The Lincoln Highway, US Route 99 and US Route 50 in Stockton

[Max Rockatansky]

Our latest blog entry covers the history of numerous important highways through the City of Stockton.  The City of Stockton has one of the most storied overland highway corridors in California.  Stockton was a first a major hub of overland road travel following the emergence of the Stockton-Los Angeles Road which came to be due to the 1853 Kern River Gold Rush.  Stockton during the early 20th Century was part of the original 1913 alignment of the Lincoln Highway which was also part of the Inland Route of Legislative Route Number 4.  Upon the emergence of the US Route System in the late 1920s the Lincoln Highway would be realigned via the Carquinez Bridge and US Route 99 would take it's place as the major highway through Stockton.  US Route 99 was briefly split into an East/West route until US Route 50 was extended to Oakland in 1931.  During the 1930s US Route 99 and US Route 50 would be upgraded via major railroad subways on Charter Way and Wilson Way.  The Stockton Bypass opened in 1950 and saw US Route 99 and US Route 50 go through a major realignment which would last into the Interstate era.  US Route 99 was truncated to Oregon in 1965 and was replaced by California State Route 99 in Stockton.  US Route 50 had been approved to be truncated to Sacramento in 1963 but remained signed through Stockton into the early 1970s.

https://www.gribblenation.org/2021/05/the-lincoln-highway-us-route-99-and-us.html

[sparker]

Our latest blog entry covers the history of numerous important highways through the City of Stockton.  The City of Stockton has one of the most storied overland highway corridors in California.  Stockton was a first a major hub of overland road travel following the emergence of the Stockton-Los Angeles Road which came to be due to the 1853 Kern River Gold Rush.  Stockton during the early 20th Century was part of the original 1913 alignment of the Lincoln Highway which was also part of the Inland Route of Legislative Route Number 4.  Upon the emergence of the US Route System in the late 1920s the Lincoln Highway would be realigned via the Carquinez Bridge and US Route 99 would take it's place as the major highway through Stockton.  US Route 99 was briefly split into an East/West route until US Route 50 was extended to Oakland in 1931.  During the 1930s US Route 99 and US Route 50 would be upgraded via major railroad subways on Charter Way and Wilson Way.  The Stockton Bypass opened in 1950 and saw US Route 99 and US Route 50 go through a major realignment which would last into the Interstate era.  US Route 99 was truncated to Oregon in 1965 and was replaced by California State Route 99 in Stockton.  US Route 50 had been approved to be truncated to Sacramento in 1963 but remained signed through Stockton into the early 1970s.

https://www.gribblenation.org/2021/05/the-lincoln-highway-us-route-99-and-us.html

I can verify that US 50 remained signed over present I-580 through Altamont Pass and into Hayward in mid-1971;  my then-wife and I took a trip to the Bay Area right after school let out, and there was extensive construction all the way from Tracy to Dublin; but the section between Dublin and Hayward remained a 4-lane expressway.  I-580 was also under construction from CA 238 north through San Leandro to East Oakland, where the completed segment began.  But US 50 was clearly signed through all the construction zones and co-signed with I-580 along the completed portions.  The following year we took another trip from L.A. to Sacramento to visit my uncle; at the time I-5 temporarily terminated at CA 4/Charter Way in Stockton; at that time the western end of CA 26 west of CA 99 was still signed as US 50, which was also co-signed along CA 99 from Stockton to Sacramento.  By 1976 "Temporary I-5" signage had replaced the US 50 signage along that stretch.   I-580 had been completed from the MacArthur Maze (I-80) east to the CA 238 junction along the Hayward/Castro Valley city line, but the Hayward-Dublin segment was still a combination of 4-lane freeway and expressway due to a local controversy regarding the design and capacity of the freeway (some activists wanted it limited to 6 lanes); that wasn't resolved until about 1982, with construction of the present 580/238 interchange commencing afterward.  But US 50 signage did persist all the way into Oakland until the mid-70's despite its 1964 official truncation to Sacramento.  Of course, that signage was extended west into West Sacramento when I-80 was rerouted over the former I-880 Sacramento bypass at the end of 1982. 

