State highways in California

Last updated
I-5 (CA).svg US 101 (CA).svg California 1.svg
Standard route signage in California
California state highways.svg
System information
NotesAll classes of state-numbered highways are generally state-maintained.
Highway names
Interstates Interstate X (I-X)
US Highways U.S. Route X (US X)
State State Route X (SR X)
System links

The state highway system of the U.S. state of California is a network of highways that are owned and maintained by the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans).

Contents

Each highway is assigned a Route (officially State Highway Route [1] [2] ) number in the Streets and Highways Code (Sections 300–635). Most of these are numbered in a statewide system, and are known as State Route X (abbreviated SR X). United States Numbered Highways are labeled US X, and Interstate Highways are Interstate X. Under the code, the state assigns a unique Route X to each highway, and does not differentiate between state, US, or Interstate highways.

The California Highway Patrol (CHP) is tasked with patrolling all state highways to enforce traffic laws. [3]

Overview

Route shield signs at the intersection of SR 123 and SR 13 in Berkeley CA123-CA13.jpg
Route shield signs at the intersection of SR 123 and SR 13 in Berkeley

California's highway system is governed pursuant to Division 1 of the California Streets and Highways Code, which is one of the 29 California Codes enacted by the state legislature. Since July 1 of 1964, the majority of legislative route numbers, those defined in the Streets and Highways Code, match the sign route numbers. For example, Interstate 5 is listed as "Route 5" in the code.

On the other hand, some short routes are instead signed as parts of other routes — for instance, Route 112 and Route 260 are signed as part of the longer State Route 61, and Route 51 is part of Interstate 80 Business.

Concurrences are not explicitly codified in the Streets and Highways Code; such highway segments are listed on only one of the corresponding legislative route numbers — for example, the I-80/I-580 concurrency, known as the Eastshore Freeway, only falls under the Route 80 description in the highway code while the definition of Route 580 is broken into non-contiguous segments.

The state may relinquish segments of highways and turn them over to local control. If the relinquished segment is in the middle of the highway's route, the local jurisdiction is usually required to install and maintain signs directing drivers to the continuation of that highway; they are not generally required to do so if the relinquishment effectively truncates the highway at one end, or is done as part of the process to re-route a highway. The state may also delete a highway completely and turn over an entire state route to local control.

Business routes are not maintained by the state unless they are also assigned legislative route numbers. A route or sections of a route may also be considered unrelinquished - a new alignment has been built, or the legislative definition has changed to omit the section, but the state still owns the roadway — and are officially Route XU. For example, State Route 14U is an old alignment of State Route 14 whose control has not yet been transferred to the City of Santa Clarita.

Some new alignments are considered supplemental [4] and have a suffix of S. For example, an expressway replacement for State Route 86 between approximately three miles north of the Imperial/Riverside County line and Interstate 10 east of Indio was initially signed as State Route 86S until it was eventually transferred to SR 86. Likewise, the freeway replacement for State Route 180 in Fresno was initially referred to as State Route 180S.

History

Counties covered by the Automobile Club of Southern California (red) and California State Automobile Association (blue) ACSC CSAA.svg
Counties covered by the Automobile Club of Southern California (red) and California State Automobile Association (blue)

The first legislative routes were defined by the State Highway Bond Act in 1909, passed by the California State Legislature and signed by Governor James Gillett. These, and later extensions to the system, were numbered sequentially. No signs were erected for these routes.

The United States Numbered Highways were assigned by the American Association of State Highway Officials (AASHO) in November 1926, but posting did not begin in California until January 1928. These were assigned to some of the main legislative routes in California. Initially, signs were posted by the Automobile Club of Southern California (ACSC) and California State Automobile Association (CSAA), which had been active in signing national auto trails and local roads since the mid-1900s.

In 1934, after the major expansion of the state highway system in 1933 by the California Legislature, California sign route numbers were assigned by the California Division of Highways (predecessor to Caltrans). The California sign route numbers were assigned in a geographical system, completely independent of the legislative routes. Odd-numbered routes ran north–south and even-numbered routes ran east–west. The routes were split among southern California (ACSC) and central and northern California (CSAA) as follows:

For instance, State Route 1 and State Route 4 were in central and northern California, and State Route 2 and State Route 3 (since moved) were in southern California. A rough grid was used inside the two regions, with the largest numbers — all less than 200 (except for State Route 740, which was related to State Route 74) - in eastern California (north–south) and near the border between the two regions (east–west).

The Interstate Highway System numbers were assigned by AASHO in late 1959. In 1963 and 1964, a total renumbering of the legislative routes was made, aligning them with the sign routes. Some changes were also made to the sign routes, mostly related to decommissionings of U.S. Routes in favor of Interstates.

