CA-58 and I-40

[Max Rockatansky]

58 to 40 functions as the all-weather outlet for trucks to/from the S.F. Bay Area, Sacramento, and central valley produce.
Some go over Donner Pass (I-80) but it takes more gas going up the hill and there's the risk of delays due to closure.

Agreed, but as many of us (myself included) have stated before, a good consolation for an I-40 extension is to just renumber CA-58 as CA-40 for the sake of continuity.

Yes, I think that it would be a good way to go.

Could be a good way to go. But it's not a route number continuity issue as things stand now, since 58 & 40 do not form a continuous highway mainline at I-15.

And the two routes were never a continuation of the same number.  In pre-freeway days, there were 3 highways going through Barstow:

US 66:  Needles - Barstow - San Bernardino
US 466:  Las Vegas - Barstow - Bakersfield
US 91: Las Vegas - Barstow - San Bernardino

Through town, US 66 followed what you now see on Google Maps as being: "National Trails Highway", the I-40 ROW, and Main Street through central Barstow.  US 466 followed a parallel alignment following "Yermo Rd", the I-15 ROW, and "Old Hwy 58".  The roadway passed through North Barstow.  It was parallel and came within 1/2 mile of US 66, but never intersected with it.  US 91 followed the US 466 routing, turned on 1st Ave, and then turned on Main Street to continue to San Bernardino.

Of course, maps that weren't so fine tuned showed US 466 as following US 66's east-west trajectory to reach Bakersfield, as US 66 turned to the southwest to reach San Bernardino, but there never was any such grand intersection like this.  People would definitely make the connection by using 1st Ave, though, as the family in "Grapes of Wrath" and other "Okies" of course made this connection.

Even in the more modern era, I-40 does not have a direct exit to I-15 north.  So one could not travel from I-40 to old  CA-58 without encountering a stoplight until the modern CA-58 expressway was completed.  Of course now with the modern 58, it's possible and if the rest of 58 were upgraded to a freeway, there would be no problem with extending I-40 to reach I-5.  (With a short multiplex at I-15.)

But there is no rush right now.

Not to go off on subject too much but US 466 is a fascinating weird alignment.  It actually did intersect US 66 but out in Arizona at Beale Street at two different intersections from 1934 to 1969.  In 1934 the route made sense because US 93 had not come south from Glendale Nevada and US 466 was the only US Route over the Hoover Dam....even thought the Hoover Dam was not completed until 1936.  Ironically US 93 was extended over the Hoover Dam also in 1936 leaving US 466 in a huge multiplex with US 91 and US 93 for most it's alignment.  US 93 and US 466 would even end at US 66 until 1965 in Kingman until US 93 was extended to a southern terminus at US 89 near Congress, AZ.  Of course in 1969 California gave US 466 the boot but Arizona did as well which left it completely multiplexed and isolated in Nevada into the early 1970s. 

So basically the current alignment of CA 58 would have made the most sense for US 466 post 1936 even though it wouldn't connect directly to US 66.  It's just amazing to me that so many huge multiplexes and terminus points were allowed to be shared for so long.  You wouldn't ever see anything like this today after the US Route purge in California and current AASHTO policy.

But I digress, since the multiplex with I-15 would be minimal wouldn't be in the interest of Caltrans just to sign the route that way?  Hell they have a million split routes all over the state I'm not sure why a short gap in the route log would upset the system.  Technically Highways like Highway 1 end every time they hit US 101 before another branch start and you have all the CA 190s, CA 65s on top CA 178 routes to show splits exist in the state log book.  Hell I-210 and CA 210 are a good example of an state road eventually being upgraded to an Interstate already in place in California.  The main difference is though that Caltrans can't approval for an I-40 extension to I-5 for whatever reason and they got the go ahead for I-210. 

[TheStranger]

  Hell I-210 and CA 210 are a good example of an state road eventually being upgraded to an Interstate already in place in California.  The main difference is though that Caltrans can't approval for an I-40 extension to I-5 for whatever reason and they got the go ahead for I-210. 

210 as an Interstate east of Route 57 has still yet to be approved (it was submitted in the late 90s).  Interestingly, Route 15 as an interstate south of I-8 in San Diego HAS been approved but has not yet been signed (pending an interchange reconfiguration at Route 94).

[Max Rockatansky]

  Hell I-210 and CA 210 are a good example of an state road eventually being upgraded to an Interstate already in place in California.  The main difference is though that Caltrans can't approval for an I-40 extension to I-5 for whatever reason and they got the go ahead for I-210. 

210 as an Interstate east of Route 57 has still yet to be approved (it was submitted in the late 90s).  Interestingly, Route 15 as an interstate south of I-8 in San Diego HAS been approved but has not yet been signed (pending an interchange reconfiguration at Route 94).

I was under the impression that Caltrans had the okay to put the I-210 signs up once the upgrades were complete?  I haven't been down to San Diego since 2011, they STILL haven't gotten rid of those left side ramps on CA 15?

[mgk920]

The current CA-4 extension in Stockton also included a new right-of-way through a built-up area. The Grand Parkway (SH 99) around Houston also ran through an existing neighborhood with trailer homes.

Interesting, the current Google Maps aerial image shows bridgework for a westward extension of the CA 4 freeway under construction, with that work just ending short of the industrial area there.  How far is CalTrans going with this project and what other details on it are available?

Maybe, just maybe the two 'ends' of the CA 4 freeway will someday connect to each other.



Mike

[DTComposer]

The current CA-4 extension in Stockton also included a new right-of-way through a built-up area. The Grand Parkway (SH 99) around Houston also ran through an existing neighborhood with trailer homes.

Interesting, the current Google Maps aerial image shows bridgework for a westward extension of the CA 4 freeway under construction, with that work just ending short of the industrial area there.  How far is CalTrans going with this project and what other details on it are available?

Maybe, just maybe the two 'ends' of the CA 4 freeway will someday connect to each other.



Mike

It's a very limited project - they're extending the viaduct southwest over the railroad to Navy Avenue and removing the Fresno Avenue ramps, so that trucks accessing the port facilities no longer go through the residential neighborhood. The new terminus at Navy Way will be at-grade, and the design seems to be such that they're not planning for any extension further than that.

So far as I can tell, the project does nothing to facilitate traffic between Stockton and Antioch; Charter Way to/from I-5 will continue to be the route of choice for that.

[jeffe]

There's a map and a computer generated video of the extension available on the Caltrans website here: http://www.dot.ca.gov/dist10/environmental/projects/sr4crosstown/index.html

As DTComposer noted it really won't help traffic between Stockton and Antioch. 

However, Tillie Lewis Drive will be improved and a new traffic signal installed at the intersection with CA 4. So if westbound traffic really wanted to, it could take the new extension to Navy Drive, backtrack east one block and then take Tillie Lewis Drive to CA 4.

As for a further extension west, if the roadway continued on its current heading there's a large artificial pond to be crossed which would require a bridge of about equal length to the viaduct being built now.  Of course, this pond does not seem very deep so a new roadway could simply be built on fill. 

Perhaps a more likely alignment would be to have the roadway head south along the empty land between Army Court and the San Joaquin River.  It could then connect to CA 4 near the current bridge over the river.

[jeffe]

After posting, I realized that talking about the CA-4 extension in Stockton is drifting a bit from the original topic of CA-58 and I-40.  I found this thread which is specifically targeted at the extension: https://www.aaroads.com/forum/index.php?topic=12121