California State Route 13

State Route 13
State Route 13
	SR 13 highlighted in red
Route information
	Maintained by Caltrans
Length	9.73 mi (15.66 km)
Existed	1964 renumbering –present
Major junctions
South end	I-580 in Oakland
	SR 24 in Oakland; SR 123 in Berkeley ;
North end	I-80 / I-580 in Berkeley
Location
Country	United States
State	California
Counties	Alameda
Highway system
	State highways in California ; Interstate ; US ; State ; Scenic ; History ; Pre‑1964 ; Unconstructed ; Deleted ; Freeways ;

Last updated January 15, 2025

State Route 13 (SR 13) is a state highway in the U.S. state of California. It runs entirely in Alameda County, connecting Interstate 580 in Oakland to Interstate 80/Interstate 580 in Berkeley.

Route description

The route currently begins at Interstate 580 near Mills College in East Oakland and continues north as the Warren Freeway, named after former Alameda County District Attorney, California Governor and U.S. Supreme Court Chief Justice Earl Warren. The four-lane freeway takes a largely straight path as it runs through a scenic valley. This valley is enclosed by the far eastern hills of Oakland and a shutter ridge that has been driven northwestward along the Hayward Fault, and the entire freeway lies within the earthquake fault zone of the Hayward Fault. In the event of a major earthquake on the fault, this section of SR 13 may sustain heavy damage. Numerous overpasses have recently undergone extensive seismic retrofitting.

The tall trees on the highway's side make the highway appear narrower, and until late 2004, a dense group of trees also lined most of the highway's median. For most of the day, the freeway experiences only modest traffic, which makes it a speedy bypass around downtown Oakland. Much of the traffic on this highway comes from SR 24's commute hour congestion backing up onto SR 13 northbound via the exchange between the highways.

After going through an interchange with State Route 24 (upgraded August 1999) near the entrance to the Caldecott Tunnel, however, SR 13 takes drastic changes in its quality and capacity. The freeway ends at an uphill junction and the route is defaulted onto Tunnel Road, a much more narrow two-lane road that bends to the west and winds downhill. Upon reaching the foot of the hill, Tunnel Road becomes Ashby Avenue, a markedly urban (and very busy) two-lane street with an east–west routing. Entering Berkeley, UC Berkeley is north on Telegraph Avenue, while Ashby BART station is located at Adeline Street. Past San Pablo Avenue (SR 123), Route 13 (as Ashby Avenue) runs through a more modest neighborhood before reaching its current end at Interstate 80/Interstate 580.

SR 13 is part of the California Freeway and Expressway System,^[3] and is part of the National Highway System,^[4] a network of highways that are considered essential to the country's economy, defense, and mobility by the Federal Highway Administration.^[5] SR 13 is known as the Warren Freeway from Route 24 to Route 580, as named by Assembly Concurrent Resolution 96, Chapter 166 in 1957.^[6]

History

SR 13 was created to accommodate the construction of the Grove-Shafter Freeway, now designated State Route 24. Before the construction of the Grove-Shafter, Ashby Avenue was State Route 24, while the balance of the route of today's Warren Freeway was not a designated state highway. The main thoroughfare through the Montclair District in those days was Mountain Boulevard.

State Route 13 was formed in 1947, from SR 24 to then-US 50 via Warren Boulevard. In the 1964 state highway renumbering, it extended north to I-80 over part of SR 24, and was rerouted on its current routing. Before its designation, it was known as several different legislative route numbers, including 258 from Interstate 580 to present-day SR 61, and 227 from Warren Boulevard to U.S. Route 50. This latter segment was not finished in 1963 and only existed from SR 24 to Joaquin Miller Road. However, the finished portion along Warren Boulevard was commissioned as part of the state highway system in 1947.

The portion of SR 13 between SR 24 and I-80 was known as Sign Route 24; however, it was legislatively designated as Route 206 since 1935. The portion between I-80 and SR 61 was also part of Legislative Route 206 and was commissioned into the state highway system in 1959.^[2]

Route 13 was to have been a freeway bypass of Oakland and Berkeley and would have extended south from its present end to the Nimitz Freeway (Route 880). State law describes an even longer Route 13, which would start further south at Route 61 and end at an unconstructed part of Route 61 west of Emeryville. The latter end would require an interchange over water. However, local resistance to further freeway construction in Oakland prevented the extension. Similar resistance in Berkeley has kept Route 13 from being built as a freeway north of Route 24, hence its role as a surface street.

