The Southern California SR 65

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Proposals are in place to upgrade and realign portions of SR 65 between SR 99 near Bakersfield and SR 198 near Exeter. A Caltrans draft EIR study is posted for the Highway 65 Expressway near Lindsay:

http://www.dot.ca.gov/dist6/environmental/envdocs/d6/sr65_tulare_expressway_sept2012.pdf

State Route 65 is a north-south component of the Tulare County road system and was adopted into the California Highway System in 1933. It is also classified as a National Highway System route that connects State Route 99 in Kern County to State Route 198 east of Visalia in Tulare County. Along the way, as State Route 65 parallels the Sierra Nevada foothills to the east, it links the cities of Porterville, Lindsay, Exeter, Woodlake, Visalia, as well as the communities of Ducor and Terra Bella.

From its beginning at State Route 99 in Kern County, State Route 65 follows a general north-northeast alignment until reaching the project area. After passing Hermosa Avenue in Lindsay, the route turns to west and merges with east-west State Route 137 for about 1.5 miles before turning north again. From State Route 137, existing State Route 65 travels north until ending at State Route 198. State Route 65 north of State Route 137 is also known as Kaweah Avenue or Road 196.

Currently, this segment of State Route 65 passes through the city of Exeter. The proposed realignment would bypass the city and move the route east to parallel the Spruce Avenue (Road 204) alignment. The proposed realignment would cross the Friant-Kern Canal on existing Spruce Avenue (Road 204) and connect with State Route 245 (Road 204) north of State Route 198.

The project corridor parallels the Sierra Nevada foothills east of Exeter where the surrounding landscape is primarily dominated by agriculture. Residences and retail businesses, however, can be found at the beginning of the project in Lindsay and are also scattered along Spruce Avenue (Road 204). Also along Spruce Avenue (Road 204) is the community of Tooleville, several large agriculture-related businesses, a federal wastewater treatment plant, farmhouses, the Friant-Kern Canal, and two railroads.

The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), in cooperation with the Tulare County Association of Governments, proposes to realign State Route 65 in Tulare County from Hermosa Street in Lindsay to State Route 198 northeast of Exeter. The total length of the project would be about 9.3 miles, including about 0.5 mile of transition improvements on State Route 245. The project proposes construction of a two-lane expressway that can be expanded to a four-lane expressway as funding becomes available and traffic volumes increase. The proposed project includes frontage roads, railroad overhead crossings, new bridges, controlled access, and utility relocations. Two build alternatives and a No-Build Alternative are being considered. Both build
alternatives would bypass the city of Exeter and realign State Route 65 to the east, closer to Spruce Avenue (Road 204). Both new alignments would parallel Spruce Avenue (Road 204); segments of Spruce Avenue (Road 204) would become frontage road. The project would be built in four phases as funding becomes available. The phases would begin and end at the same general locations:

Phase 1–Hermosa Street to Avenue 244
Phase 2–Avenue 244 to Avenue 268 (Myer Avenue)
Phase 3–Avenue 268 (Myer Avenue) to Avenue 280 (Rocky Hill Drive)
Phase 4–Avenue 280 (Rocky Hill Drive) to south of Avenue 300 on State Route 245

Under a Memorandum of Agreement with Tulare County, Road 244, Road 268, and Road 280 would be used as a temporary connection between the new alignment and existing State Route 65 until the subsequent phases would be constructed.

A recent article (10/28/2014) indicates that public input for this expressway continues today:
http://www.recorderonline.com/news/lindsay-to-hold-highway-study-session/article_0eb152d8-5ed0-11e4-ad62-0017a43b2370.html

Lindsay City Council will be discussing suggestions for the Caltrans Highway 65 Realignment project that would include a stoplight and rerouting of a portion of the highway.

The Highway 65 Realignment project proposes to realign and upgrade the highway from Bakersfield to the northern extent of Highway 65. From Porterville to the north, just north of Lindmore Street in Lindsay, the Highway 65 would sweep to the west. Staff's suggestion includes a proposed traffic light at the Tulare Road Intersection.

A good map of the proposed realignment of California SR 65 shows up in the Regional Transportation Improvement Plan for Tulare County (http://tularecog.org/DocumentCenter/View/285) on page 6 (Figure 1 project map).