Since the 1990s, many non-freeway routes, especially in urban areas, have been deleted and turned over to local control. This transfers the cost of maintaining them from state to local budgets, but also gives local governments direct control over urban arterial roads that carry primarily local traffic. Once transferred, if a local government wants to add landscaping in the center median or install additional traffic lights or other traffic control devices, it can immediately do so itself rather than having to negotiate with Caltrans. Not all cities have been prepared to accept such routes from Caltrans simultaneously, so many have been decommissioned from the state system one fragment at a time. In the case of the San Francisco Bay Area, the Caltrans district responsible for that region is granted permission to retain in the State highway system routes that run on conventional (non freeway or expressway) roadways unless a freeway is built to bypass the surface street route.

Nomenclature in California English

One cultural difference between Northern and Southern Californians is that the latter tend to put the definite article "the" before highway numbers (e.g. "taking the 5 to L.A."), while the former use the number alone (e.g. "taking 80 to San Francisco") or less frequently, with "I-" in the case of interstate freeways. [5] [6] [7] The Southern California usage of the definite article is seen as stereotypical of Southern California "surfer" culture, and has been parodied in the recurring Saturday Night Live sketch "The Californians". [8] When the Southern California freeway system was built in the 1940s and early 1950s, local common usage was primarily the freeway name preceded by the definite article, such as "the Hollywood Freeway". [9] It took several decades for Southern California locals to start to commonly refer to the freeways with the numerical designations, but usage of the definite article persisted. For example, it evolved to "the 605 Freeway" and then shortened to "the 605". [9] This did not occur in Northern California, where usage of the route numbers was more common.

List of routes

The list of routes, as defined in the California Streets and Highways code, is split into the following pages:

Former U.S. Routes In California

California State Route 1 road sign California State Route 1 road sign.jpg
California State Route 1 road sign
U.S. Route 395 looking south at Mono Lake US395MonoLake.jpg
U.S. Route 395 looking south at Mono Lake

See also

Related Research Articles

<span class="mw-page-title-main">U.S. Route 101</span> Numbered U.S. Highway in California, Oregon, and Washington in the United States

U.S. Route 101, or U.S. Highway 101 (US 101), is a north–south United States Numbered Highway that runs through the states of California, Oregon, and Washington, on the West Coast of the United States. It is also known as El Camino Real where its route along the southern and central California coast approximates the commemorative trail which links the Spanish missions, pueblos, and presidios. It merges at some points with California State Route 1 (SR 1).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Interstate 580 (California)</span> Interstate highway in California

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Interstate 980</span> Interstate highway in California

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. It is officially known as the John B. Williams Freeway, after the former director of the city of Oakland's Office of Community Development.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Interstate 280 (California)</span> Interstate highway in California

Interstate 280 (I-280) is a 57.22-mile-long (92.09 km) major north–south auxiliary Interstate Highway in the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It runs from I-680 and US Route 101 (US 101) in San Jose to King and 5th streets in San Francisco, running just to the west of the larger cities of San Francisco Peninsula for most of its route.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Interstate 110 and State Route 110 (California)</span> Interstate and state highway in California

Route 110, consisting of State Route 110 (SR 110) and Interstate 110 (I-110), is a state and auxiliary Interstate Highway in the Los Angeles metropolitan area of the US state of California. The entire route connects San Pedro and the Port of Los Angeles with Downtown Los Angeles and Pasadena. The southern segment from San Pedro to I-10 in downtown Los Angeles is signed as I-110, while the northern segment to Pasadena is signed as SR 110. The entire length of I-110, as well as SR 110 south of the Four Level Interchange with US Route 101 (US 101), is the Harbor Freeway, and SR 110 north from US 101 to Pasadena is the historic Arroyo Seco Parkway, the first freeway in the western United States.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Interstate 710 and State Route 710 (California)</span> Interstate and state highway in California

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Interstate 380 (California)</span> Interstate highway in California

Interstate 380 (I-380) is a short 3.3-mile (5.3 km) east–west auxiliary Interstate Highway in the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California, connecting I-280 in San Bruno to US Route 101 (US 101) near San Francisco International Airport. The highway primarily consists of only three intersections: I-280, State Route 82, and US 101. Like the nearby I-280, I-380 never connects to I-80, its parent Interstate Highway. However, there is no rule that says that spur routes need to.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Ventura Freeway</span> Freeway in Southern California

The Ventura Freeway is a freeway in southern California, United States, running from the Santa Barbara/Ventura county line to Pasadena in Los Angeles County. It is the principal east-west route through Ventura County and in the southern San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County. From the Santa Barbara County line to its intersection with the Hollywood Freeway in the southeastern San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles, it is signed as U.S. Route 101 (US 101), which was built in the late 1950s and opened on April 5, 1960. East of the Hollywood Freeway intersection, it is signed as State Route 134 (SR 134) which was built by 1971.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">California State Route 85</span> Highway in California

