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Author Topic: SSR 198 pre-expressway alignment in Kings County and Tulare County Alignments  (Read 3456 times)

Max Rockatansky

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I've touched on this a little bit a couple times but I finally got around to scouting out the original route of SSR 198 through downtown Hanford today, so I figure it is time to post a dedicated thread for the route alignment changes in Kings County.  Really the photos from today are just at the West Lacey Blvd/Irwin Street Junction but I do have another album prepared for the entire original route through Kings County that I'll share tomorrow:

https://flic.kr/s/aHskQwg8v5

So basically quoting what I put up in my album the gist of the original route of SSR 198 in Kings County west from Tulare County is as follows:

"The original 1934 alignment westbound followed the modern expressway from the Tulare County line to approximately 7th Avenue. SSR 198 used East Lacey Blvd to reach Hanford, 7th Street west, Irwin Street north to downtown, and west on West Lacey Blvd to exit the city. West of Hanford SSR 198 used West Lacey Blvd and south on 14th Avenue to reach Armona. From downtown Armona SSR 198 took Front Street west to Hanford-Armona Road to exit the city. SSR 198 continued west on Hanford-Armona bypassing Lemoore to the north to reach SSR 41 on 19th 1/2 Avenue. SSR 198 multiplexed SSR 41 south on 19th 1/2 Avenue to Jackson Avenue where it split west over the Kings River to roughly where the old alignment dead ends at the modern CA 198 expressway.

It would appear the above alignment largely stayed the same with the expection of a minor realignment in Hanford on 7th Street to Garner Avenue to reach West Lacey Blvd. It appears that the CA 198 expressway was partially completed west of Lemoore by 1964, with additional segments opened between Lemoore to 10th Avenue in Hanford in 1966, and the full modern alignment by 1967. The modern alignment was gradually improved over the years to almost a full freeway between 7th Avenue and 25th Avenue."

Map Links that show changes to 198:

1935 Kings County Map

http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~247293~5515357:Kings-County-?sort=Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No&qvq=q:california%2Bdivision%2Bof%2Bhighways;sort:Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No;lc:RUMSEY~8~1&mi=35&trs=160

1963 State Highway Map

http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~239528~5511852:State-Highway-Map,-California,-1963?sort=Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No&qvq=q:caltrans;sort:Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No;lc:RUMSEY~8~1&mi=29&trs=86

1966 State Highway Map

http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~239519~5511846:State-Highway-Map,-California,-1966?sort=Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No&qvq=q:caltrans;sort:Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No;lc:RUMSEY~8~1&mi=23&trs=86

1967 State Highway Map

http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~239516~5511844:State-Highway-Map,-California,-1967?sort=Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No&qvq=q:caltrans;sort:Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No;lc:RUMSEY~8~1&mi=21&trs=86

So with that in mind let's take a look at West Lacey Blvd eastbound looking towards Irwin Street:

IMG_4738 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

There is still signage directing you south onto Irwin Street to reach 7th Street and West Lacey:

IMG_4741 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

West Lacey/Irwin junction to the left of the old Fox Theater building:

IMG_4772 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

I did the whole alignment during the whole Parkfield Grade saga in Max's Roads last year.  Really the alignment changes in Kings County are really all over the place and varied.  Kind of strange to see how much the route really has straightened out over the years as expressway/freeway was built.  Really the last mystery I haven't been able to sort out is when/if 198 was realigned to stay west on 7th Street and Garner Avenue to West Lacey.  The original alignment via Irwin Street is very apparent on the 1935 County Map of Kings County.

Edit:  I wasn't planning on it but I took some detours on the way home today and hit the old alignments of 198 in Tulare County.  I'll be uploading photos probably later this afternoon or this evening. 

