Former CA 176

[Max Rockatansky]

The fourth route of five yesterday was former CA 176 from Sisquoc west to Santa Maria.  I didn't finish the route from US 101 west to CA 135 since Betteravia Road was packed with traffic.  I did capture the western terminus in the CA 135 album a put together earlier today.  Interestingly my iPhone shows CA 176 as still existing all the way to Sisquoc which I thought was really odd.  Kind of made me wonder where Apple got their map data for the iPhone to display a route that has been deleted since the 1980s.

https://flic.kr/s/aHsmdwN2xJ

[MNHighwayMan]

Interestingly my iPhone shows CA 176 as still existing all the way to Sisquoc which I thought was really odd.  Kind of made me wonder where Apple got their map data for the iPhone to display a route that has been deleted since the 1980s.

In a similar (though less extreme) vein, Google Maps still labels quite a few of the Iowa state routes that were part of the massive 2003 decommissioning. I just don't quite get how that stuff can survive for fifteen years without getting corrected.

[Max Rockatansky]

Interestingly my iPhone shows CA 176 as still existing all the way to Sisquoc which I thought was really odd.  Kind of made me wonder where Apple got their map data for the iPhone to display a route that has been deleted since the 1980s.

In a similar (though less extreme) vein, Google Maps still labels quite a few of the Iowa state routes that were part of the massive 2003 decommissioning. I just don't quite get how that stuff can survive for fifteen years without getting corrected.

There was a lot of confusion in Florida between what was a State Road and what was a County Route.  I noticed at times Google would not have the route status correct if the change was fairly recent.  For the most part the information they have for California is actually better than what is signed in the field.  Signed County Routes are done especially well on Google Maps whereas they are largely lacking of non-existent signage wise in the field these days.

[Max Rockatansky]

Had a couple significant discoveries upon researching maps of CA 176.  The western terminus was at US 101 on Stowell and not Main or Betteravia as has been speculated.  It appears CA 176 was around until at least until 1986 as it still appears on the state highway map until 1988.  LRN 148 appears to have been on the exact same alignment east of US 101 as CA 176 (except for the part where US 101 was shifted to the expressway from Broadway in Santa Maria) as well.

http://surewhynotnow.blogspot.com/2018/04/former-california-state-route-176.html

[sparker]

The US 101 Santa Maria bypass was completed about a year or so prior to the Great Renumbering of '64; as such, the routings were changed while LRN's were still "the law of the land", so to speak.  At that time, SSR 166 from SSR 1/LRN 56 at Guadalupe east to US 101 was part of LRN 148.  When the bypass was completed around the east side of town, LRN 148 was extended east to the bypass, signed as SSR 166, which then turned north to multiplex with US 101/LRN 2 to a point north of town, where it turned east on LRN 57 toward Maricopa.  Prior to then, LRN 148 jogged on Broadway (old US 101, now Biz 101/CA 135) south to Betteravia Road, where it turned east.  The segment from Broadway to the bypass was relinquished when LRN 148/SSR 166 continued east to the new US 101 freeway.  The segment of Betteravia Road east of the US 101 freeway, and the rest of former LRN 148 east to Sisquoc, became the new CA 176; it received signage in late 1968 (about the time that most formerly unsigned state-maintained highways in Santa Barbara County, such as CA 135, 144, 217, 224, and 225 were signed in the field).  The route was eventually relinquished to the county circa 1984, with signage being removed within a couple of years.

[Max Rockatansky]

The US 101 Santa Maria bypass was completed about a year or so prior to the Great Renumbering of '64; as such, the routings were changed while LRN's were still "the law of the land", so to speak.  At that time, SSR 166 from SSR 1/LRN 56 at Guadalupe east to US 101 was part of LRN 148.  When the bypass was completed around the east side of town, LRN 148 was extended east to the bypass, signed as SSR 166, which then turned north to multiplex with US 101/LRN 2 to a point north of town, where it turned east on LRN 57 toward Maricopa.  Prior to then, LRN 148 jogged on Broadway (old US 101, now Biz 101/CA 135) south to Betteravia Road, where it turned east.  The segment from Broadway to the bypass was relinquished when LRN 148/SSR 166 continued east to the new US 101 freeway.  The segment of Betteravia Road east of the US 101 freeway, and the rest of former LRN 148 east to Sisquoc, became the new CA 176; it received signage in late 1968 (about the time that most formerly unsigned state-maintained highways in Santa Barbara County, such as CA 135, 144, 217, 224, and 225 were signed in the field).  The route was eventually relinquished to the county circa 1984, with signage being removed within a couple of years.

