California State Route 178

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

You have new messages (last change).

Route 178

Length:

161 mi (259 km)

Formed:

Major cities:

Bakersfield, CA
Lake Isabella, CA
Ridgecrest, CA

Direction:

East-West

JUNCTION	POSTMILE
SR-99	KER 0.00
SR-204	KER 2.00
SR-184	KER 9.70
SR-155	KER 42.60
SR-14	KER 86.50
SR-14	KER 89.30
US-395	KER 94.10
END	KER 114.70
BEGIN	INY 0.00
CA-127	INY 42.92
CA-127	INY 42.93
California-Nevada State Line Nevada SR-372	INY 62.19
California State Routes Unconstructed - Deleted - Scenic
< Route 177	Route 179 >

State Route 178 is a route that exists in two constructed segments.

The first segment starts at State Route 99 just west of Downtown Bakersfield. The road continues as 24th street, but then splits at B St. utilizing 24th street as its westbound usage, and 23rd St. as its eastbound through the eastern part of Downtown Bakersfield. 178 then becomes a freeway as it departs Bakersfield. The freeway ends about 5 miles east of Downtown and becomes a two-lane conventional highway that ascends the lower Sierra Nevada Mountains on its way to Lake Isabella. Just south of Lake Isabella, the road briefly again becomes a divided limited access freeway, but later converts back to a two lane road at the at-grade junction with Lake Isabella Blvd. The road winds a little bit until it ascends to Walker Pass, an elevation of over 5000 feet. The highway then descends from the mountains to its junction with State Route 14. It then proceeds eastward across US-395 into the town of Ridgecrest, CA. The constructed highway ends at the turnoff for the Trona Pinnacles National Natural Landmark.

The second segment resumes four miles west of Salisberry Pass in the southeasterly part of Death Valley National Park in Inyo County. It then meets up with State Route 127. 178 then branches northward from 127 to the California-Nevada State Line. In Nevada, the roadway continues as State Route 372 ending at State Route 160 near the center of Pahrump in Nye County. Plans to connect the two constructed segments in California are unlikely due to the would-be link's passage through Death Valley National Park.

The segment of California State Route 178 from California State Route 127 to the California-Nevada State Line as well as all of Nevada State Route 372 are both known as the Charles Brown Highway. Charles Brown. a former California State Legislator, was a major proponent for the incorporation of the segment of State Route 178 between State Route 14 and the California-Nevada state line into the California Highway System.