State Route 85 is a state highway which connects the cities of southern San Jose and Mountain View in the U.S. State of California. The highway intersects with major highways such as I-280, SR 17, and SR 87. The route serves as a bypass of U.S. Route 101 in the Santa Clara Valley area, running through the foothill cities of Los Gatos, Saratoga, Cupertino, roughly paralleling the Santa Cruz Mountains up to its interchange with I-280.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">California State Route 58</span> Major state highway in California

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, Rosedale Highway, Barstow-Bakersfield Highway, Bakersfield Tehachapi Highway, Kern County Korean War Veterans Memorial Highway, and Mojave-Barstow Highway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">California State Route 13</span> State highway in Alameda County, California, United States

State Route 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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Interstate 238 and State Route 238 (California)</span> Highway in California

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">California State Route 92</span> Highway in California

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.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">California State Route 87</span> Highway in San Jose, California

State Route 87, known as the Guadalupe Freeway or referred to by the locals as Highway 87, is a north–south state highway in San Jose, California, United States. Before being upgraded to a freeway, it was Guadalupe Parkway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Southern California freeways</span> Freeway system

The Southern California freeways are a vast network of interconnected freeways in the megaregion of Southern California, serving a population of 23 million people. The Master Plan of Metropolitan Los Angeles Freeways was adopted by the Regional Planning Commission in 1947 and construction began in the early 1950s. The plan hit opposition and funding limitations in the 1970s, and by 2004, only some 61% of the original planned network had been completed.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Central Freeway</span> Elevated freeway in San Francisco, California, United States

The Central Freeway is a roughly one-mile (1.5 km) elevated freeway in San Francisco, California, United States, connecting the Bayshore/James Lick Freeway with the Hayes Valley neighborhood. Most of the freeway is part of US 101, which exits at Mission Street on the way to the Golden Gate Bridge. The freeway once extended north to Turk Street, and was once proposed to form part of a complete loop around downtown, but was damaged in the 1989 Loma Prieta earthquake and has been replaced with the surface-level Octavia Boulevard north of Market Street.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Interstate 80 Business (Sacramento, California)</span> Interstate Highway business loop in Sacramento, California, United States

Interstate 80 Business, called the Capital City Freeway in its entirety and also known as Business 80, is a business loop of Interstate 80 (I-80) through Sacramento, California, United States. The route is also colloquially referred to as "Cap City Freeway" and "Biz 80". The entire route is a freeway.

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Interstate 10 in California</span> Interstate Highway in California

Interstate 10 (I-10) is a transcontinental Interstate Highway in the United States, stretching from Santa Monica, California to Jacksonville, Florida. The segment of I-10 in California runs east from Santa Monica through Los Angeles, San Bernardino, and Palm Springs before crossing into the state of Arizona. In the Greater Los Angeles area, it is known as the Santa Monica Freeway and the San Bernardino Freeway, linked by a short concurrency on I-5 at the East Los Angeles Interchange. I-10 also has parts designated as the Rosa Parks Freeway and the Sonny Bono Memorial Freeway. Some parts were also formerly designated as the Christopher Columbus Transcontinental Highway. However, the California State Legislature removed this designation following the passage of a bill on August 31, 2022. I-10 is also known colloquially as "the 10" to Southern California residents (See also California English § Freeways).

<span class="mw-page-title-main">Transportation in California</span> Overview of the transport in the State of California

California's transportation system is complex and dynamic. Although known for its car culture and extensive network of freeways and roads, the state also has a vast array of rail, sea, and air transport. Several subway, light rail, and commuter rail networks are found in many of the state's largest population centers. In addition, with the state's location on the West Coast of the United States, several important ports in California handle freight shipments from the Pacific Rim and beyond. A number of airports are also spread out across the state, ranging from small general aviation airports to large international hubs like Los Angeles International Airport and San Francisco International Airport.

References

  1. ↑ California Streets and Highways Code, Section 231
  2. ↑ Caltrans, Other State Highway Routes
  3. ↑ Cal. Sts. & High. Code §§ 2400, 2401.
  4. ↑ Metadata for ST_HWY GIS data layer (PDF)
  5. ↑ Simon, Mark (2000-06-30). "'The' Madness Must Stop Right Now". San Francisco Chronicle . Retrieved 2009-09-22.
  6. ↑ Simon, Mark (2000-07-04). "Local Lingo Keeps 'The' Off Road". San Francisco Chronicle . Retrieved 2009-09-22.
  7. ↑ Simon, Mark (2000-07-29). "S.F. Wants Power, Not The Noise / Brown rejects docking floating plant off city". San Francisco Chronicle . Retrieved 2009-09-22.
  8. ↑ Rose, Joseph (April 16, 2012). "Saturday Night Live's 'The Californians': Traffic's one big soap opera (video)". The Oregonian . Portland, Oregon . Retrieved December 3, 2013.
  9. 1 2 Geyer, Grant (Summer 2001). "'The' Freeway in Southern California". American Speech. 76 (2): 221–224. doi:10.1215/00031283-76-2-221. S2CID   144010897.
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