55 Freeway segment dedicated to local TV reporter

The late Paul Johnson, a longtime traffic reporter for KNBC-4 TV news and a Newport Beach business financier, now has a segment of the Costa Mesa (55) Freeway named after him.

Johnson died in June after a long entertainment career, which included 28 years of reporting on Los Angeles-area road conditions.

His wife Nancy, who owns a hair salon in Newport Beach that Johnson paid for, said she drives along the Paul Johnson Memorial Freeway every day. It stretches from Katella Boulevard in Orange to Chapman Avenue, near where the couple lived.

The 55 was a great source of material for Johnson.

“There were so many accidents there,” Nancy said. “He loved providing the information.”

—Staff Reports