California State Route 152

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State Route 152

(CS&HC Section 452)

Length:

105 mi^[1] (168.98 km)

West end:

SR 1 in Watsonville

Major
junctions:

US 101 in Gilroy

SR 33 near San Luis Dam

I-5 near Los Banos

SR 165 in Los Banos

SR 59

SR 233 near Chowchilla

East end:

SR 99 near Chowchilla

Major cities:

Watsonville
Gilroy
Los Banos
Chowchilla

California State Routes
< SR 151		SR 153 >
Unconstructed - Deleted - Freeway - Scenic

State Route 152 is a state highway that runs near the latitudinal middle of the U.S. state of California from Watsonville to Route 99 southeast of Merced. Its western portion provides the best access to and from Interstate 5 toward southern California for motorists in or near San Jose.

1 Route description
2 Safety
3 History
4 References
5 State law
6 Additional landmarks
7 External links

[edit] Route description

Route 152 begins near Route 1 as a series of local streets that run through downtown Watsonville, after which it becomes a winding two-lane highway that crosses the Santa Cruz Mountains through the Hecker Pass to reach Gilroy where it is again carried on a series of local streets. It is then duplexed onto to North/South U.S. Route 101 for a small stretch before it separates and returns to heading West/East again.

After exiting the large commercial developments near US-101, Route 152 consists of a single lane in each direction, with narrow shoulders, rain ditches on either side of the road, no center dividers, and posted speed limit of 55 mph, making it prone to head-on collisions. Headlights are required at all times along this portion. This segment is a significant bottleneck for traffic traveling along Route 152 between the Bay Area and the Central Valley. Upon reaching Route 156 near Hollister, the road expands to two lanes in each direction, and climbs and curves and through the mountains of the Diablo Range, crossing them through the Pacheco Pass into the San Joaquin Valley.

Route 152 continues as a four-lane divided expressway, descending downward along the northern and eastern shore of the massive San Luis Reservoir. The route passes in between the San Luis Dam and the O'Neill Forebay. The route continues east and passes a large Path 15 substation and then meets Interstate 5 as an expressway. It becomes a speed-limited city street while passing through Los Banos before returning to an expressway until its junction with Route 99. Here, eastbound 152 traffic is dumped on to southbound 99 a few miles north of the city of Madera, and approximately 25 miles north of Fresno. Motorists wishing to travel north on Route 99 are advised to take Route 233 north to connect to northbound 99.

Westbound 152 between the San Luis Dam, the San Luis Reservoir (both not visible, but on the left) and the O'Neill Forebay (right). The power line to the right starts from a Path 15 substation heads westward to the Gianelli Powerhouse on the San Luis Dam.

[edit] Safety

Between State Route 156 and Interstate 5, Route 152 lacked any kind of center divider and was the site of numerous head on traffic accidents, many of them fatal. In the 1990s a divider measuring from 3 to 6 feet tall was erected along the majority of the winding parts of the route from 156 to I-5. The barrier has prevented most head on collisions from happening by preventing cars from crossing the highway and striking oncoming traffic. Instead cars bounce back and hit traffic going the same direction. However on July 16, 2005 a fatal multi-car head on collision occurred despite the barrier when a pickup went airborne over the center divider. This stretch of road remains one of the most dangerous in the Bay Area. Traffic accidents between Gilroy and Highway 99 before it was a divided highway were so many that it was given the name and known as "Blood Alley."

[edit] History

The road became popular as a route east during the California Gold Rush. The Butterfield Stage ran along this route from 1858 to 1861. A portion of SR152 from Bell Station to Pacheco Pass was a toll road from sometime in the 1840s until 1878. In that year, Merced County and Santa Clara County purchased the road. It was eventually upgraded to a state route. Historic references say the portion of the route route west of SR33 was named Legislative Route 32 before being designated SR152. ^[2] ^[3]

[edit] References

^ January 1, 2006 California Log of Bridges on State Highways
^ Myer, Chuck, report: Pacheco Past: A History of the Gateway to Santa Clara County, (San Jose, California: Pioneers of Santa Clara County, 1992), page 9.
^ Shumate, Dr. Albert, Francisco Pacheco of Pacheco Pass, (Stockton, California: University of the Pacific, 1977). This information is repeated in other sources.