Pismo Freeway Rock (US 101)

[Max Rockatansky]

I've been seeing a lot of conjecture on Facebook lately about the origin of the "Pismo Freeway Rock."  Said rock is located between the travel lanes of US 101 in Pismo Beach between Exits 191A and 191B.  I took this photo of the formation last month from southbound US 101:

IMG_3752 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

The rock isn't anything new as it has been around since Pismo Beach was founded in 1891.  The formation can be seen along the coast highway in a 1903 sketch of Pismo Beach:

Pismo Freeway Rock 1903 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

The rock also barely appears in a photo of Legislative Route Number 2 through Pismo Beach in the October 1912 California Highway Bulletin:

Pismo Freeway Rock 1912 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

This photo from the November/December 1949 California Highways & Public Works faces northward from the top of the Pismo Freeway Rock towards Shell Beach.  The existing lanes of US Route 101 are shown to have been converted to southbound usage.  The new northbound lanes are shown to have been excavated east of the rock formation. 

Pismo Freeway Rock 1949 by Max Rockatansky, on Flickr

The article details the realignment originating north of downtown Pismo Beach and spanned towards the Shell Beach area.  Through Shell Beach the new highway alignment moved US Route 101 onto a bypass of Shell Beach Road.  The article makes no reference towards a local demand for preservation of the Pismo Freeway Rock (which is the conjecture I'm seeing on Facebook).  The alignment of the northbound lanes appears to have been selected purely to avoid an expensive geographic obstacle.

The California Highways & Public Works article in question can be found below on page 665:

https://archive.org/details/californiahighwa194849calirich/page/42/mode/2up

[Voyager]

I've always loved this feature in the middle of the freeway, but it is interesting how they didn't just route 101 higher on the hill entirely to avoid it (guessing the southbound lanes were the existing alignment?)

[Max Rockatansky]

I've always loved this feature in the middle of the freeway, but it is interesting how they didn't just route 101 higher on the hill entirely to avoid it (guessing the southbound lanes were the existing alignment?)

Yes, the southbound lanes are the original alignment.  I'm sure in 1949 a design like this wasn't considered to be even the slightest bit odd.