CA 128

[Max Rockatansky]

Recently I had an opportunity to drive the majority of CA 128.  Thai being the case of course CA 128 will start popping up in the Gribblenation blog series.  Between McDonald east to Cloverdale what is now CA 128 was aligned over the original route of US 101.  That being the case I did a blog on that segment as a US 101 feature.  I stumbled upon a notice in a 1953 CHPW which noted CA 28 had been swapped for CA 128 (CA 28 was moved to Lake Tahoe).  What I thought was interesting was that the east terminus of CA 128 is stated to be winters.  I thought that was interesting given that CA 128 essentially terminated at LRN 90 and wasn't carried to another Sign Route:

https://archive.org/details/cavol3132liforniahighwa195253calirich/page/n591/mode/2up?q=Route+128

What gets really interesting is that CA 28 was defined with an east terminus near Davis in 1934.  This appears to have been field signed despite there never being a State Highway connecting Winters to Davis.  This can be seen even on the 1938 Division of Highways Map:

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%25201938%26sort%3DPub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No#?c=0&m=0&s=0&cv=0&r=0&xywh=2662%2C4697%2C911%2C1493

Either way, very strange to find out that CA 128 had a hanging end at it's eastern terminus until I-505 came to be. 

[kkt]

Neat!  I don't think I've ever been on the former CA 128 east of 505.  Looks like it's now Russel Blvd./county route 32.

[Max Rockatansky]

Neat!  I don't think I've ever been on the former CA 128 east of 505.  Looks like it's now Russel Blvd./county route 32.

That's the thing, it seems that 128 was never signed east of Winters but the original 28 was.  That corridor between Winters and Davis has been since been modernized into Yolo County Route E6.  E6 diverges from the Route of what was 28 at Dry Creek it seems. 

[heynow415]

Neat!  I don't think I've ever been on the former CA 128 east of 505.  Looks like it's now Russel Blvd./county route 32.

That's the thing, it seems that 128 was never signed east of Winters but the original 28 was.  That corridor between Winters and Davis has been since been modernized into Yolo County Route E6.  E6 diverges from the Route of what was 28 at Dry Creek it seems.

Yes, Russell/Road 32 is the original Winters-to-Davis road.  Interesting that the State highway map you referenced shows that section as County Road even though it has a 28 shield on top of it.  At the time (ca 1938), US 40 still followed the Lincoln Hwy alignment between Davis and Dixon, going up First St and cutting over to Pedrick Rd to connect with Russell Blvd/Rd 32 and continuing east to Davis which would have made a SR28 tie-in with 40 logical.  Still doesn't explain why 128 got truncated to Winters other than the precursor to 505 was Winters Road to Vacaville and Railroad Avenue to Madison so perhaps when the Dixon-Davis portion of the US 40 "expressway" was built bypassing Pedrick and Russell and LRN 90 was established it was decided to terminate it there??

[Max Rockatansky]

Neat!  I don't think I've ever been on the former CA 128 east of 505.  Looks like it's now Russel Blvd./county route 32.

That's the thing, it seems that 128 was never signed east of Winters but the original 28 was.  That corridor between Winters and Davis has been since been modernized into Yolo County Route E6.  E6 diverges from the Route of what was 28 at Dry Creek it seems.

Yes, Russell/Road 32 is the original Winters-to-Davis road.  Interesting that the State highway map you referenced shows that section as County Road even though it has a 28 shield on top of it.  At the time (ca 1938), US 40 still followed the Lincoln Hwy alignment between Davis and Dixon, going up First St and cutting over to Pedrick Rd to connect with Russell Blvd/Rd 32 and continuing east to Davis which would have made a SR28 tie-in with 40 logical.  Still doesn't explain why 128 got truncated to Winters other than the precursor to 505 was Winters Road to Vacaville and Railroad Avenue to Madison so perhaps when the Dixon-Davis portion of the US 40 "expressway" was built bypassing Pedrick and Russell and LRN 90 was established it was decided to terminate it there??

I'm thinking that is the reason in addition to the State adopting a planned segment of LRN 6 between Winters and Davis in 1959.  Ultimately that never became State Maintained and now is Yolo County Route E6.  I-505 for what it is worth was planned as I-5W which would seemingly make it a fitting terminus for a State Highway. 

