California State Route 71
State Route 71 is a state highway in the U.S. state of California. Serving Riverside, San Bernardino, and Los Angeles counties, it runs from SR 91 in Corona to the Kellogg Interchange with I-10 and SR 57 on the border of Pomona and San Dimas. The segment from SR 91 to SR 83 in Chino Hills is called the Corona Freeway, formerly the Corona Expressway and before then the Temescal Freeway. SR 71 is designated as the Chino Valley Freeway between SR 83 and the Kellogg Interchange.
Route description
Beginning at its southern terminus, SR 91 in Corona, SR 71 is an expressway for a half-mile when it intersects with Pomona Rincon Road. After this intersection, SR 71 becomes a freeway up to Rio Rancho Road in Pomona. Construction is ongoing on the segment between Rio Rancho Road and Mission Boulevard in Pomona to upgrade it from an expressway to freeway. The route then resumes as a short freeway at Mission Boulevard for about a mile until it meets at the Kellogg Interchange in San Dimas, where it terminates at I-10 and SR 57.The section of the highway between Corona and Chino is notorious for thick winter fogs at dawn and dusk, resulting in many automobile collisions when drivers fail to slow down due to reduced visibility. Residents of Los Serranos recall being awakened by sounds of crinkling bumpers, fenders, and headlights.
As SR 71 serves as an important northwest-southeast corridor between the cities in the Pomona and San Gabriel valleys and the cities of western Riverside County, it is heavily traveled. It is used as an alternative to SR 57 situated to the west and I-15 located to the east.
When the route runs through Chino Hills and Chino, there is a high-occupancy vehicle lane available for use; however, this carpool lane ends when the route enters Riverside County and Los Angeles County. The route is a four-lane highway between SR 91 and Central Avenue, a six-lane highway from Central Avenue to SR 60, and again a four-lane highway from SR 60 to I-10/SR 57.
SR 71 is part of the California Freeway and Expressway System, and is part of the National Highway System.
History
The original routing of SR 71, according to the 1934 listing, was from US 80, in San Diego north to US 66, near Claremont via Lake Elsinore and Temecula. The route between Claremont/Pomona and Lake Elsinore roughly followed the path of the Butterfield Overland Mail stagecoach line. When the portion between San Diego and Temecula was redesignated US 395, SR 71 was rerouted to run from Pomona to Aguanga. In 1973, it was cut back to its present terminus in Corona, with the portion between Corona and Temecula becoming I-15 and the portion between Temecula and Aguanga becoming SR 79 and SR 371. The early section of the Chino Valley Freeway was built in 1971 from the Kellogg Interchange to SR 60. The section from SR 60 to SR 91 was completed in March 1998.In September 2008, construction began on the Mission 71 Project in Pomona. A bridge was constructed to allow Mission Boulevard to pass over SR 71, which now has entrance and exit ramps to Mission. Also, the intersection with Ninth Street was closed. The freeway was extended south to the former intersection at Ninth Street, where it resumes expressway status to the intersection with Old Pomona Road. The construction project was completed in December 2011.
The Riverside County Transportation Commission constructed a two-lane flyover ramp between eastbound SR 91 and northbound SR 71 to replace the previous one-lane loop ramp. The flyover ramp was completed and opened to traffic on June 23, 2025.