Un-numbered San Bernardino Freeway segment

[M3100]

There is a segment of the San Bernardino Freeway that connects US 101 and I-5 but is currently unnumbered, AFAIK.  However, OpenStreetMap.org lists the segment as 'CA 10' (California SR 10).

My 1956 Thomas Guide (pre I-5) shows the San Bernardino Freeway as US 60-70-99.  Did this segment lose its numbering when these routes were decommissioned?



The red overlay on the map traces current I-10.

[DTComposer]

Legislatively it is part of Route 10, although heading westbound on that segment you can no longer connect to US-101 South (the ramp was removed in the '70s) and then to the continuation of I-10 West (which is why the red overlay and in-the-field signage directs you onto I-5 South to I-10 West).

For a couple of years after the 1963 re-numbering it was I-110. Not sure if signage existed for that. When that numbering was dropped this section was deleted from the Interstate system (it's pretty substandard freeway), so I guess that's why OpenStreetMap labels it as such. In the field, though, all signs use I-10.

[TheStranger]

From 1965-1968, this segment of what had been 60/70/99 was officially "Interstate 110", with the nearby section of US 101/Santa Ana Freeway between I-5 and the San Bernardino Split as "Interstate 105", As far as I know, neither of those short spurs were ever signed, and were decomissioned in 1968 with the chargeable mileage from both routes being applied to the much more well known I-105 near LAX, the then-new Century Freeway project that was finally completed in the 1990s.

Since 1968, the legislative definition for Route 10 is:

1. Route 1 (Lincoln Boulevard) near the McClure Tunnel in Santa Monica, east to I-5/Route 60/US 101 at the East Los Angeles Interchange
2. US 101 at the San Bernardino Split east to the Arizona state line

Note that "Route 10" and I-10 are not 100% analogous, with I-10 following I-5/Golden State Freeway from the East Los Angeles Interchange to the San Bernardino Freeway.  A similar situtaion exists on paper in SF, where I-80 between US 101/Central Freeway in SF and the Bay Bridge is not officially in the interstate system, having also had its chargeable mileage reassigned as part of the Century Freeway project in 1968.

HOWEVER

In both the 10 spur between 101 and 5, and the non-interstate portion of I-80, in SF - both less than 2 miles long -  both routes are signed fully as interstate in the field.

The signing of modern I-110 (1981-present) along former US 6/Route 11 is partially similar to the above situations (and more reflective of how "interstate" and "US highway" designations do not exist in legislative definitions): the official Interstate designation does not cover the downtown segment of the Harbor Freeway, but in the field the southbound portion from the Four-Level at US 101 all the way to San Pedro has interstate signage, while northbound from San Pedro, interstate signage generally stops at I-10.  I have seen ca. 2016 or so at least one I-110 shield northbound in the downtown segment of the Harbor Freeway, right before the offramp for 6th.

Legislatively it is part of Route 10, although heading westbound on that segment you can no longer connect to US-101 South (the ramp was removed in the '70s) and then to the continuation of I-10 West (which is why the red overlay and in-the-field signage directs you onto I-5 South to I-10 West).

IIRC that ramp from the San Bernardino Freeway west to US 101/Santa Ana Freeway south was removed in 1995 due to damage from the Northridge quake.

[Max Rockatansky]

Shows up in the Post Mile Tool as Route 10S. 

https://postmile.dot.ca.gov/PMQT/PostmileQueryTool.html

[DTComposer]

Shows up in the Post Mile Tool as Route 10S. 

https://postmile.dot.ca.gov/PMQT/PostmileQueryTool.html

I think that 10S is actually the El Monte Busway - in the postmile tool the section in question shows up as Route 10, but with S mileage; while the busway shows up as Route 10S with no prefix on the mileage.

