Interstate 5 North - Anderson to Shasta Lake

Interstate 5

Sections of Interstate 5 were constructed through the Redding and Shasta Lake vicinity in the mid-1960s. Between 1965 and 1966, I-5 opened from the northern end of Cottonwood (Exit 665) to SR 273 (N Main Street) in northern Redding. The segment between Pine Grove Avenue (Exit 684) and O'Brien (Exit 695) opened to motorists in 1968. Beyond Old Oregon Trail (Exit 687) at Mountain Gate, I-5 was built over historic U.S. 99 to the Pit River (Veterans of Foreign Wars Memorial) Bridge across the Pit River Arm of Shasta Lake.

Originally built in 1941, concurrent with the construction of the Shasta Dam reservoir system1, the Pit River Bridge is a double deck span. Vehicular traffic (I-5) uses the upper deck while a Union Pacific railroad line travels across Shasta Lake on the lower deck.

The Pit River Bridge is also the only one along the Interstate System that is owned by the Federal Government, due to a joint use Maintenance and Operation Agreement with Union Pacific Rail.2 Caltrans, the Federal Highway Administration (FHWA), and the U.S. Bureau of Reclamation (USBR) are collaborating to either rehabilitate or replace the aging span prior to the expiration of the Agreement in 2040.2 Once the Agreement is extinguished, the Federal Government will no longer own the Pit River Bridge.

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References:

  1. Pit River Bridge (Wikipedia), retrieved February 1, 2023.
  2. Pit River Bridge Rehab/Replacement Project (Caltrans District 2 Current Projects), retrieved February 1, 2023.
  3. Path 66 (Wikipedia), retrieved January 29, 2023.
  4. I-5/Deschutes Road NB Off-Ramp (Caltrans Bond Information - https://bondaccountability.dot.ca.gov), retrieved January 29, 2023.
  5. "$65.7 Million Approved for the Redding to Anderson Six-Lane Project on I-5", (Caltrans News Releases), retrieved January 29, 2023.
  6. Sundial Bridge (Turtle Bay Exploration Park), retrieved February 3, 2023.
  7. I-5 Pit River Bridge (bridgehunter.com), retrieved February 1, 2023.

Photo Credits:

Page Updated Friday February 03, 2023.