Interstate 5 (I-5) is the main Interstate highway on the West Coast of the United States, paralleling the Pacific Ocean from Canada to Mexico (Washington to southernmost California) and serving some of the largest cities of that part of the U.S., including Seattle, Tacoma, [Portland], Sacramento, San Francisco/Oakland, Los Angeles, a San Diego. It links the state capital cities of Washington, Oregon, and California. Its southern terminus is at the United States - Mexico border. Its northern terminus is at the Canada-United States border. Interstate-5 is the only Interstate highway to touch both the Canadian and Mexican borders, though others come close to this. At its southern end, I-5 continues into Tijuana, Mexico, as the Mexico Federal Highway 1. On its northern end, I-5 continues into Vancouver, Canada, as the British Columbia Highway 99.
This highway links to control cities in California (San Diego, Los Angeles, San Francisco, Sacramento, and Redding), Oregon (Medford, Eugene, Salem, and Portland), and Washington (Tacoma, Seattle, Everett, Mount Vernon, Bellingham). Vancouver, British Columbia (signed as "Vancouver B.C." to avoid confusion with Vancouver, Washington, which is in the opposite direction) is also a control city on Interstate 5 from the Seattle-Tacoma area to the northern terminus at the Canadian border.
Notably, a control city not directly linked by this highway is San Francisco, which is about 80 miles (130 km) west of I-5. To the south, Interstate 580 splits from I-5 towards San Francisco, while, to the north, Interstate 505 cuts south to Interstate 80, which serves that city. That routing, via I-580, I-80 and I-505, was once Interstate 5W.
Interstate Highway System
- Interstate 10
- Interstate 5
- Interstate 78