[Max Rockatansky]

The 1964 Division of Highways City Insert as noted above displays I-110:

http://www.davidrumsey.com/ll/thumbnailView.html?startUrl=%2F%2Fwww.davidrumsey.com%2Fluna%2Fservlet%2Fas%2Fsearch%3Fos%3D0%26lc%3DRUMSEY~8~1%26q%3DCALTRANs%201964%26sort%3DPub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No%26bs%3D10#?c=0&m=0&s=0&cv=0&r=0&xywh=2358%2C9649%2C610%2C1006

At some point the Interstate designation appears to have hit a snag as the spur shows up as just Legislative Route 110 on the 1967 Division of Highways City Insert:

http://www.davidrumsey.com/ll/thumbnailView.html?startUrl=%2F%2Fwww.davidrumsey.com%2Fluna%2Fservlet%2Fas%2Fsearch%3Fos%3D0%26bs%3D10%26lc%3DRUMSEY~8~1%26q%3DCALTRANs%25201967%26sort%3DPub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No#?c=0&m=0&s=0&cv=0&r=0&xywh=12525%2C4848%2C634%2C1045

The 1969 Division of Highways City Insert doesn't display a Legislative Route which implies that it was annexed into Route 10:

http://www.davidrumsey.com/ll/thumbnailView.html?startUrl=%2F%2Fwww.davidrumsey.com%2Fluna%2Fservlet%2Fas%2Fsearch%3Fos%3D0%26lc%3DRUMSEY~8~1%26q%3DCALTRANs%201969%26sort%3DPub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No%26bs%3D10#?c=0&m=0&s=0&cv=0&r=0&xywh=12354%2C4648%2C751%2C1237

For what it's worth Daniel has the transfer of 110 to 10 as part of 1968 Legislative Chapter 282:

https://www.cahighways.org/ROUTE110.html

[Max Rockatansky]

Shows up in the Post Mile Tool as Route 10S. 

https://postmile.dot.ca.gov/PMQT/PostmileQueryTool.html

I think that 10S is actually the El Monte Busway - in the postmile tool the section in question shows up as Route 10, but with S mileage; while the busway shows up as Route 10S with no prefix on the mileage.

That appears to be correct, I did the original pull on my cell phone and I see just plain old Route 10 on my computer.  10S as stated appears on the El Monte Busway...which now seems to be something I'll need to do whenever I get to Los Angeles next. 

[Max Rockatansky]

USends has photos of the segment when it was US 60/70/99:

https://www.usends.com/los-angeles.html

I forget the exact year but 99 would have diverged onto the Golden State Freeway at some point and bypassed downtown Los Angeles in addition to the multiplex of US 6/66/CA 11 on the Arroyo Seco Parkway. 

[mrsman]

I know we discussed this before, but while this last section was part of US 60/70/99 in the pre-interstate era, and legislatively it is part of Route 10, it is not the routing of Interstate 10.  To form continuity between the San Bernardino and Santa Monica Freeways, I-10's routing follows the Golden State Freeway between the the SB Split and the E LA interchange.

So what is the section of the SB Fwy between US 101 and I-5?

An historic highway remnant, for sure.  Legislatively defined as part of Route 10 by CA and certainly maintained by Caltrans.  But for all practical purposes it is to be treated as a transition ramp, even though historically it is a highway mainline.  It is a connector ramp between US 101 and I-10.  EB, it is simply signed as I-10 and WB it is simply signed as US 101.  Fortunately, it is a relatively short stretch without any exits so, the transition aspects can be maintained without confusing the general driving public.

The CA-259* freeway in San Bernardino is somewhat similar.  Although this freeway does have a unique number, you will not see the number on any signs that are easy to spot at driver's speeds.  (It may be there on postmiles or the other small white signs that dot the freeway).  NB, it is signed as being to 210 East and SB, it is signed as being to 215 south.  It is a transitional road and it signed as that, even though it does have a unique identity.

In a similar manner the end of the SB Fwy is an unsigned Route 10 that is not part of the route of Interstate 10.  Putting up CA-10 signs would be totally confusing, so it is just referred to as ramps to I-10 east or to US 101 north.


