Bear Mountain Boulevard | ||||
Route information | ||||
Maintained by Caltrans | ||||
Length | 31.92 mi [1] (51.37 km) | |||
Major junctions | ||||
West end | I-5 near Taft | |||
| ||||
East end | SR 58 near Arvin | |||
Location | ||||
Country | United States | |||
State | California | |||
Counties | Kern | |||
Highway system | ||||
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State Route 223 (SR 223), locally known as Bear Mountain Boulevard, is a state highway in the U.S. state of California that runs west to east through the agricultural land south of Bakersfield in Kern County. Running from Interstate 5 (I-5) to State Route 58 near the city of Arvin, it also intersects with State Route 99 near Greenfield. SR 223 forms a truck route for transporting goods to the three main corridors in the area, I-5, SR 58 and SR 99, without having to drive through Bakersfield.
State Route 223 begins at Interstate 5. From there it travels east through relatively flat agricultural land. It crosses SR 99 and Union Avenue (SR 99 Business). It then crosses Weedpatch Highway (SR 184)/Wheeler Ridge Road, which is the local north-south highway serving the region. Continuing east, it crosses through the only city served by the route, the agricultural community of Arvin. It continues through agricultural land, before reaching the eastern end of the San Joaquin Valley. The terrain changes to rolling hills, as the road climbs the Tehachapi Mountains. The highway terminates at SR 58. [2]
A portion of SR 223 near SR 99 is part of the National Highway System, [3] a network of highways that are considered essential to the country's economy, defense, and mobility by the Federal Highway Administration. [4]
Bear Mountain Boulevard was constructed in 1915, as the bypass to White Wolf Road to the south; the road still exists, but is on private property. It is not known when White Wolf Road was constructed. The road was a part of the Midway Route, which was the most direct route between the San Joaquin Valley and Los Angeles via Tehachapi Pass and the Mojave Desert. After the Ridge Route was constructed in 1915, the Midway Route was still important as the primary bypass to the newly constructed highway. Bear Mountain Boulevard served as part of the Midway Route until 1933, when Bena Road was constructed to provide a more direct connection to Bakersfield. [5] Today, the Midway Route is served by SR 58 and SR 14.
In 1933, Bear Mountain Boulevard was adopted as an unsigned state highway. It was a part of Legislative Route 140, which ran from Taft to US 99 (locally known as Taft Highway), and from US 99 to US 466. The Taft Highway portion was signed as US 399, but the Bear Mountain Boulevard section was unsigned. [6] It was dropped from the route in 1959, and became Legislative Route 264. [7] In 1964, with the renumbering of California’s state routes, Bear Mountain Boulevard became a signed route as SR 223, and was extended west to I-5. [8]
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 ( ). [9] Segments that remain unconstructed or have been relinquished to local control may be omitted. The entire route is in Kern County.
Location | Postmile [9] [1] [10] | Destinations | Notes | ||
---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1.85 | Bear Mountain Boulevard | Continuation beyond I-5 | ||
| 1.85 | I-5 (Westside Freeway) – Sacramento, Los Angeles | Interchange; west end of SR 223; I-5 exit 239 | ||
| 4.86 | Old River Road – Old River | |||
| 8.89 | Wible Road – Pumpkin Center | |||
| R10.54 | SR 99 – Los Angeles, Bakersfield, Sacramento | Interchange; SR 99 exit 13 | ||
| 10.94 | SR 99 Bus. (Union Avenue) – Los Angeles, Greenfield, Bakersfield | Former US 99 | ||
| R16.01 | SR 184 north (Weedpatch Highway) / Wheeler Ridge Road – Lamont | |||
Arvin | 20.15 | Comanche Drive | |||
| 31.92 | SR 58 – Mojave, Bakersfield | East end of SR 223 | ||
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi |
State Route 58 is a major east-west state highway in the U.S. state of California that runs across the Coast Ranges, the southern San Joaquin Valley, the Tehachapi Mountains, which border the southern Sierra Nevada, and the Mojave Desert. It runs between U.S. Route 101 near Santa Margarita and Interstate 15 in Barstow. It has junctions with Interstate 5 near Buttonwillow, State Route 99 in Bakersfield, State Route 202 in Tehachapi, State Route 14 near Mojave, and U.S. Route 395 at Kramer Junction. SR 58 also provides access to Edwards Air Force Base. At various points it is known as the Calf Canyon Highway, Carrisa Highway, Bakersfield-McKittrick Highway, Rosa Parks Highway, Westside Parkway, Barstow-Bakersfield Highway, Bakersfield Tehachapi Highway, Kern County Korean War Veterans Memorial Highway, and Mojave-Barstow Highway.
State Route 46 is an east–west state highway in the U.S. state of California. It is a major crossing of the Coast Ranges and it is the southernmost crossing of the Diablo Range, connecting SR 1 on the Central Coast near Cambria and US 101 in Paso Robles with SR 99 at Famoso in the San Joaquin Valley.
State Route 23 is a state highway in the U.S. state of California that connects the Pacific coast and the Santa Monica Mountains to the Conejo and Santa Clara River valleys. It runs from Pacific Coast Highway in Malibu in Los Angeles County to Ventura Street in Fillmore in Ventura County.
