal Highway Administration.

The report also shows people drove more than 84.7 billion miles on California highways in 2011 – more than 900 times the distance from Earth to the Sun – making the Golden State’s highways the nation’s busiest. 

The 5, 10 and 110, which all pass through L.A., were named the busiest interstate freeways. 

“Better information means cities and states can more efficiently target congestion and help people get home from work faster,” U.S. Transportation Secretary Anthony Foxx said in a press release. “Over the past four years, DOT has improved more than 331,000 miles of roads with federal funds, but we know there’s a lot of work that still needs to be done."

The I-405 Sepulveda Pass Improvements Project by Metro aims to add an HOV lane and additional lanes to the freeway, yet critics believe it won't truly solve L.A.'s behemoth gridlock problem.