U.S. Route 99

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Image:US 99.svg Image:US 99 (CA).svg
U.S. Route 99
Existed: 1926–1964
South end: U.S./Mexico border in Calexico, CA
North end: U.S./Canada border in Blaine, WA
United States Numbered Highways
List - Bannered - Divided - Replaced

U.S. Route 99 was the main north-south highway on the West Coast of the United States until 1964, running from Calexico, California, on the U.S.-Mexico border to Blaine, Washington, on the U.S.-Canada border. It was a route of the United States Numbered Highways, assigned in 1926 and existing until it was replaced for the most part by Interstate 5. Known also as the "Golden State Highway" and "The Main Street of California," US 99 was an important route in California throughout much of the 1930s as a route for Dust Bowl immigrant farm workers to traverse the state. Large portions are now California's State Route 99, Oregon Route 99, and Washington's State Route 99.

Contents

[edit] Route description

[edit] California

[edit] Mexico to Los Angeles

The highway started at the border with Baja California in Calexico, California. It then continued north along the western shore of the Salton Sea. The stretch is now known as State Route 86. 99 continued along present-day State Route 111 through Coachella to its intersection at Dillon Road with another major US route signed as both US 60 and US 70.

Image:Lebec 1943.jpg
Looking north along US 99 between Lebec and Bakersfield in 1943.

Now overlapped as US 60/70/99, the highway continued north through Indio and turned west through the San Gorgonio Pass toward Los Angeles paralleling the route of modern Interstate 10. In Beaumont, 60 split off on its own westward trek to Los Angeles. The highway through Beaumont (known as Ramsey Street) was bypassed by the new superhighway version of 60/70/99 that would later wear Interstate 10 shields. The edges of the old US 60 shield at the replacement interchange's overhead sign are clearly visible today underneath the State Route 60 shield that covers it up. US 70 ended in downtown LA while 99 turned north once again more or less following the route of today's Interstate 5 (San Fernando Road in the San Fernando Valley before the construction of the 5 Freeway), up and over Grapevine Hill in the Tehachapi Mountains to the San Joaquin Valley. 99's original alignment over the hill was known in its earliest days as the Ridge Route, the first highway directly linking the Los Angeles Basin to the San Joaquin Valley. Built in 1915, the alignment between Castaic and State Route 138 in Gorman is listed on the National Register of Historic Places. This section was bypassed in 1933 by the three-lane "Alternate Ridge Route" (now at the bottom of Pyramid Lake). From the southern tip of the San Joaquin Valley at the foot of the Grapevine, US 99 then continued to Sacramento where it split into two highways, 99E and 99W. The two highways rejoined in Red Bluff and continued once again as US 99 through Oregon, Washington and to the border with British Columbia, becoming Highway 99.

[edit] Los Angeles

When it was first designated in late 1926, US 99 ran with U.S. Route 66 from San Bernardino via Pasadena to Los Angeles, turning north there to San Fernando.[1] The route was signed in 1928. This alignment remained through 1933,[2] but by 1942 it had moved to its own alignment (concurrent with U.S. Route 70, as well as U.S. Route 60 west of Pomona) from San Bernardino to Los Angeles. This alignment used Garvey Avenue from Pomona, turning onto Ramona Boulevard in Alhambra to reach Macy Street (now Cesar E. Chavez Avenue) near downtown Los Angeles. It turned north at Figueroa Street, running through the Figueroa Street Tunnels and turning off at Avenue 26 to reach San Fernando Road.[3][4] When the San Bernardino Freeway, Santa Ana Freeway and Pasadena Freeway were completed, it was routed onto them, continuing to exit at Avenue 26.[5] In 1962, with the completion of the Golden State Freeway northeast of downtown, US 99 was moved onto it, bypassing the Santa Ana Freeway, Four Level Interchange and Figueroa Street Tunnels.

[edit] Los Angeles to Oregon

From Los Angeles, U. S. 99 followed San Fernando Road through Glendale and Burbank to Sylmar. From 1937 to 1964 it shared this routing with U.S. Route 6. It headed up over the "Grapevine" into the San Joaquin Valley. Just north of the route's entry to the valley, Interstate 5 splits off from the route of U. S. 99, and U. S. 99 continued on the current route of State Route 99, to Bakersfield, Fresno, and Sacramento.