* A personal preference would be to renumber this as the southern extension of CA-18 and to sign it accordingly.  CA-18, the prime route to the Mountain Resorts, is better known than 259 and would then be signed without issue along this stretch.  CA-18 south to I-215 San Bernardino, Los Angeles.  CA-18 north to CA-210 east to Mountain Resorts.

[Max Rockatansky]

Regarding CA 259 it does have in-field Postmile Paddles:

https://flic.kr/p/25kXjtB

I would prefer 259 be signed on the actual freeway.  259 might be short but it has it's own exits which given it a pulse beyond being a simple connector to 210/215. 

[M3100]

WB it is simply signed as US 101

Thanks to all for the commentary.  I drove this segment WB yesterday and saw US 101 on the BGS; I don't recall if there were any signs posted along the side of the road.

[TheStranger]

I forget the exact year but 99 would have diverged onto the Golden State Freeway at some point and bypassed downtown Los Angeles in addition to the multiplex of US 6/66/CA 11 on the Arroyo Seco Parkway. 

I want to say it was somewhere around 1960, certainly by the time this photo was taken:

https://www.aaroads.com/shields/show.php?image=CA19580052

[JustDrive]

Legislatively it is part of Route 10, although heading westbound on that segment you can no longer connect to US-101 South (the ramp was removed in the '70s) and then to the continuation of I-10 West (which is why the red overlay and in-the-field signage directs you onto I-5 South to I-10 West).

IIRC that ramp from the San Bernardino Freeway west to US 101/Santa Ana Freeway south was removed in 1995 due to damage from the Northridge quake.

I always thought that Caltrans removed that ramp because of its redundancy, given the 10-5 interchange to the east. Still, it's one of the most visible ghost ramps in the L.A. area.

[sparker]

I forget the exact year but 99 would have diverged onto the Golden State Freeway at some point and bypassed downtown Los Angeles in addition to the multiplex of US 6/66/CA 11 on the Arroyo Seco Parkway. 

I want to say it was somewhere around 1960, certainly by the time this photo was taken:

https://www.aaroads.com/shields/show.php?image=CA19580052

That pictured stretch of I-5 extended from Boyle Avenue just north of Whittier Blvd. to North Broadway in Lincoln Heights; it was the first section of the Golden State opened south of Glendale.  At that time, US 99/6 was still routed over San Fernando Road southward from Colorado St. in Glendale.  With the change, occurring over New Years' 1959-60, which removed US 99 from its multiplexes with US 66 and US 101 via the 4-Level interchange, US 99 continued south on San Fernando Road adjacent to SP's Taylor Yard rather than its historic left (SE) turn onto Avenue 26 to access US 66 (US 6 still made the turn).  At the split between San Fernando Road (aka Avenue 20 south of there) and Avenue 19, a couplet began; SB US 99 continued south on Avenue 19, converted to one-way southbound, to Albion Street, a block south of North Broadway.  It turned east on Albion to a temporary ramp to SB I-5 just east of Avenue 20.  Northbound, all freeway traffic was removed at the N. Broadway exit; NB US 99 was signed turning left onto Broadway to Avenue 20, then turning right (north) onto Avenue 20 to San Fernando Road, where it veered right, assuming its original alignment past Avenue 26.  This arrangement continued until the late 1962 completion of I-5 between Broadway and Riverside Drive in Atwater Village, co-signed as US 99 until after the '64 renumbering. 

 

[bing101]

There is a segment of the San Bernardino Freeway that connects US 101 and I-5 but is currently unnumbered, AFAIK.  However, OpenStreetMap.org lists the segment as 'CA 10' (California SR 10).

My 1956 Thomas Guide (pre I-5) shows the San Bernardino Freeway as US 60-70-99.  Did this segment lose its numbering when these routes were decommissioned?



The red overlay on the map traces current I-10.