[bing101]

Our latest blog entry covers the history of numerous important highways through the City of Stockton.  The City of Stockton has one of the most storied overland highway corridors in California.  Stockton was a first a major hub of overland road travel following the emergence of the Stockton-Los Angeles Road which came to be due to the 1853 Kern River Gold Rush.  Stockton during the early 20th Century was part of the original 1913 alignment of the Lincoln Highway which was also part of the Inland Route of Legislative Route Number 4.  Upon the emergence of the US Route System in the late 1920s the Lincoln Highway would be realigned via the Carquinez Bridge and US Route 99 would take it's place as the major highway through Stockton.  US Route 99 was briefly split into an East/West route until US Route 50 was extended to Oakland in 1931.  During the 1930s US Route 99 and US Route 50 would be upgraded via major railroad subways on Charter Way and Wilson Way.  The Stockton Bypass opened in 1950 and saw US Route 99 and US Route 50 go through a major realignment which would last into the Interstate era.  US Route 99 was truncated to Oregon in 1965 and was replaced by California State Route 99 in Stockton.  US Route 50 had been approved to be truncated to Sacramento in 1963 but remained signed through Stockton into the early 1970s.

https://www.gribblenation.org/2021/05/the-lincoln-highway-us-route-99-and-us.html

I knew around the time the Carquinez Bridge was opened the Lincoln Highway was co-signed US-40 when the route was realigned from Stockton to Solano County and Contra Costa County because of the direct route from Sacramento to Bay Area. I seen more Historic US-40 signs around Solano County though and in Contra Costa County, Lincoln Highway would be where CA-123 San Pablo ave would be today.

[heynow415]

Our latest blog entry covers the history of numerous important highways through the City of Stockton.  The City of Stockton has one of the most storied overland highway corridors in California.  Stockton was a first a major hub of overland road travel following the emergence of the Stockton-Los Angeles Road which came to be due to the 1853 Kern River Gold Rush.  Stockton during the early 20th Century was part of the original 1913 alignment of the Lincoln Highway which was also part of the Inland Route of Legislative Route Number 4.  Upon the emergence of the US Route System in the late 1920s the Lincoln Highway would be realigned via the Carquinez Bridge and US Route 99 would take it's place as the major highway through Stockton.  US Route 99 was briefly split into an East/West route until US Route 50 was extended to Oakland in 1931.  During the 1930s US Route 99 and US Route 50 would be upgraded via major railroad subways on Charter Way and Wilson Way.  The Stockton Bypass opened in 1950 and saw US Route 99 and US Route 50 go through a major realignment which would last into the Interstate era.  US Route 99 was truncated to Oregon in 1965 and was replaced by California State Route 99 in Stockton.  US Route 50 had been approved to be truncated to Sacramento in 1963 but remained signed through Stockton into the early 1970s.

https://www.gribblenation.org/2021/05/the-lincoln-highway-us-route-99-and-us.html

I can verify that US 50 remained signed over present I-580 through Altamont Pass and into Hayward in mid-1971;  my then-wife and I took a trip to the Bay Area right after school let out, and there was extensive construction all the way from Tracy to Dublin; but the section between Dublin and Hayward remained a 4-lane expressway.  I-580 was also under construction from CA 238 north through San Leandro to East Oakland, where the completed segment began.  But US 50 was clearly signed through all the construction zones and co-signed with I-580 along the completed portions.  The following year we took another trip from L.A. to Sacramento to visit my uncle; at the time I-5 temporarily terminated at CA 4/Charter Way in Stockton; at that time the western end of CA 26 west of CA 99 was still signed as US 50, which was also co-signed along CA 99 from Stockton to Sacramento.  By 1976 "Temporary I-5" signage had replaced the US 50 signage along that stretch.   I-580 had been completed from the MacArthur Maze (I-80) east to the CA 238 junction along the Hayward/Castro Valley city line, but the Hayward-Dublin segment was still a combination of 4-lane freeway and expressway due to a local controversy regarding the design and capacity of the freeway (some activists wanted it limited to 6 lanes); that wasn't resolved until about 1982, with construction of the present 580/238 interchange commencing afterward.  But US 50 signage did persist all the way into Oakland until the mid-70's despite its 1964 official truncation to Sacramento.  Of course, that signage was extended west into West Sacramento when I-80 was rerouted over the former I-880 Sacramento bypass at the end of 1982.