In August 2004, Caltrans began replacing the median's original metal guardrails with a new wall along the 3.5-mile (5.6 km) stretch of SR 13 between SR 24 and I-580. This allowed road crews to drive street-sweeping vehicles along the shoulders throughout the week, rather than sending people to pick up trash by hand. However, residents frequenting SR 13 have said that the median appears to be filled with fewer trees and bushes than prior to Caltrans construction. These trees once densely lining the median have long supplemented the lush vegetation on both sides of the highway to beautify this scenic route. ^{[ according to whom? ]}

Major intersections

Except where prefixed with a letter, postmiles were measured on the road as it was in 1964, based on the alignment that existed at the time, and do not necessarily reflect current mileage. R reflects a realignment in the route since then, M indicates a second realignment, L refers to an overlap due to a correction or change, and T indicates postmiles classified as temporary (for a full list of prefixes, see California postmile § Official postmile definitions ).^[1] Segments that remain unconstructed or have been relinquished to local control may be omitted. The entire route is in Alameda County.

Location	Postmile ^[1]^[7]^[8]	Exit ^[9]	Destinations	Notes
Oakland	4.26	1A	I-580 east (MacArthur Freeway) – Hayward, Stockton	South end of SR 13; I-580 east exit 26, west exit 26A
		26^[a]	Seminary Avenue
		1B	Mountain Boulevard to I-580 west (MacArthur Freeway) – Downtown Oakland, San Francisco
	5.01– 5.39	1C	Carson Street, Redwood Road	Signed as exit 1 northbound
	6.47	2	Joaquin Miller Road, Lincoln Avenue
	7.40	3	Park Boulevard
	8.30	4	Moraga Avenue, Thornhill Drive
	9.07	5A	Broadway Terrace	Signed as exit 5 southbound
	R9.62	5B	SR 24 east (Grove-Shafter Freeway) – Walnut Creek, Concord	No southbound exit; SR 24 west exits 5A-B
	R9.62	5C	SR 24 west (Grove-Shafter Freeway) – Oakland	Northbound left exit and southbound entrance; SR 24 east exits 4-5
		North end of freeway
			Tunnel Road east to SR 24 – Walnut Creek, Downtown Oakland
Berkeley	11.61		Telegraph Avenue
			Shattuck Avenue
	13.18		SR 123 (San Pablo Avenue) – Albany, Oakland
	13.93		I-80 / I-580 (Eastshore Freeway) – Richmond, Sacramento, San Francisco	Interchange; northbound exit and southbound entrance; north end of SR 13; I-80/I-580 exit 10; I-580 was former SR 17
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi Incomplete access

↑ Exit number follows I-580 rather than SR 13.

Related Research Articles

Interstate 880 (I-880) is a north–south auxiliary Interstate Highway in the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It runs from I-280 and State Route 17 (SR 17) in San Jose to I-80 and I-580 in Oakland, running parallel to the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay. For most of its route, I-880 is officially known as the Nimitz Freeway, after World War II fleet admiral Chester W. Nimitz, who retired to the Bay Area. The northernmost five miles (8.0 km) is also commonly referred to as the Cypress Freeway, after the former alignment of the freeway and its subsequent replacement.

Interstate 580 (I-580) is an approximately 76-mile-long (122 km) east–west auxiliary Interstate Highway in Northern California. The heavily traveled spur route of I-80 runs from US Route 101 (US 101) in San Rafael in the San Francisco Bay Area to I-5 at a point outside the southern city limits of Tracy in the Central Valley. I-580 forms a concurrency with I-80 between Albany and Oakland, the latter of which is the location of the MacArthur Maze interchange immediately east of the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge. I-580 provides a connection from the Bay Area to the southern San Joaquin Valley and Southern California via I-5, as I-5 bypasses the Bay Area to the east.

Interstate 980 (I-980) is a short 2.03-mile (3.27 km) auxiliary Interstate Highway entirely within Oakland in Northern California, connecting I-580 and State Route 24 (SR 24) to I-880 near Downtown Oakland. I-980 passes the Oakland Convention Center and near the famous Jack London Square. I-980 is commonly considered the dividing line between Downtown Oakland and West Oakland. The freeway was planned as the eastern approach to the Southern Crossing. The segment between I-880 and 17th Street is officially known as the John B. Williams Freeway, after the former director of the city of Oakland's Office of Community Development. In addition, I-980 and SR 24 in Oakland are both designated as part of the Grove-Shafter Freeway, after streets the route travels along.

