thumbnail|Former eastbound SR 72 on [[Whittier Boulevard, entering Whittier.]]
State Route 72 (SR 72) is a state highway in the U.S. state of California. It forms part of El Camino Real in the Los Angeles area. Since 2025, the route consists of two short segments of Whittier Boulevard. The first segment begins at SR 39 (Beach Boulevard) and runs west to Valley Home Avenue on the Orange and Los Angeles county line in La Habra. The second segment begins at Lockheed Avenue and runs northwest to Interstate 605 in Whittier. Though some maps mark SR 72 as continuous through Whittier, control of most of the route within the city was relinquished to that local jurisdiction and is thus no longer officially part of the state highway system.
Route description
Route 72 is defined as follows in section 372 of the California Streets and Highways Code, last amended by the California State Legislature in 2020:
<blockquote>Route 72 is from Route 39 to Route 605 in Whittier</blockquote>
Subdivision (a) of section 372 also states that Route 72 will be deleted from the state highway system upon completed construction of Route 90, also known as the Slauson Freeway, from Route 5 to Route 39, but Caltrans has abandoned all plans to finish the freeway. Subdivision (b) states that the relinquished former northwestern segment of Route 72 through Montebello and Pico Rivera is no longer officially part of the state highway system, but those cities must still "maintain within their respective jurisdictions signs directing motorists to the continuation of Route 72". Subdivision (c) also permit the state to also relinquish the portion of Route 72 located in Whittier and unincorporated Los Angeles County. a network of highways that are considered essential to the country's economy, defense, and mobility by the Federal Highway Administration.
History
California's historic El Camino Real, which connected the Alta California missions, ran along what was then U.S. Route 101. Before 1964, U.S. Route 101 continued past today's end near the East Los Angeles Interchange east onto Whittier Boulevard and south on Harbor Boulevard until it met its bypass in Anaheim. (What is now Route 5 from Los Angeles to Anaheim was the U.S. Route 101 Bypass.)
In 1964, the U.S. Route 101 designation was removed south of the East L.A. Interchange. Its routing on Whittier and Harbor Boulevards became Route 72 and was initially defined to run from Route 5 (the former bypass) to an unbuilt State Route 245, hence the route's lackluster end at Downey Road. (Route 245 was to have been a bypass connecting Route 5 with Route 60, a function that was eventually assumed by an extended Route 710.)
In 1965, with Route 245 deleted, the definition was clarified to have Route 72 end at Downey Road, which was parallel to the planned Route 245.
In 1981, the portion from Route 5 to Harbor Boulevard (current SR 39) was deleted, and the portion from Harbor Boulevard to Route 39 was transferred to SR 39.
In 1992, the portion from Atlantic Boulevard to Downey Road was deleted.
In 2010, SB-1318 Sec. 20 deleted the segment between I-605 and Atlantic Boulevard. It also states that Route 72 will be deleted when "Route 90 freeway is completed from Route 5 to Route 39."
Cal. S&HC § 635(b)
includes unspecified parts of Route 72 in El Camino Real.
On May 15, 2025, the California Transportation Commission (CTC) approved a deal between the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) and the city Whittier, for Caltrans to relinquish the segment of SR 72 between Lockheed Avenue and Valley Home Avenue to the city.