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Former US 101 and CA 1 in San Luis Obispo

Started by Max Rockatansky, July 02, 2021, 06:32:57 PM

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Max Rockatansky

The original alignment of US Route 101 southbound would have seen it transition onto Monterey Street in the City of San Luis Obispo upon descending Cuesta Pass.  US Route 101 would have originally followed Monterey Street, Santa Rosa Street and Higuera Street southward towards Pismo Beach.  Beginning in 1934 US Route 101 was joined by California State Route 1 which entered San Luis Obispo via Santa Rosa Street.  From the intersection of Santa Rosa Street and Monterey Street US Route 101/California State Route 1 would have multiplexed southward towards Pismo Beach via Higuera Street.  In 1948 US Route 101/California State Route 1 were moved to a new four-lane highway which entered San Luis Obispo northbound via Marsh Street.  A freeway bypass of downtown San Luis Obispo was completed in 1954 which saw the emergence of modern US Route 101 and California Route 1in the community. 

https://www.gribblenation.org/2021/07/former-us-route-101-and-california.html


GaryA

It looks to me like the original alignment entering SLO from the north was likely along what is now a gated-off ranch road that Google Maps labels as "Miossi Rd." then what is now Loomis Rd past Cuesta Park, which one can imagine continuing (pre-freeway) as Monterey St into town.  The 1935 county map shows the route staying north of the creek (so does the 1923 city map, as far as it goes), and the current expressway crosses over and back.  Also, what we can see in GSM of the ranch road looks like old-style concrete.

I was a little confused on the 1923 city map where California Blvd appeared to be labelled "To San Francisco", and there's no reasonable connection from there to today's US 101 or any other roadway to the north (except perhaps the coast highway).  I eventually realized that it did indeed say "To San Francisco", but that referred to the railroad line, which did (and still does) exit SLO that direction.

Max Rockatansky

Quote from: GaryA on July 02, 2021, 07:11:30 PM
It looks to me like the original alignment entering SLO from the north was likely along what is now a gated-off ranch road that Google Maps labels as "Miossi Rd." then what is now Loomis Rd past Cuesta Park, which one can imagine continuing (pre-freeway) as Monterey St into town.  The 1935 county map shows the route staying north of the creek (so does the 1923 city map, as far as it goes), and the current expressway crosses over and back.  Also, what we can see in GSM of the ranch road looks like old-style concrete.

I was a little confused on the 1923 city map where California Blvd appeared to be labelled "To San Francisco", and there's no reasonable connection from there to today's US 101 or any other roadway to the north (except perhaps the coast highway).  I eventually realized that it did indeed say "To San Francisco", but that referred to the railroad line, which did (and still does) exit SLO that direction.

Yes, Mossi and pretty much all that slab concrete you are seeing is early US 101.  I tried to avoid anything east of San Luis Obispo Creek given that would probably involve digging through the huge amount of information there is on Cuesta Pass (again).

I did make a custom drawing when I did the Cuesta Pass blog but it was a little further north of Mossi Road where things really get interesting:

X12 Cuesta Map by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

Regarding the Southern Pacific Railroad, that is something that I really need to go out and explore.  There are a ton of tunnels which the line goes through west of the modern highway in Cuesta Pass. 



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