Interstate 680 (I-680) is a north–south auxiliary Interstate Highway in Northern California. It curves around the eastern cities of the San Francisco Bay Area from San Jose to I-80 at Fairfield, bypassing cities along the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay such as Oakland and Richmond while serving others more inland such as Pleasanton and Concord.

Route 710, consisting of the non-contiguous segments of State Route 710 (SR 710) and Interstate 710 (I-710), is a major north–south state highway and auxiliary Interstate Highway in the Los Angeles metropolitan area of the U.S. state of California. Also called the Los Angeles River Freeway prior to November 18, 1954, the highway was initially planned to connect Long Beach and Pasadena, but a gap in the route exists from Alhambra to Pasadena through South Pasadena due to community opposition to its construction.

Route 238, consisting of State Route 238 (SR 238) and Interstate 238 (I-238), is a mostly north–south state and auxiliary Interstate highway in the San Francisco Bay Area of California. The southern segment is signed as SR 238 and is a divided multilane surface highway that runs parallel to the Hayward hills between I-680 in Fremont and I-580 in Castro Valley. The northern segment is signed as I-238 and is a six-lane freeway that runs more east–west between I-580 and I-880 in San Leandro.

State Route 92 is a state highway in the U.S. state of California, serving as a major east-west corridor in the San Francisco Bay Area. From its west end at State Route 1 in Half Moon Bay near the coast, it heads east across the San Francisco Peninsula and the San Mateo–Hayward Bridge to downtown Hayward in the East Bay at its junction with State Route 238 and State Route 185. It has interchanges with three freeways: Interstate 280, U.S. Route 101 in or near San Mateo, and Interstate 880 in Hayward. It also connects indirectly to Interstates 238 and 580 by way of Hayward's Foothill Boulevard, which carries Route 238 and flows directly into Route 92.

State Route 24 is a heavily traveled east–west state highway in the U.S. state of California that serves the eastern side of the San Francisco Bay Area. A freeway throughout its entire length, it runs from the Interstate 580/Interstate 980 interchange in Oakland, and through the Caldecott Tunnel under the Berkeley Hills, to the Interstate 680 junction in Walnut Creek. It lies in Alameda County, where it is highly urban, and Contra Costa County, where it passes through wooded hillsides and suburbs. SR 24 is a major connection between the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge/MacArthur Maze complex and the inland cities of the East Bay.

State Route 82 is a state highway in the U.S. state of California that runs from Interstate 880 (I-880) in San Jose to I-280 in San Francisco following the San Francisco Peninsula. It is the spinal arterial road of the peninsula and runs parallel to the nearby Caltrain line along much of the route. For much of its length, the highway is named El Camino Real and formed part of the historic El Camino Real mission trail. It passes through and near the historic downtowns of many Peninsula cities, including Burlingame, San Mateo, Redwood City, Menlo Park, Palo Alto, Mountain View, Sunnyvale, and Santa Clara, and through some of the most walkable and transit-oriented neighborhoods in the region.

State Route 123 is a 7.39-mile (11.89 km) state highway in the U.S. state of California in the San Francisco Bay Area. Named San Pablo Avenue for almost its entire length except for its northernmost 0.10 miles (0.16 km), SR 123 is a major north–south state highway along the flats of the urban East Bay. Route 123 runs between Interstate 580 in Oakland in the south and Interstate 80 at Cutting Boulevard in Richmond in the north. San Pablo Avenue itself, a portion of Historic US 40, continues well past the SR 123 designation south to Downtown Oakland and north to Crockett.

State Route 84 is a state highway in the U.S. state of California that consists of two unconnected segments, one in the San Francisco Bay Area and the other primarily in the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta area.

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The MacArthur Maze is a large freeway interchange in Oakland, California. It splits traffic coming off the east end of the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge into three freeways: the Eastshore (I-80/I-580), MacArthur (I-580) and Nimitz (I-880).

State Route 17 is a state highway in the U.S. state of California that runs from State Route 1 in Santa Cruz to I-280 and I-880 in San Jose. SR 17, a freeway and expressway, carries substantial commuter and vacation traffic through the Santa Cruz Mountains at Patchen Pass between Santa Cruz and the San Francisco Bay Area.