Heading north to Sacramento, the route was divided into US 99W and US 99E. US 99W co-routed with old US 40 west to Davis, in city as Cowell blvd. The route continued as 1st st, B st, Russell blvd before turning North on Lake blvd. North of Davis, Lake becomes CR 99 through Woodland to meet and parallel Interstate 5 near the town of Yolo. From there the route paralleled the current I-5 path to Corning where Solano st. connects the North and South approaches, before continuing on to Red Bluff. Most of the old roadway still exists as various county CR-99 designations, the Corning vicinity to Red Bluff section elevated to SR99W status, all of which having been bypassed by the Interstate route.

From Sacramento, US 99E followed Interstate 80 (first the current business route, then the actual route) to Roseville. From Roseville it headed north along State Route 65 to Olivehurst, from where it followed State Route 70 to Marysville. From Marysville it followed State Route 20 across the Feather River to Yuba City. From Yuba City it followed the current State Route 99 north to Red Bluff, where it rejoined 99W at the corners of Main St and Antelope blvd.

From Red Bluff, US 99 continued north along the same route as Interstate 5, except that it went through Redding along present State Route 273, and also followed State Route 263 from Yreka to near Black Mountain.

[edit] Oregon

The former route of U.S. Route 99 in Oregon mostly follows routes currently signed as Oregon Route 99, 99E, and 99W. The primary exception is from the California-Oregon state border north to Ashland, Oregon, where U.S. 99 is currently named Old Highway 99 S from the state border to exit 6 of Interstate 5. The former route is coterminous with Interstate 5 from exit 6 to the junction of Oregon Route 99 in Ashland.

[edit] Washington

Unlike California and Oregon, much of the former route of U.S. Highway 99 in Washington exists as county roads and regular city streets; only the route from Fife, Washington to Everett, Washington still retains the official "99" moniker (as State Route 99). The following is a simplified list of Washington counties and cities that portions of the old route traverse, along with their local names.

To meet Wikipedia's quality standards, this article or section may require cleanup because it is in a list format that may be better presented using prose.
You can help by converting this section to prose, if appropriate. Editing help is available. (August 2007)
Former U.S. Highway 99 Route in Washington (South to North)
Road or Street NameNearest CityCounty
Interstate 5 (to exit 3)VancouverClark
Main StreetVancouverClark
Hazel Dell AvenueVancouverClark
NE 117th StreetVancouverClark
Hwy. 99 NEVancouverClark
NE 134th StreetVancouverClark
NE 29th AvenueVancouverClark
NE 10th AvenueVancouverClark
NE Timmen RoadVancouverClark
NW Pacific Hwy.La CenterClark
Old Pacific Hwy.WoodlandCowlitz
Interstate 5 (from exit 22 to exit 27)KalamaCowlitz
Old Pacific Hwy. SKalamaCowlitz
Kelso Drive (exit 36)KelsoCowlitz
Pacific AvenueKelsoCowlitz
Pleasant Hill RoadKelso, Castle RockCowlitz
Huntington Avenue S (Business Loop 5)Castle RockCowlitz
Old Pacific Hwy. NCastle RockCowlitz
Barnes DriveCastle Rock, ToledoCowlitz, Lewis
State Route 505ToledoLewis
Jackson HighwayToledo, ChehalisLewis
Market Blvd.ChehalisLewis
National AvenueChehalisLewis
Kresky Road (N) / National Avenue (S)ChehalisLewis
Kresky Avenue (N) / S. Gold Street (S)CentraliaLewis
Tower Avenue (N) / S. Pearl Street (S)CentraliaLewis
Main StreetCentraliaLewis
Harrison AvenueCentraliaLewis
Old Hwy. 99Grand Mound, Tenino, TumwaterThurston
Capitol Blvd.TumwaterThurston
Capitol WayOlympiaThurston
4th AvenueOlympiaThurston
Pacific Avenue, Old Pacific Hwy. SEOlympia, LaceyThurston
Martin Way (Bypass of Pacific Ave.Olympia, Lacey, Nisqually Thurston
Interstate 5 (exit 114 to exit 124)DuPontPierce
Pacific Hwy. SWLakewoodPierce
South Tacoma WayLakewood, TacomaPierce
E. 26th St.TacomaPierce
E. G St.TacomaPierce
Puyallup AvenueTacomaPierce
Pacific Hwy. EFifePierce
State Route 99FifePierce
Pacific Hwy S/International Blvd./Tukwilia International Blvd./Aurora Ave. N/SR 99/othersFederal Way, SeaTac, Tukwila, White Center, Seattle, ShorelineKing
SR 99Mountlake Terrace, Lynnwood, Mukilteo, EverettSnohomish
BroadwayEverettSnohomish
Everett AvenueEverettSnohomish
20th Street SEEverettSnohomish
Sunnyside Blvd.Everett, MarysvilleSnohomish
State AvenueMarysvilleSnohomish
Smokey Point BoulevardArlingtonSnohomish
State Route 530ArlingtonSnohomish
Pioneer Highway EArlington, StanwoodSnohomish
Pioneer Highway EConwaySkagit
Conway Frontage RoadConwaySkagit
Old Highway 99 S. RoadMount VernonSkagit
Riverside DriveMount VernonSkagit
S. Burlington Blvd.BurlingtonSkagit
Chuckanut Drive (SR 11)Burlington, BellinghamSkagit, Whatcom
11th StreetBellinghamWhatcom
S. State StreetBellinghamWhatcom
Boulevard StreetBellinghamWhatcom
N. State StreetBellinghamWhatcom
E. Holly StreetBellinghamWhatcom
Prospect AvenueBellinghamWhatcom
DuPont AvenueBellinghamWhatcom
Elm AvenueBellinghamWhatcom
Northwest AvenueBellinghamWhatcom
W. Bakerview RoadBellinghamWhatcom
Pacific Hwy.Bellingham, FerndaleWhatcom
Main StreetFerndaleWhatcom
Riverside DriveFerndaleWhatcom
Barrett RoadFerndaleWhatcom
Vista RoadFerndaleWhatcom
Bay RoadFerndaleWhatcom
Blaine RoadBirch Bay, BlaineWhatcom
Peace Portal DriveBlaineWhatcom
D StreetBlaineWhatcom
12th StreetBlaineWhatcom