State Route 39 is a state highway in the U.S. state of California that travels through Orange and Los Angeles counties. Its southern terminus is at Pacific Coast Highway, in Huntington Beach. SR 39's northern terminus is at Islip Saddle on Angeles Crest Highway in the Angeles National Forest, but its northernmost 4.5-mile (7.2 km) segment has been closed to public highway traffic since 1978 due to a massive mud and rockslide.
State Route 35, generally known as Skyline Boulevard for most of its length, is a mostly two-lane state highway in the U.S. state of California. It runs along the ridge of the Santa Cruz Mountains from the high point of State Route 17 near Lexington Reservoir in Santa Clara County to State Route 1 just south of Daly City in San Mateo County, where it crosses SR 1 and loops around Lake Merced to become Sloat Boulevard in San Francisco. SR 35 then continues along Sloat Boulevard until it reaches its terminus when it meets SR 1 again at 19th Avenue.
State Route 19 is a state highway in the U.S. state of California, running along Lakewood Boulevard and Rosemead Boulevard in the Los Angeles area. An additional "hidden" state highway, State Route 164, is also signed as part of SR 19, despite having a legal description separate from Route 19. The combined route is a north–south four-to-six lane suburban roadway, lying east of the Long Beach Freeway and west of the San Gabriel River Freeway, and connecting the eastern parts of Long Beach and Pasadena via the Whittier Narrows. Under their legal descriptions, SR 19 runs north to Gallatin Road in Pico Rivera, then SR 164 goes from Gallatin Road to Pasadena. Since 1998, several pieces have been relinquished to local governments, and more transfers are authorized by state law.
State Route 12 is a state highway in the U.S. state of California that travels in an east–west direction from State Route 116 in Sebastopol in Sonoma County to State Route 49 just north of San Andreas in Calaveras County. The route connects the Sonoma and Napa valleys with the Sacramento–San Joaquin River Delta and the Sierra Foothills. It is constructed to freeway standards from the Fulton Road/South Wright Road stoplight in Santa Rosa, to its partial interchange with Farmers Lane.
State Route 33 is a north–south state highway in the U.S. state of California. It runs north from U.S. Route 101 in Ventura through the Transverse Ranges and the western side of the San Joaquin Valley to Interstate 5 at a point east of Tracy. SR 33 replaced part of U.S. Route 399 in 1964 during the "great renumbering" of routes. In the unincorporated sections of Kern County it is known as the West Side Highway. In addition, the California Legislature designated the entire Kern County portion as the Petroleum Highway in 2004. The southernmost portion in Ventura is a freeway known as the Ojai Freeway, while it is known as the Maricopa Highway from Ojai to Maricopa.
State Route 119, named as the Taft Highway along its entire length, is a state highway in the U.S. state of California that runs in an east–west direction from State Route 33 in Taft to State Route 99 in Bakersfield. SR 119 is part of the former U.S. Route 399, which ran along SR 33 and State Route 166 before ending at SR 99. Today, it serves as the main connector between the extreme southwestern corner of the San Joaquin Valley and Bakersfield.
State Route 43 is a north–south state highway in the U.S. State of California, routed along the southern San Joaquin Valley between SR 119 southwest of Bakersfield and SR 99 in Selma. SR 43 runs roughly parallel to SR 99, connecting the towns of Shafter, Wasco, Corcoran, Hanford, and Selma.
State Route 184, locally known as Weedpatch Highway, is a state highway in the U.S. state of California. Located in Kern County, it runs from the intersection of SR 223 and Wheeler Ridge Road near Arvin north to SR 178 in Bakersfield. It is mainly a 2-lane conventional highway, expanding to four lanes in Lamont and Bakersfield. The highway serves local agricultural land south of Bakersfield.
State Route 204 is a state highway in the U.S. state of California that connects SR 58 and SR 99 in the Bakersfield area. Passing through downtown Bakersfield, SR 204 also connects Bakersfield's three major freeways together. Only the northern 1.4 miles (2.3 km) has been built to freeway standards; the rest is a six-lane arterial road.
State Route 65 is a north-south state highway in the U.S. state of California. It is composed of two segments in the Central Valley. The southern segment begins at SR 99, near Bakersfield and terminates at SR 198 near Exeter. It also serves the communities of Oildale, Ducor, Terra Bella, Porterville, Strathmore, and Lindsay. The northern segment begins at Interstate 80 in Roseville and terminates at SR 70 at Olivehurst. It also serves the communities of Rocklin, Lincoln, and Wheatland.
State Route 104 is a west–east state highway in the U.S. state of California that runs from the Central Valley to the Sierra Foothills. It connects State Route 99 near Galt to State Route 49 in Sutter Creek via the city of Ione. It is known as Twin Cities Road from its western terminus up until just before Ione. West of the SR 104/SR 99 interchange, Twin Cities Road continues to Interstate 5 and then eventually end at State Route 160 north of Walnut Grove.
State Route 136 is a state highway in the U.S. state of California, running along the northern edge of Owens Lake in Inyo County from U.S. Route 395 in Lone Pine to State Route 190.
State Route 229 is a state highway in the U.S. state of California, running in San Luis Obispo County from State Route 58 to State Route 41. It connects the small community of Creston with the rural state routes. Also, in conjunction with SR 58 and SR 41, it provides a slower, more scenic route between the Central Coast and the San Joaquin Valley.
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