« Last Edit: March 10, 2017, 02:14:12 PM by Max Rockatansky »
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Max Rockatansky

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Okay before I start the original SSR 198 Tulare County alignment off I really have emphasize that pretty much all my good sources came from NE2 on the following previous thread where it was brought up in discussion:

https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=19493.msg2197887#msg2197887

So with that in mind I'll just borrow my Flickr album narrative to explain all this and start with visualization on the next post:

"The original alignment of SSR 198 wasn't so much in the way substantially different than the modern route when it was plotted out in 1934, but lacked the modern easement of the modern bypass curves.  Most of the CA 198 freeway from CA 99 roughly follows the initial alignment of SSR 198 to Visalia.  The initial 1934 route of SSR 198 in the City of Visalia ran on Main Street east/west into downtown before cutting south on Court Street.  SSR 198 was routed south via Court Street to Mineral King Avenue where it resume heading in an east/west direction.  East out of Visalia to modern CA 65 and CA 245 much of the route of CA 198 freeway/expressway still occupies the general alignment of the original SSR 198 design.

   In 1937 there may have been a change of SSR 198 to take Coyner Street from Main to reach Mineral King Avenue.  A 1940 document seems to suggest that SSR 198 continued east from Court to Bridge Street from which it reached Mineral King Avenue.   At some point in time prior the freeway construction through Visalia it is likely that westbound SSR 198 was shifted onto Center Avenue and eastbound continued one-way on Main Street like the modern traffic configuration does today, but I can't prove it.   Likewise SSR 198 may at some point been one-way south on Locust Avenue to Mineral King Avenue and one-way northbound much like the modern alignment of CA 63 through downtown Visalia.  The freeway alignment of SSR 198 was approved in 1961 and was gradually built over the next couple years with completion in 1965.  There was some variations with sections between 99 and Visalia being an expressway as opposed to the freeway it is today, I'm not sure when it became fully controlled access.

   East of CA 65 and CA 245 (originally SSR 65) the alignment to the Terminus Dam is very much in the same general area but very different than the 1934 alignment.   SSR 198 turned north off the modern CA 198 alignment in Yokohl on Road 220 north, Avenue 312 east, Road 228 north, 7th Avenue/Moffet Drive/Road 236 northeast, and Avenue 324 back to the modern alignment in Lemon Cove.  SSR 198 appears to have zig-zagged through Lemon Cove on Road 244, Pogue Avenue, modern CA 198, Lemon Road, Avenue 330, and modern CA 198 to make it through the town. 
   
   North of Lemon Cove SSR 198 would have passed modern CA 216 likely used Road 248 north, Avenue 338 east, Road 249 north, and Avenue 340 east to reach the site of the modern Terminus Dam.  The alignment I just described is not on the 1935 Tulare County Map but there is a very obvious concrete road bed leading up to the Terminus Dam, The 1938 State Highway Map appears to it however.   At some point SSR 198 may have used Long Drive but I'm not certain if that is the case.  SSR 198 was realigned to the south from 1961 to 1962 due to the construction of the Terminus Dam and opening of the Lake Kaweah Reservoir.

Map References

1934 State Highway Map

http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~239594~5511896:Road-Map-of-the-State-of-California?sort=Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No&qvq=q:caltrans;sort:Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No;lc:RUMSEY~8~1&mi=73&trs=86

1935 Tulare County Map

http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~247377~5515399:Tulare-County-?sort=Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No&qvq=q:california%2Bdivision%2Bof%2Bhighways;sort:Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No;lc:RUMSEY~8~1&mi=75&trs=160

1938 State Highway Map

http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~239588~5511892:Road-Map-of-the-State-of-California?sort=Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No&qvq=q:caltrans;sort:Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No;lc:RUMSEY~8~1&mi=69&trs=86

1961 State Highway Map

http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~239534~5511856:State-Highway-Map,-California,-1961?sort=Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No&qvq=q:caltrans;sort:Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No;lc:RUMSEY~8~1&mi=33&trs=86

1962 State Highway Map

http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~239531~5511854:State-Highway-Map,-California,-1962?sort=Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No&qvq=q:caltrans;sort:Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No;lc:RUMSEY~8~1&mi=31&trs=86

