CA 150 family of highways; CA 246, CA 154, CA 192 and CA 150

[Max Rockatansky]

I recently visited the CA 150 family of highways while on the way to the Santa Barbra area which includes CA 246, CA 154, CA 192 and of course CA 150.  For those who don't know CA 246, CA 154, CA 192 and CA 150 were all originally signed as CA 150 between Surf east to Santa Paula back in 1934 (I'll get more into the history in the blog series coming up) but mostly splintered off during the 1964 State Highway Renumbering.  For the most part I stuck to a continuous route of what would have been the consolidated CA 150 starting in Lompoc:

CA 246

https://flic.kr/s/aHsmGde7da

Something I noticed that was odd immediately was that CA 246 is still signed through Lompoc and least implies that the highway continues west to Surf.  CA 246 was truncated from Surf back to Lompoc in 1984 but for some reason the signage still remains.  Of interest I did stop at Mission La Purisima which had a ton of El Camino Real information on display at the Mission site.  The route through Solvang is kind of strange and so is the east terminus at CA 154 which is presently configured into a roundabout.


CA 154

https://flic.kr/s/aHsmGeWKxT

I took CA 154 east over San Marcos Pass to US 101 in Santa Barbra (the route of CA 150 split at what is now CA 192).  I did make a side trip on Stage Coach Road (the older highway) to view the Cold Springs Canyon Arch Bridge.  Cold Spring Tavern actually had the old San Marcos Pass sign on display.  There was also a car rally going on headed west on CA 154 which was kind of cool to see.


CA 192

https://flic.kr/s/aHsmGfUiS2

I picked up CA 192 from CA 144 in Santa Barbra.  CA 192 is notable given how weird the highway is, it mostly resembles neighborhood streets rather than a viable through road.  CA 192 has a brief one lane segment over the 1921 Sycamore Canyon Bridge.  There has been some new bridge work and some substantial repairs to CA 192 in Montecito following the 2018 Mud Slides.


CA 150 from CA 192 to CA 33

https://flic.kr/s/aHsmGfXDik

I took CA 150 from CA 192 east to CA 33 via Castias Pass Road.  There is some older bridge work along this highway which kind of blends in well with CA 192, my understanding was that much of the original route of CA 150 was functionally completed in the 1890s.  The view of Lake Castias is nice but it will be interesting to see where the original roadway lies under reservoir.

[Max Rockatansky]

The 1938 State Highway Map below shows CA 150 as it was originally aligned from Surf to Santa Paula:

http://www.davidrumsey.com/ll/thumbnailView.html?startUrl=%2F%2Fwww.davidrumsey.com%2Fluna%2Fservlet%2Fas%2Fsearch%3Fos%3D0%26mid%3DRUMSEY~8~1~239588~5511892%26sort%3DPub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No%26bs%3D10#?c=0&m=0&s=0&cv=0&r=0&xywh=4061%2C9112%2C1044%2C1850

The 1962 State Highway Map shows CA 154 signed between Surf and Santa Barbra.  It is unclear but signage of CA 150 may have been removed from future CA 192.  CAhighways had this change happening in 1957, does anyone have Department of Public Works guide which shows this?

http://www.davidrumsey.com/ll/thumbnailView.html?startUrl=%2F%2Fwww.davidrumsey.com%2Fluna%2Fservlet%2Fas%2Fsearch%3Fos%3D0%26lc%3DRUMSEY~8~1%26mid%3DRUMSEY~8~1~239531~5511854%26bs%3D10#?c=0&m=0&s=0&cv=0&r=0&xywh=4150%2C9339%2C1001%2C1774

By 1964 the modern convention of CA 246, 154, 192 and 150 is seen for the first time:

http://www.davidrumsey.com/ll/thumbnailView.html?startUrl=%2F%2Fwww.davidrumsey.com%2Fluna%2Fservlet%2Fas%2Fsearch%3Fos%3D0%26lc%3DRUMSEY~8~1%26mid%3DRUMSEY~8~1~239525~5511850%26sort%3DPub_List_No_InitialSort%2CPub_Date%2CPub_List_No%2CSeries_No%26bs%3D10#?c=0&m=0&s=0&cv=0&r=0&xywh=4480%2C9266%2C1167%2C2068

[Max Rockatansky]

As noted above CA 246 still singed on multiplex with CA 1 through Lompoc on Ocean Avenue.  Turns out the reason for this is that the official terminus of CA 246 is at the western City Limit of Lompoc at Post Mile SB 8.302 according to the Post Mile Tool.  Granted this is all in the 1984 definition of CA 246 I just never thought it would be so well signed.

IMG_6453 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

Even the first reassurance shield eastbound on CA 246 City Limit:

https://www.google.com/maps/@34.639105,-120.4801967,3a,75y,101.14h,71.66t/data=!3m6!1e1!3m4!1sgzoq8rgPY9DrkNvyWuJROQ!2e0!7i13312!8i6656?hl=en

[mrsman]

As you go around the state, you notice that there are still many other signs and signals that have been around for 50 years or more.  With a directive by the state statutes to leave signage, I am baffled why there is generally so little reassurance signage.  If they simply left the existing signs in place, most would probably still be there (and they are quite helpful).

Kudos to Lompoc for leaving helpful signs and not taking them down.

(IMO, given that 246 no longer goes to Surf, and 246 really ends at the city limits, I don't know why it even extends beyond CA-1)

[Max Rockatansky]

Finished up the blog post on the CA 150 family of highways; CA 246, CA 154, CA 192 and of course CA 150.  In 1934 CA 150 was a continuous route which spanned from Surf east to Santa Paula.  CA 150 began to break apart in 1961 when (possibly even as early as 1957) when the segment between Surf and Santa Barbara became CA 154.  During the 1964 State Highway Renumbering CA 150 was shortened even more when CA 192 was designated.  The CA 150 family of highways have several notable sites of interest; La Purisima Mission on CA 246, San Marcos Pass on CA 154, the one-lane 1921 Sycamore Creek Bridge on CA 192 and Lake Casitas on present CA 150.

https://www.gribblenation.org/2019/08/california-state-route-150-family-of.html

[DTComposer]

Great stuff as always. A couple other notes of interest on CA 154:

-The original San Marcos Pass Road diverged from today's route just south of the pass itself and went down today's San Marcos Road into Goleta. The 1935 Santa Barbara County map shows this as the state highway route from the pass south, then heading east on today's Cathedral Oaks Road to join up with the current CA 192. San Marcos Road between Cathedral Oaks and Hollister Avenue (US-101) is shown as county road, with no state-maintained connections between then-CA-150 and US-101 until today's CA-144 corridor. The current route from the pass south into Santa Barbara was completed by 1938.

-The southernmost section of today's CA-154 was constructed as a Super-2 in the 1960s, with several over/underpasses and a diamond interchange at Cathedral Oaks Road/Foothill Boulevard (CA-192). The ramps from CA-192 onto CA-154 even have the "Freeway Entrance" signs, which aren't usually used in California for such short or non-standard sections of freeway.

[Max Rockatansky]

I wasn't certain on San Marcos Road so I left in vague in the first draft but you're right, it is fairly obvious looking at the 1935 Division of Highways Map.  That alignment would definitely explain why CA 150 was first broken up there, the new Super Two alignment had much more fluidity to continue straight to US 101 hence why CA 154 was created.