How much of this is that the Santa Monica Freeway was originally going to be signed as the CA-26 freeway prior to becoming I-10 and CA-26 was originally going to connect to the CA-60 Pomona freeway too.

[ClassicHasClass]

Regarding CA 259 it does have in-field Postmile Paddles:

https://flic.kr/p/25kXjtB

I would prefer 259 be signed on the actual freeway.  259 might be short but it has it's own exits which given it a pulse beyond being a simple connector to 210/215.

At one time, it was:

http://www.floodgap.com/roadgap/30-18-259/u1/#sec_52

[mrsman]

There is a segment of the San Bernardino Freeway that connects US 101 and I-5 but is currently unnumbered, AFAIK.  However, OpenStreetMap.org lists the segment as 'CA 10' (California SR 10).

My 1956 Thomas Guide (pre I-5) shows the San Bernardino Freeway as US 60-70-99.  Did this segment lose its numbering when these routes were decommissioned?



The red overlay on the map traces current I-10.

How much of this is that the Santa Monica Freeway was originally going to be signed as the CA-26 freeway prior to becoming I-10 and CA-26 was originally going to connect to the CA-60 Pomona freeway too.

That may have been part of it.  If the Santa Monica Freeway was not going to be part of I-10, then I-10 can certainly be numbered over the un-numbered portion and come to its western end at US 101.  Once the state got interstate funding for the SM Fwy, and decided that it was going to be part of I-10 and not have a distinct number, then the western end of the SB Fwy got orphaned from I-10.

I think the planners liked the idea of having I-10 be a true transcontinental, going from Ocean to Ocean, although on the east end it ends in Downtown Jacksonville, still about 20 miles from the beach.

[Exit58]

Regarding CA 259 it does have in-field Postmile Paddles:

https://flic.kr/p/25kXjtB

I would prefer 259 be signed on the actual freeway.  259 might be short but it has it's own exits which given it a pulse beyond being a simple connector to 210/215.

At one time, it was:

http://www.floodgap.com/roadgap/30-18-259/u1/#sec_52

I remember seeing those out in the field and being intrigued as to what that highway was. Came home to find out it was a just a glorified ramp LOL.

[Max Rockatansky]

Regarding CA 259 it does have in-field Postmile Paddles:

https://flic.kr/p/25kXjtB

I would prefer 259 be signed on the actual freeway.  259 might be short but it has it's own exits which given it a pulse beyond being a simple connector to 210/215.

At one time, it was:

http://www.floodgap.com/roadgap/30-18-259/u1/#sec_52

I remember seeing those out in the field and being intrigued as to what that highway was. Came home to find out it was a just a glorified ramp LOL.

With the topic subject I would agree but not so much with CA 259.  Yes, the route is 1 mile long but given it is has ramps to Highland Avenue it gives it more utility than just being a freeway-to-Freeway connector. 

[sparker]

Regarding CA 259 it does have in-field Postmile Paddles:

https://flic.kr/p/25kXjtB

I would prefer 259 be signed on the actual freeway.  259 might be short but it has it's own exits which given it a pulse beyond being a simple connector to 210/215.

At one time, it was:

http://www.floodgap.com/roadgap/30-18-259/u1/#sec_52

I remember seeing those out in the field and being intrigued as to what that highway was. Came home to find out it was a just a glorified ramp LOL.

With the topic subject I would agree but not so much with CA 259.  Yes, the route is 1 mile long but given it is has ramps to Highland Avenue it gives it more utility than just being a freeway-to-Freeway connector. 

Until the segment of 210 (then CA 30) between I-215 and CA 259 was built in the late 80's, 259's signage from NB 215 cited EB CA 30 and CA 18 (no directionality as per usual for that route).  After that point, there was no reference to CA 18 from I-215 at all.  I didn't see the sparse CA 259 reassurance signage posted until about 2003, so for about fifteen years the only field indication that 259 existed were the paddles plus the bridge-inventory markings.