US 101 Cuesta Grade

[Max Rockatansky]

Recently I visited the Cuesta Grade of US 101 between CA 58 in Santa Margarita south to CA 1 in San Luis Obispo.  I didn't just drive the modern highway but I also explored ruins of the 1910s LRN 2/Old 101 variant of the highway at the button of the Cuesta Grade and drove the 1870s Stagecoach Road.  Stagecoach Road in particular is interesting since it has a 15% peak grade, is a single lane of dirt and provides some outstanding views of modern US 101 descending the Cuesta Grade.  From the top there is a historic marker from which modern US 101 can be seen along side the Padre Trail (this is my album cover photo) of El Camino Real below:

https://flic.kr/s/aHsmGchXGa

[nexus73]

SLO is a nice city that my friend and I spent the night in back in 2013.  We saw how the freeway cut the street running perpendicular to it.  That was by the motel we stayed at.  Close by was a restaurant that served breakfast and on the tables were the largest variety of hot sauces I have ever seen.

When my friend passed through there in 2018, he found out that the restaurant had changed hands and menu.  So passes another unique eatery.

Put another great photo essay in the books Max!

Rick

[Max Rockatansky]

I'm about 80% the way through the blog series on Cuesta Pass.  Part of the blog was mapping out the alignments of transportation corridors through Cuesta Pass which can be seen below:

X12 Cuesta Map by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

Yellow denotes the modern highway, blue denotes the 1912-1915 build of LRN 2/early US 101, red denotes the 1876 Stagecoach Road, Grey denotes the 1894 Southern Pacific Rails and purple denotes the original path of El Camino Real on the Padre Trail.  Thought that I would get the map out early so everyone could see where all the alignments were in relation to each other in Cuesta Pass. 

[Max Rockatansky]

Finished up my blog post regarding my recent visit to US 101 over Cuesta Pass in the Santa Lucia Range and the history of the corridor.  In European times Cuesta Pass would have been used during the first expedition led by Juan Bautista de Anza in 1774.  Cuesta Pass became a popular path of travel due to an overland path of travel on El Camino Real not being possible at the time through the coast region of Big Sur.  Cuesta Pass was used through the Mexican and American periods when a new grade was built in 1876 which is now known as Old Stagecoach Road.  The Southern Pacific completed the present line through Cuesta Pass by 1894 and the first alignment of Legislative Route 2 was completed circa 1912-1915.  By 1923 LRN 2 through Cuesta Pass was paved and the route would become US 101 by late 1926.  In the late 1930s US 101/LRN 2 was realigned on a new expressway grade which has gradually been updated up to modern times with the most recent widening coming in 2004.   What is interesting about Cuesta Pass is that the 1876 Old Stagecoach alignment is still maintained as a public roadway.  From Old Stagecoach Road much of what is left of the 1923 concrete paving can be found along with the original path of El Camino Real.

https://www.gribblenation.org/2019/08/history-of-transportation-in-cuesta.html