California State Route 15

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

For the original Sign Route 15, see California State Route 15 (1934-1964).

State Route 15

Defined by S&HC § 315, maintained by Caltrans

Length:

5.59 mi^[1] (9.00 km)

Formed:

1969 (from SR 103)^[2]

South end:

I-5 in San Diego

North end:

I-8 / I-15 in San Diego

State highways in California (list - pre-1964)
County routes in California (list)
< I-15		SR 16 >
History - Unconstructed - Deleted - Freeway - Scenic

State Route 15 in the U.S. state of California is the seamless 5.59-mile (9.00 km) freeway continuation of Interstate 15 past its southern terminus at Interstate 8 in San Diego to the Interstate 5 junction 12 miles from the Mexican border. The Route 15 designation is also used by Caltrans for the full length of I-15.

This route is part of the California Freeway and Expressway System^[3].

1 Route description
2 History
3 Future
4 Exit list
5 References
6 External links

[edit] Route description

SR 15 continues seamlessly past the southern terminus of I-15 at I-8 in San Diego. On the northbound conversion to I-15 at I-8, there is no "End SR 15" sign^[4]. Between I-8 and I-805, SR 15 follows the former alignment of 40th Street, which was its former routing as a city street. ^[5].Between the Polk Avenue and Orange Avenue overpasses, the freeway goes under a city park that was built on top of the freeway during construction in 2001. Pedestrian bridges were also built at Monroe Avenue and Landis Street to reduce the effects of the freeway geographically dividing the community^[6]. The route interchanges with Interstate 805; however, one can only continue in the same direction that they were at this intersection, since this is the interchange of two north-south freeways, resulting in the overall shape of an "X." After this, SR 15 has an interchange with State Route 94,^[5] which has been cited as not being up to Interstate standards^[7]. Then, SR 15 terminates south of Interstate 5 at Wabash Boulevard^[5].

[edit] History

Major cities Bolded cities are officially-designated control cities for signs
San Diego Riverside (northbound; via I-15)

Present SR 15 was signed after the creation of I-15 in 1968. Since I-15's terminus was at I-8, SR 15 was signed mostly along 40th Street and Wabash Boulevard in San Diego to its merge with I-5. The portion between Adams Avenue and Interstate 805 remained a city street for a long time, and this portion was not completed until January 2000. For this reason, the freeway is often referred to as the 40th Street Freeway.

Before the completion of the freeway, from 1968 to 1992, the neighborhood was known for prostitution, drugs, drive-by shootings, and gangs. The indirect cause of all this was due to Caltrans' plans to build a freeway in this area on land where houses were. Because families did not want to live in these houses since they would be soon torn down, they rented them to those who were only going to be in the area on a temporary basis; many of these people were involved in illegal activities. Even though the freeway was officially added to the Caltrans proposals as early as 1968, it was not until March 1992 that construction began. Many in the city opposed the building of this freeway, although some petitioned for the freeway to be built because of the poor conditions in the neighborhood.^[8]

[edit] Future

This article contains information about a planned or expected future road.
It may contain information of a speculative nature and the content may change as the road's construction or completion approaches and more information becomes available.

Redesignation of SR 15 as I-15 will eventually occur when the freeway's interchange with SR 94 is updated to Interstate standards. The interchange currently has left-exits and blind merges, and is due to be updated with a long-awaited widening of both SR 15 and SR 94 in 2008. At that time SR 15 will be resigned as part of I-15. The remaining portion of SR 15 conforms with Interstate standards.^[9]

[edit] Exit list

Note: Except where prefixed with a letter, postmiles were measured in 1964, based on the alignment as it existed at that time, and do not necessarily reflect current mileage.

The entire route is in San Diego, San Diego County.

Postmile ^[10]^[11]^[12]	#^[13]	Destinations	Notes
		Harbor Drive	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
	1A	Main Street	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
R0.00	1	I-5 – National City, Chula Vista	Southbound exit and northbound entrance; signed as exits 1B (north) and 1C (south)
R0.59	1D	Ocean View Boulevard, Imperial Avenue	Signed as exit 1 northbound
1.85	2A	Market Street
2.23	2B	SR 94 (M. L. King Jr. Freeway) / Home Avenue	Signed as exits 2B (east) and 2C (west) northbound; southbound exit to SR 94 east is via exit 3
R3.37	3	I-805 north – Los Angeles	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
R3.37	3	I-805 south	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
M4.66	5A	University Avenue – City Heights Transit Plaza
M5.04	5B	El Cajon Boulevard – Boulevard Transit Plaza	Former Bus. 8
M5.60	6A	Adams Avenue
R6.03	6B	Camino del Rio South
R6.13	6B	I-8 – El Centro, Beaches
R6.13		I-15 north (Escondido Freeway) – Riverside, San Bernardino	Continuation beyond I-8