Study: California Home to Busiest Freeways in U.S.

By Bea Karnes

California's the Golden State, but it's also the state of the nation's most populated freeways by an interstellar margin, according to a study from the U.S. Department of Transportation released last week. 

The department's Federal Highway Administration enacted the study and found that California highways rolled up more than 84 billion miles in 2011. According to a release from the department, that's more than 900 times the distance from Earth to the Sun.

Individually, the California's Interstate 5 Freeway led the nation with 21.4 billion miles traveled that year. The report also states that the Los Angeles’ section of I-405 serves about 379,000 vehicles per day, making it the busiest interstate in any American city.

Locally, motorists drove about 21.3 million miles on Highway 80 in 2011.