1963 to be exact on the bypass of Broadway with US 101.  That's the thing, every single map from 1935 onward shows LRN 148/CA 176 on Stowell and not Betteravia.  Check out the 1935 map and 1982 maps which really provide some decent detail showing the exact same number of jogs in the route to Garey.

https://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~247353~5515387:Santa-Barbara-County-?sort=Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No&qvq=q:california%2Bdivision%2Bof%2Bhighways;sort:Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No;lc:RUMSEY~8~1&mi=66&trs=163

https://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~239494~5511830:California-State-Highways,-December?sort=Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No&qvq=q:caltrans;sort:Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No;lc:RUMSEY~8~1&mi=7&trs=86

The 1935 map in particular shows LRN 148 lining with Stowell.  It appears that Stowell was used since it was where Hancock Field which was the city airport at the time was located.  I found this page showing abandoned airfields in Santa Barbara County which includes maps of where Hancock Field was located which also have some street details.

http://www.airfields-freeman.com/CA/Airfields_CA_SantaBarbara.htm

CA 176 is still displayed on the 1986 Highway Map of California.  It could be an error but it is still strange to see the route so clearly present on a state publication.

https://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~239491~5511828:State-Highway-Map,-1986-?sort=Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No&qvq=q:caltrans;sort:Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No;lc:RUMSEY~8~1&mi=5&trs=86

[sparker]

You're absolutely right; I forgot about the LRN 148/CA 176 alignment being on Stowell, which was and is the next 101 exit north from Betteravia; there was a southward jog on CA 176 south to Betteravia east of US 101.  That whole area -- and the raison d'etre for both Sisquoc and Garey was dominated by sugar-beet production; the Santa Maria Valley Railroad had historically hauled the loads west to the old SP (now UP) main line at Guadalupe for transport north to the Spreckels plant south of Salinas.  Most of the rail cars used to haul the beets were ancient, even by railroad standards, dating from the 1910's and 1920's, so the field-to-Guadalupe function was augmented by trucks.    Production curtailed about the same time (mid-80's) that CA 176 was relinquished; while some fields remain active in the Santa Maria area, most CA sugar beets now come from either the Imperial Valley or the Macdoel-Dorris area along US 97 near the CA/OR state line.

[Max Rockatansky]

You're absolutely right; I forgot about the LRN 148/CA 176 alignment being on Stowell, which was and is the next 101 exit north from Betteravia; there was a southward jog on CA 176 south to Betteravia east of US 101.  That whole area -- and the raison d'etre for both Sisquoc and Garey was dominated by sugar-beet production; the Santa Maria Valley Railroad had historically hauled the loads west to the old SP (now UP) main line at Guadalupe for transport north to the Spreckels plant south of Salinas.  Most of the rail cars used to haul the beets were ancient, even by railroad standards, dating from the 1910's and 1920's, so the field-to-Guadalupe function was augmented by trucks.    Production curtailed about the same time (mid-80's) that CA 176 was relinquished; while some fields remain active in the Santa Maria area, most CA sugar beets now come from either the Imperial Valley or the Macdoel-Dorris area along US 97 near the CA/OR state line.

When I was looking into 176 I more or less found the oil industry started to decline after the 1950s and had a steady down hill run in the ensuing decades.  I never saw any evidence of the route being extended to US 101/CA 154 at any point.  Sisquoc looks as though it has seen better days, I suppose that's what happens when both your primary industries sputter out.

[Max Rockatansky]

Picked up a CA 176 shield from Jake:

Untitled by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

[Quillz]

For the longest time I thought CA-176 continued southeast to CA-154 via Foxen Canyon Road. But it never did. But it sure felt like it should have.