1963 State Highway Map

http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~239528~5511852:State-Highway-Map,-California,-1963?sort=Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No&qvq=q:caltrans;sort:Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No;lc:RUMSEY~8~1&mi=29&trs=86

1964 State Highway Map

http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~239525~5511850:State-Highway-Map,-California,-1964?sort=Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No&qvq=q:caltrans;sort:Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No;lc:RUMSEY~8~1&mi=27&trs=86

1965 State Highway Map

http://www.davidrumsey.com/luna/servlet/detail/RUMSEY~8~1~239522~5511848:State-Highway-Map,-California,-1965?sort=Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No&qvq=q:caltrans;sort:Pub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No;lc:RUMSEY~8~1&mi=25&trs=86


Reference Materials

California Highway and Public Works Document from 1937

http://archive.org/stream/californiahighwa194144calirich#page/n493/mode/2up

1940 Census Map

https://research.archives.gov/id/5823223"


Next post...the actual pics.

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Max Rockatansky

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Starting out....getting to Main Street in Visalia isn't as easy as it probably once was with the one-way frontage roads on the CA 198 freeway:

IMG_4813 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

Looking east on Main Street towards downtown Visalia:

IMG_4815 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

Possibly where 198 may have jogged south to Mineral King Avenue south (right in the pic) on Coyner:

IMG_4816 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

Modern CA 63 uses Locust for southbound traffic, I'm not sure if 198 ever did:

IMG_4819 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

198 definitely used Court originally to jog south to Mineral King Avenue.  That's ironic because Court is now one-way northbound for CA 63:

IMG_4820 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

South on Locust/CA 63, again I'm not sure if 198 ever occupied this or just if it was only Court.  There is no point in taking pictures of Mineral King Avenue since it is largely just one-way westbound only nowadays being reduced to a frontage road of the CA 198 freeway:

IMG_4823 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

East of Visalia 198 would have turned left for northbound Road 220 in Yokohl, the modern route can be seen ahead in the first pic:

IMG_4825 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

IMG_4826 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

Then an eastern turn right on Avenue 312:

IMG_4828 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

IMG_4829 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr
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Max Rockatansky

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Left on Road 228 for a turn northward:

IMG_4830 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

IMG_4831 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

Right on 7th Avenue northeast to Avenue 324:

IMG_4832 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

IMG_4833 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

Right turn and east again on Avenue 324:

https://www.flickr.com/photos/151828809@N08/32523712024/in/album-72157681269408695/

IMG_4835 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

Which runs directly into modern CA 198 where things take a northward turn:

IMG_4837 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

Aside from the zig-zags I described above this has always been CA 198 through downtown Lemon Cove which is basically pretty much close to a ghost town now:

IMG_4839 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

The modern junction with CA 216 which would have been LRN 131 originally:

IMG_4841 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

The turn-off for Road 248, the modern route that was built during the Terminus Dam project is ahead:

IMG_4842 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr
« Last Edit: March 10, 2017, 07:18:40 PM by Max Rockatansky »
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Max Rockatansky

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North on Road 248:

IMG_4843 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

East on Avenue 338:

IMG_4844 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

North on Road 249 where it got clear pretty fast the road had been washed out over the winter:

IMG_4846 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

End of the line at Avenue 340 where the final eastern approach to where the Terminus Dam now is:

IMG_4848 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

That whole really obvious alignment up to the foot of the Terminus Dam can be seen here on Google Maps:

https://www.google.com/maps/@36.4049121,-119.0070449,574m/data=!3m1!1e3?hl=en

SSR 198 would have basically gone through where the Terminus Dam now stands today:

IMG_4849 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

Which has been drowned out by Lake Kaweah, the modern 198 can be seen on the right:

IMG_4853 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

When I get some time I'll load up some pictures from the early Kings County alignment.
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