Did Fresno ever plan a Herndon Avenue freeway?

[Max Rockatansky]

In off forum Fresno history groups, I keep hearing that the city once proposed converting Herndon Avenue to freeway standards between CA 41 and US 99 during the 1950s or 1960s.  This seems semi-plausible given that nearby by Bakersfield actually converted a couple similar roads to freeway standards in the era. 

So far, I haven't seen anything substantiate Fresno was actually planning on constructing a major east/west freeway on their own.  Herndon Avenue nowadays does meet what design standards for what Caltrans would consider a surface expressway and carries a lot of traffic volume between 41-99.