[Max Rockatansky]

From the Gribblenation Blog Series:

California State Route 128 is a highly scenic State Highway which traverses; Mendocino County, Sonoma County, Napa County, Solano County and Yolo County from California State Route 1 east to Interstate 505.  California State Route 128 was part of the original California State Route 28 which was designated in 1934.  California State Route 128 was designated in 1953 when the second California State Route 28 was plotted on the north shore of Lake Tahoe.  California State Route 128 originally traversed Berryessa Valley near the community of Monticello but was moved southward onto a new alignment in 1955 during the construction of Monticello Dam.  California State Route 128 is a undervalued scenic corridor which traverses notable landscapes such as; the mouth of the Navarro River, Anderson Valley, the Russian River, Napa Valley, Sage Canyon and Lake Berryessa.

https://www.gribblenation.org/2021/03/california-state-route-128.html

[mrsman]

I find the route of county E6 to be interesting.  It starts out as Russel and then swings north and follows Covell into Davis.  Covell is basically the northern edge of Davis.  Russell is much more of the heart as it forms the northern boundary of the university and then becomes 5th street, the northern border of Downtown Davis.  Driving on Covell, you may not even realize that you are in a college town as it has a very average suburban feel.

Certainly, as one sees from a map, is that Russell between Winters and Davis, is quite a crooked road between Rd 93A and Rd 95, whereas Covell/Rd 31 is straight as an arrow until Rd 93A.  But one would think that they could have bought a right of way to make a more straightened direct road to the heart of Davis.

[heynow415]

I find the route of county E6 to be interesting.  It starts out as Russel and then swings north and follows Covell into Davis.  Covell is basically the northern edge of Davis.  Russell is much more of the heart as it forms the northern boundary of the university and then becomes 5th street, the northern border of Downtown Davis.  Driving on Covell, you may not even realize that you are in a college town as it has a very average suburban feel.

Certainly, as one sees from a map, is that Russell between Winters and Davis, is quite a crooked road between Rd 93A and Rd 95, whereas Covell/Rd 31 is straight as an arrow until Rd 93A.  But one would think that they could have bought a right of way to make a more straightened direct road to the heart of Davis.

Russell coming out of Davis westward was the Lincoln Hwy until it hit Road 98/Pedrick where it turned south towards Dixon; this was also the alignment of US40 until the diagonal expressway alignment that became today's I-80 was constructed in the 40's.  West of Road 98 Russell, like Road 31, was just a farm road towards Winters.  Projected development in that area and the construction of the Monticello Dam and Lake Berryessa, and all the recreation opportunities that went with it, suggested the need for better a better regional road.  In the late 60's Davis was already trying to thwart through traffic with cul-de-sacs and greenbelt parks and encouraging bicycling (yes, it goes back that far).  Coupled with the narrow, two lane railroad underpass between downtown and US40/I-80 (which still exists today) the solution was to create a bypass route around town instead of plowing through it.  The sweeping 93A road was constructed to Road 31/Covell, along with its companion sweeping curve on the east side of Davis that becomes Mace Blvd. circa 1969-70.  With that project and its intent the need to straighten out Russell pretty much went away.

[Max Rockatansky]

I went back and added some CHPWs from the 1920s and 30s pertaining the Mcdonald-to-the-sea-Highway.   Essentially LRN 48 was more or less just an improvement of the Anderson Valley Trail along with a new western terminus on the Navarro River as opposed to Albion. 

[Max Rockatansky]

Blog specific to the Putah Creek Bridge at the bottom of Lake Berryessa:

https://www.gribblenation.org/2024/01/the-putah-creek-bridge-of-monticello.html?m=1

[jdbx]

Blog specific to the Putah Creek Bridge at the bottom of Lake Berryessa:

https://www.gribblenation.org/2024/01/the-putah-creek-bridge-of-monticello.html?m=1

I grew up going to Lake Berryessa with my family frequently, and I remember when the nearby bridge in Capell Cove became visible due to low water during the drought of the early 90's.  I was only about 12 or 13 at the time, and already a young road geek, but seeing that bridge poking above the water really ignited my interest in lost highways.  I started noticing other abandoned right-of-ways and bypassed curves, and the history was fascinating to me. Its part of why I enjoy your blog so much, in fact.

http://lakeberryessanews.com/miscellaneous/whats-under-lake-berryessa.html

[Quillz]

Another example of California renumbering a route at another state's request.

[Max Rockatansky]

The original example.  During the early emergence of the US Route era it was California pushing other states to add highways before they were complete or made sense (US 6 and US 466 come to mind).