State Route 262 (SR 262) is a state highway entirely within the Warm Springs District of Fremont, California. It runs along the 1.07-mile (1.72 km) segment of Mission Boulevard between I-880 to the west and I-680 to the east. The route is heavily trafficked, going through a commercial district and containing at least two stop lights.

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Interstate 80 (I-80) is a transcontinental Interstate Highway in the United States, stretching from San Francisco, California, to Teaneck, New Jersey. The segment of I-80 in California runs east from San Francisco across the San Francisco–Oakland Bay Bridge to Oakland, where it turns north and crosses the Carquinez Bridge before turning back northeast through the Sacramento Valley. I-80 then traverses the Sierra Nevada, cresting at Donner Summit, before crossing into the state of Nevada within the Truckee River Canyon. The speed limit is at most 65 mph (105 km/h) along the entire route instead of the state's maximum of 70 mph (110 km/h) as most of the route is in either urban areas or mountainous terrain. I-80 has portions designated as the Eastshore Freeway and Alan S. Hart Freeway.

References

1 2 3 California Department of Transportation. "State Truck Route List". Sacramento: California Department of Transportation. Archived from the original (XLS file) on September 5, 2015. Retrieved June 30, 2015.
1 2 "California Highways: State Route 13". Cahighways.org. Retrieved November 28, 2011.
↑ "Article 2 of Chapter 2 of Division 1". California Streets and Highways Code. Sacramento: California Office of Legislative Counsel. Retrieved February 6, 2019.
↑ Federal Highway Administration (March 25, 2015). National Highway System: San Francisco–Oakland, CA (PDF) (Map). Scale not given. Washington, DC: Federal Highway Administration. Retrieved October 20, 2017.
↑ Natzke, Stefan; Neathery, Mike & Adderly, Kevin (June 20, 2012). "What is the National Highway System?". National Highway System. Washington, DC: Federal Highway Administration. Retrieved July 1, 2012.
↑ 2007 Named Freeways, Highways, Structures and Other Appurtenances in California (PDF). Caltrans. p. 78. Retrieved March 28, 2007.
↑ California Department of Transportation (July 2007). "Log of Bridges on State Highways". Sacramento: California Department of Transportation.
↑ California Department of Transportation, All Traffic Volumes on CSHS Archived July 21, 2011, at the Wayback Machine , 2006
↑ California Department of Transportation, California Numbered Exit Uniform System, State Route 13 Freeway Interchanges, I-580 Eastbound Retrieved on 2009-02-05 (Note: The exit number for Seminary Avenue is used from I-580 mileage, but the number is signed on SR 13).

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[I-580-10] Exit number follows I-580 rather than SR 13.

[trucklist-1] 1 2 3 California Department of Transportation. "State Truck Route List". Sacramento: California Department of Transportation. Archived from the original (XLS file) on September 5, 2015. Retrieved June 30, 2015.

[cah_13-2] 1 2 "California Highways: State Route 13". Cahighways.org. Retrieved November 28, 2011.

[cafes-3] "Article 2 of Chapter 2 of Division 1". California Streets and Highways Code. Sacramento: California Office of Legislative Counsel. Retrieved February 6, 2019.

[fhwa-nhs-4] Federal Highway Administration (March 25, 2015). National Highway System: San Francisco–Oakland, CA (PDF) (Map). Scale not given. Washington, DC: Federal Highway Administration. Retrieved October 20, 2017.

[NHS-FHWA-5] Natzke, Stefan; Neathery, Mike & Adderly, Kevin (June 20, 2012). "What is the National Highway System?". National Highway System. Washington, DC: Federal Highway Administration. Retrieved July 1, 2012.

[6] 2007 Named Freeways, Highways, Structures and Other Appurtenances in California (PDF). Caltrans. p. 78. Retrieved March 28, 2007.

[bridgelog-7] California Department of Transportation (July 2007). "Log of Bridges on State Highways". Sacramento: California Department of Transportation.

[traffic-8] California Department of Transportation, All Traffic Volumes on CSHS Archived July 21, 2011, at the Wayback Machine , 2006

[9] California Department of Transportation, California Numbered Exit Uniform System, State Route 13 Freeway Interchanges, I-580 Eastbound Retrieved on 2009-02-05 (Note: The exit number for Seminary Avenue is used from I-580 mileage, but the number is signed on SR 13).

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