U.S. Highway 50
Looking down from Heavenly resort is this view of Lake Tahoe, looking north toward South Lake Tahoe, Stateline, and the mountains surrounded the north shore of the lake. U.S. 50 winds its way across the southern shore of this beautiful lake. Photo taken 07/22/09.
Routing
U.S. 50 begins its transcontinental journey in West Sacramento, starting together with Business Loop I-80 and Hidden Interstate 305 into California's capital city of Sacramento. U.S. 50 splits away from the business loop freeway near downtown, and it continues as its own freeway from that point east to Placerville, serving the many eastern suburbs of Sacramento. U.S. 50 eventually becomes a two-lane mountain highway, passing through the American River Canyon and passing over Echo Summit before entering Tahoe Valley. The South Shore of Lake Tahoe is served by U.S. 50, and the highway enters Nevada in the shadow of massive casinos at the state line.
History
U.S. 50 no longer exists west of Sacramento; it used to extend all the way to San Francisco. From Sacramento, U.S. 50 used to travel south along a shared alignment with California 99 (then U.S. 99) to Stockton, then turned southwest to Tracy (roughly along the Interstate 205 corridor), then west and northwest via Interstate 580 to Oakland. The final distance into San Francisco via the San Francisco-Oakland Bay Bridge was designated as both U.S. 40 and U.S. 50 until the bridge was renumbered as part of Interstate 80.
Naming
In addition to local street names, portions of U.S. 50 follows a significant portion of the Lincoln Highway through California.
Lincoln Highway: The Lincoln Highway in California (U.S. 40 and U.S. 50) was established in 1913 as the first transcontinental highway in the United States. U.S. 50 carried the Lincoln Highway designation from Oakland to Sacramento (via today's Interstate 580, Interstate 205, and California 99) and took the southern route over the Sierra Nevada via Echo Pass. U.S. 40's segment of Lincoln Highway was shorter in the Golden State, including the route from San Francisco to Oakland and also the Lincoln Highway's northern Sierra Nevada branch between Sacramento and Reno via Donner Pass. Proceeding east across Nevada, the Lincoln Highway follows U.S. 50 from Fallon to Ely, then takes Alternate U.S. 93 north to Wendover, where it rejoins Interstate 80 and U.S. 40 east to Salt Lake City and Silver Creek Junction. While U.S. 40 turns southeast at Silver Creek Junction toward Denver, today's Interstate 80 (previously U.S. 189/U.S. 530 and U.S. 30S) carries the Lincoln Highway east to Granger, Wyoming. From there U.S. 30 generally follows the Lincoln Highway from Granger east to Philadelphia, and U.S. 130 and U.S. 1 take the Lincoln Highway northeast to its eastern terminus in New York City.
Highway Guides
| Historic U.S. 50/Lincoln Highway east (Altamont Pass) |
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Old U.S. 50/Lincoln Highway follows the shadow of massive Interstate 580 closely in some areas and far away from its replacement in other areas. For the most part, U.S. 50 retains the charm of a country road, with ranch access and connections to the wind farms and power plants common on Altamont Pass. Photo taken 08/21/03.
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Several older railroad bridges cross over Altamont Pass, including these bridges on old U.S. 50/Lincoln Highway. Photos taken 08/21/03.
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| Scenes Pertaining to U.S. 50 |
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Business Loop I-80, California 99, and U.S. 50 shields on northbound Stockton Boulevard at the U.S. 50 interchange in Sacramento. Photo taken by Dominic Ielati, 03/00. |
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This U.S. 50 trailblazer shield is posted on southbound 57th Street at Elvas Avenue in Sacramento. Elvas Avenue travels south to 65th Street en route to U.S. 50. Photo taken 12/29/04. |
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Westbound J Street approaches northbound 57th Street and southbound Elvas Avenue in Sacramento. This is a trumpet interchange between J Street and Elvas Avenue, which travels south to 65th Street en route to U.S. 50. Photos taken 12/29/04. |
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Southbound 65th Street approaches S Street and U.S. 50 in Sacramento. Note that the overhead sign for U.S. 50 west is for Business 80 and California 99 but does not list U.S. 50 (except on the freeway entrance signs). Photos taken 12/29/04. |
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U.S. 50 trailblazer shield on 59th Street in Sacramento. Photo taken by Dominic Ielati, 03/01. |
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Northbound Zinfandel Drive approaches the onramp to the westbound U.S. 50 freeway. Photo taken 08/22/03. |
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U.S. 50 freeway entrance shield assembly. Photo taken by Joe Rouse, 03/01. |
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U.S. 50 shield along the mainline freeway. Photo taken by Joe Rouse, 03/01. |
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Southbound Prairie City approaches its junction with U.S. 50/El Dorado Freeway in Folsom. The first right connects to U.S. 50 west to Sacramento, and the second right flies over U.S. 50 to merge onto eastbound U.S. 50 en route to Placerville. Photos taken 06/20/09. |
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This overhead sign and freeway entrance shield assembly are posted along northbound East Bidwell Street in Folsom at the U.S. 50 interchange. Photos taken 01/15/06. |
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This shield assembly erroneous shows an Interstate 50 shield in lieu of a U.S. 50 shield. This mistake has since been corrected with normal U.S. 50 route markers. Photos taken by Joe Rouse, 03/01. |
Page Updated December 5, 2011.
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