CA 222

[Max Rockatansky]

CA 222 is a short State Highway between Ukiah and Talmage that caught my years ago due to it being unsigned with reassurance shields.  CA 222 was originally added to the State Highway System during 1925 as Legislative Route 70.  Legislative Route 70 was intended to be a short connector route from the Redwood Highway (future US 101) in Ukiah east to Mendocino State Hospital in Talmage.  Legislative Route 70 was reassigned as CA 222 during the 1964 State Highway Renumbering and was shortened to it's current length in 1965 when US 101 was moved to a freeway bypass.  In 1972 Mendocino State Hospital was shuttered but CA 222 was never relinquished.  Today CA 222 still terminates in Talmage at what is now the City of Ten Thousand Buddhas.  CA 222 has at least one Post Mile and likely has been retained in the State Highway System due to the Russian River Bridge.

https://www.gribblenation.org/2020/07/california-state-route-222-unsigned.html

[M3100]

Now there's a route that is short and to the point.  That railroad track it crosses is the former Northwestern Pacific, long out of service in that area due to storm damage along the Russian River and Ell River further along.

[jrouse]

I did a project study on Route 222 for my very first project at Caltrans.  Hard to believe that's been over 20 years ago.  I was hired to work in District 3 and the design division was a "regionalized"  function, meaning they also worked on projects in Districts 1 and 2, which, together with District 3, made up the North Region.  I was assigned to work on several projects in Lake and Mendocino County.  That project on 222 was a rehabilitation job and was combined with another rehab of 101 between Ukiah to just south of Hopland.  We made one overnight trip and a couple of day trips to take measurements and evaluate road conditions for our study.  I had never been to that part of California before.  I really enjoyed it.

[sparker]

Now there's a route that is short and to the point.  That railroad track it crosses is the former Northwestern Pacific, long out of service in that area due to storm damage along the Russian River and Ell River further along.

The only reason the old NWP is maintained in Mendocino County as far as Willits is as an outlet for the California Western ("Skunk Train") tourist line between Willits and Fort Bragg on the coast; occasionally RR equipment needs to be hauled out over the old NWP line south to one of the museum shops (either at the Western RR Museum in Solano County or the Niles Canyon facility near Sunol) for repair/rebuild if it can't be done at their Fort Bragg facilities.  With the demise of the extensive lumber mills along the route from Healdsburg to north of Willits, there isn't sufficient revenue to keep the line in regular operation -- but the crossing signals remain active as far north as the vicinity of the CW Willits depot "just in case".