I realized I got more than I bargained for as soon as I found this map among The Times pictures of the Pasadena Freeway. As this 1912 map shows, the Arroyo Seco Parkway was originally intended to link Elysian Park to the area north of Devils Gate Reservoir in what is now La Canada Flintridge. But what’s this off to the left? A parkway linking Elysian Park to Silver Lake? And what is this Silver Lake Parkway connecting Wilshire Boulevard to Griffith Park? Also, please note the reference to a "proposed boulevard from the mountains to the sea."
You might ask why the city was taking its first steps toward freeways as early as 1912, when autos and auto travel were primitive to say the least. My goodness, the question of transportation in Southern California gets complicated quickly, doesn’t it?
Stay tuned.
ladailymirror.com 
The plan for the parkways is fascinating. There was a more extensive plan linking many of the old parks in LA in the 1912 plan of the Park Commission.
This is discussed in Eden by Design: The 1930 Olmsted-Bartholomew Plan for the Los Angeles, by Greg Hise and William Deverell (Univ of Calif Press, 2000).
Extensive parts of this book are available at Google Book Search. Look at page 25 of the book.
–Thanks!
–Larry
LikeLike
This made me think of the 9-mile bikeway between Pasadena and downtown Los Angeles. Construction started about 1901 and got a few miles but wasn’t completed.
LikeLike