[edit] History

An extensive section of this highway (over 600 miles), from approximately Stockton, California to Vancouver, Washington, follows very closely the track of the Siskiyou Trail. The Siskiyou Trail was based on an ancient network of Native American footpaths connecting the Pacific Northwest with California's Central Valley. By the 1820s, trappers from the Hudson's Bay Company were the first non-Native Americans to use the route of U.S. Highway 99 to move between today's Washington state and California. During the second half of the 19th Century, mule train trails, stagecoach roads, and the path of the Central Pacific railroad (later the Southern Pacific railroad) also followed the route of the Siskiyou Trail. By the early 20th Century, pioneering automobile roads were built along the Siskiyou Trail, including most notably the Pacific Highway. The Pacific Highway ran from British Columbia to San Diego, California and is the immediate predecessor of much of U.S. Highway 99.

[edit] Decommissioning

By 1968, US 99 was completely decommissioned with the completion of I-5, but the highway's phasing out actually began July 1, 1964 thanks to the passage of Collier Senate Bill No. 64 on September 20, 1963. The bill launched a major program designed to greatly simplify California's increasingly complicated highway numbering system and eliminate concurrent postings like the aforementioned 60/70/99. The highways that replaced it are:

  • I-10, replacing US 60 and US 70 between Indio and Los Angeles as well.
  • I-5 from north of downtown all the way to its modern-day split in Wheeler Ridge before 99's final decommissioning in 1968.

[edit] State Highway 99

All three states have replaced some portions of US 99 with state highways of the same number:

  • Washington: 50 miles (80 km) of US 99, from Fife to Everett, is now State Route 99. It is mostly a surface-level highway with the exception of the Alaskan Way Viaduct through downtown Seattle.
  • Oregon: Most of former US 99 in Oregon now signed as Oregon Route 99 (OR-99). The route still provides surface-level access to many southern Oregon towns served by I-5. It also provides access to many towns in the Willamette Valley. Between Junction City and Portland, the highway splits into eastern and western routes known as OR-99E and OR-99W, respectively. For significant stretches, OR-99 shares an alignment with I-5. Officially, the highway is signed with both route numbers when this occurs; however, in practice, this is often not the case as the OR-99 designation is dropped in favor of I-5. One notable exception is a stretch of OR-99E that runs between Albany and Salem, where OR-99E is cosigned along the highway.
  • California: The 424 mile (683 km) stretch between Wheeler Ridge and Red Bluff is signed as State Route 99 which makes it California's second-longest state highway behind SR 1.

[edit] See also

[edit] Related routes

[edit] References

  1. ^ American Association of State Highway Officials, United States Numbered Highways, 1927
  2. ^ 1933 Rand McNally Los Angeles and vicinity map
  3. ^ 1942 Gousha Los Angeles and vicinity map
  4. ^ 1943 Los Angeles map
  5. ^ 1959 Los Angeles map

[edit] External links


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Main U.S. Routes
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