CA 197

[Max Rockatansky]

Back during 2014 I drove CA 197 while exploring Northern California.  CA 197 is a 7 mile State Highway aligned on North Bank Road between US 199 and US 101 in Del Norte County.  While CA 197 doesn't carry much historic significance it is a scenic highway which follows the Smith River.  CA 197 was added to the State Highway System in 1933 as Legislative Route 81.  LRN 81 adopted the already existing North Bank Road which even appears on early CSAA State Maps.  Upon being renumbered to CA 197 during 1964 the highway saw one realignment which took it off of what is now Tan Oak Drive:

https://www.gribblenation.org/2020/06/california-state-route-197.html

[sparker]

Much of the traffic on CA 197 consists of Oregon residents going from Brookings, the largest town on the coast south of Coos Bay, to inland Oregon (Grants Pass, Medford, etc.) using US 199 for most of the journey.  But since there's only indirect access from SB US 101 to NB US 199, and vice-versa (there is a cutoff directly north of the wye if one misses the 197 turnoff on either US route), CA 197 bears most of the brunt of the Oregon-to-Oregon traffic flow.  When I was in the process of moving from the Napa area to Portland in 1993, I stopped in Crescent City for breakfast one morning after staying in Arcata overnight.  A CHP officer was sitting in the booth across from me, and we got into a conversation about the area's roads.  He ventured the opinion that according to his "guesstimation" from the level of license plates, that CA 197 traffic was about 75% Oregon-registered vehicles -- and that US 199 north of there was roughly half.  I can't think of another situation near that state line where there would be that level of OR vehicles -- even on the line-hugging CA 161! 

[sparker]

^^^^^^^^^^^
Was curious, so did some checking.  The Medford Costco, the closest such store to Brookings and the coast below Gold Beach, opened in 1991 (since moved up the road to Central Point), so my CHP-guy conversation two years later quite possibly reflected an increase in traffic due to recent coastal customers.  According to the store finder, Oregon Costcos, except for Bend, are located on or near the I-5 corridor; nothing over on the coast as of yet.  Since Costco (and the old Price Club before that) do advertise in areas up to 150 miles from their various sites, Brookings/Gold Beach/etc. customers (along with those in Crescent City) would have likely been well aware of the store and when it opened up. 

[nexus73]

On the US 199 end of SR 197, when you head west to 101, check out the sign with distances.  On it is a HUGE 101 shield.  Talk about totally oversized! 

As for the route itself, 197 is quite scenic.  It looks like a nice place to live.

Rick

[Max Rockatansky]

On the US 199 end of SR 197, when you head west to 101, check out the sign with distances.  On it is a HUGE 101 shield.  Talk about totally oversized! 

As for the route itself, 197 is quite scenic.  It looks like a nice place to live.

Rick

The one on the distance guide sign?  That also has a kind of funky looking design from the looks of it. 

From what I recall most cars on CA 197 had an Oregon plate as described above.  Usually you can tell when someone hasn't driven US 199 because they can't conceptualize how important of a connector route it is.  There really isn't a viable through highway from Coastal Oregon to the corridor for I-5 for quite a long ways north.

[nexus73]

On the US 199 end of SR 197, when you head west to 101, check out the sign with distances.  On it is a HUGE 101 shield.  Talk about totally oversized! 

As for the route itself, 197 is quite scenic.  It looks like a nice place to live.

Rick

The one on the distance guide sign?  That also has a kind of funky looking design from the looks of it. 

From what I recall most cars on CA 197 had an Oregon plate as described above.  Usually you can tell when someone hasn't driven US 199 because they can't conceptualize how important of a connector route it is.  There really isn't a viable through highway from Coastal Oregon to the corridor for I-5 for quite a long ways north.

The next E/W route is SR 42S in Bandon.  Until the new for then (1961) section of US 101 was built, the highway went from Bandon to Coquiile, then on to Coos Bay.  SR 42S is a real blast from the past!

If the road from Agness to I-5 was given a ton of upgrading, then you would have an E/W route from Gold Beach to I-5 near to Grants Pass. Just north of Port Orford, one can take Elk Creek Road east to the Agness-Powers road, so once again if money was no object, then one would have a fine N/S highway from SR 42 just east of Myrtle Point heading to Agness with an E/W connector from Port Orford to that highway.  These projects would really open up Curry County's transportation options. 

Add in moving US 101's routing away from the ocean that it wants to slide into (south of Crescent City and north of Brookings) to make sure N/S travel has fewer chances of being interrupted by landslides.

Rick

[Max Rockatansky]

Updated the blog in the original post with new route photos from October.

[Bickendan]

While more related to the 101 than 197, on the topic of traffic patterns, how much Cali traffic swings into Brookings to shop at Fred Meyer? The stretch of the 101 from the 197 to Brookings would have a good mix of Cali and Oregon drivers.

[Max Rockatansky]

While more related to the 101 than 197, on the topic of traffic patterns, how much Cali traffic swings into Brookings to shop at Fred Meyer? The stretch of the 101 from the 197 to Brookings would have a good mix of Cali and Oregon drivers.

I'd rather shop at a Fred Meyer over a Walmart Super Center (like the one in Crescent City) any day of the week.  Fred Meyer always reminded me of chains like Meijer which don't have the same soulless corporate behemoth of Walmart. 

[heynow415]

On the US 199 end of SR 197, when you head west to 101, check out the sign with distances.  On it is a HUGE 101 shield.  Talk about totally oversized! 

As for the route itself, 197 is quite scenic.  It looks like a nice place to live.

Rick

It looks like it's a separate standard US 101 plate attached to the sign, though it was obviously accounted for when the sign was laid out.  Perhaps they really needed to get a sign up but didn't have any smaller versions or some integral blank material lying around the shop?  As it turns out, that sign has been replaced with a retroreflective one, sometime between 2012 and 2018 based on GSV, with a "normal" sized shield.

[sparker]

On the US 199 end of SR 197, when you head west to 101, check out the sign with distances.  On it is a HUGE 101 shield.  Talk about totally oversized! 

As for the route itself, 197 is quite scenic.  It looks like a nice place to live.

Rick

Scenery-wise, it is a nice place.  Finding work unless you're a prison guard (Pelican Bay, CA's "supermax") might be a bit dicey in Del Norte these days.

While more related to the 101 than 197, on the topic of traffic patterns, how much Cali traffic swings into Brookings to shop at Fred Meyer? The stretch of the 101 from the 197 to Brookings would have a good mix of Cali and Oregon drivers.

I'd rather shop at a Fred Meyer over a Walmart Super Center (like the one in Crescent City) any day of the week.  Fred Meyer always reminded me of chains like Meijer which don't have the same soulless corporate behemoth of Walmart. 

One of the things I miss about living in Portland are Fred Meyer stores; the one at SW Barbur and Terwilliger was right between my home and PSU, so I did a lot of shopping there.  Nice store, very nice personnel, and some product (particularly food items) not seen elsewhere.