I can remember 50 being signed all the way to the Maze until the mid 70's.  On the MacArthur Freeway section it was co-signed as 50 and 580.  Until the replaced the BGS's through there a few years back the old button copy signs have either a cover:  https://goo.gl/maps/RQUZ48FWQaS8nNax9  or evidence of a sign plate being pried off (four rivet holes):  https://goo.gl/maps/qCsgMi5Ln5XLuWWU9 

The section through Dublin Canyon between Foothill Road and Palomares Road was (re)constructed to its current alignment circa 1976-78.  It was built as a standard 8 lane freeway with a median reservation for a future BART extension, plus a fifth climbing lane from the Dublin side.  Though it was built with four lanes of concrete in each direction, it was initially laid out with two mixed flow lanes (plus the climbing lane), an AC overlay "buffer" strip and then a 24-hour HOV lane.  The thought at the time (based on litigation over the project) was that it was correcting a lot of the curve and lack of shoulder issues of the old US 50 alignment and by keeping it at two mixed-flow lanes in each direction the only capacity increase was for HOV's in the hope it would not spur rapid development of the Tri Valley.  That experiment/folly was removed in the early 80's, "widening" it to its full 8 lanes while the remainder of it through Castro Valley was done during the mid-late 80's.  While I do miss the old meandering US 50 through there (it had a lot of similarities to SR17 over the Santa Cruz mountains) even back then it was becoming a congested blood alley and was not viable as a long term alignment.

[Max Rockatansky]

Our latest blog entry covers the history of numerous important highways through the City of Stockton.  The City of Stockton has one of the most storied overland highway corridors in California.  Stockton was a first a major hub of overland road travel following the emergence of the Stockton-Los Angeles Road which came to be due to the 1853 Kern River Gold Rush.  Stockton during the early 20th Century was part of the original 1913 alignment of the Lincoln Highway which was also part of the Inland Route of Legislative Route Number 4.  Upon the emergence of the US Route System in the late 1920s the Lincoln Highway would be realigned via the Carquinez Bridge and US Route 99 would take it's place as the major highway through Stockton.  US Route 99 was briefly split into an East/West route until US Route 50 was extended to Oakland in 1931.  During the 1930s US Route 99 and US Route 50 would be upgraded via major railroad subways on Charter Way and Wilson Way.  The Stockton Bypass opened in 1950 and saw US Route 99 and US Route 50 go through a major realignment which would last into the Interstate era.  US Route 99 was truncated to Oregon in 1965 and was replaced by California State Route 99 in Stockton.  US Route 50 had been approved to be truncated to Sacramento in 1963 but remained signed through Stockton into the early 1970s.

https://www.gribblenation.org/2021/05/the-lincoln-highway-us-route-99-and-us.html

I knew around the time the Carquinez Bridge was opened the Lincoln Highway was co-signed US-40 when the route was realigned from Stockton to Solano County and Contra Costa County because of the direct route from Sacramento to Bay Area. I seen more Historic US-40 signs around Solano County though and in Contra Costa County, Lincoln Highway would be where CA-123 San Pablo ave would be today.

Actually US 40 initially diverted towards the Benicia-Martinez Ferry and wasn't realigned over the Carquinez Bridge for a couple years:

https://www.gribblenation.org/2019/11/the-original-alignment-of-us-route-40.html?m=1

So essentially those historic US 40 signs ought to also be on Carquinez Scenic Drive. 

[bing101]

Interstate Kyle does a tour of Lincoln Highway in Tracy before it was realigned to Solano County.