California State Route 41

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State Route 41

Yosemite Freeway
Defined by S&HC § 341, maintained by Caltrans

Length:

185.594 mi^[1] (298.685 km)
(plus about 6.5 mi (10.5 km) on SR 46)

South end:

SR 1 in Morro Bay

Major
junctions:

US 101 in Atascadero

SR 198 in Lemoore

SR 99 in Fresno

SR 49 at Oakhurst

North end:

Yosemite National Park

State highways in California (list - pre-1964)
County routes in California (list)
< I-40		SR 43 >
History - Unconstructed - Deleted - Freeway - Scenic

State Route 41 (SR 41) is a state highway in the U.S. state of California, connecting the Cabrillo Highway (SR 1) in Morro Bay with Fresno and Yosemite National Park via the San Joaquin Valley. Except between US 101 in Atascadero and SR 46 near Shandon, SR 41 is part of the California Freeway and Expressway System. It has been constructed as an expressway from near SR 198 in Lemoore north to the south part of Fresno, where the Yosemite Freeway begins, passing along the east side of downtown and extending north into Madera County. Three segments - from SR 1 to US 101, SR 46 to SR 33, and SR 49 at Oakhurst to Yosemite (the Wawona Road) - are eligible for inclusion in the State Scenic Highway System, but none of the route has been officially designated as such.^[2]

1 Route description
- 1.1 Points of interest
- 1.2 Other names
2 History
3 Major intersections and exit list
4 References
5 External links

[edit] Route description

The majority of Route 41 runs as either two-lane rural highway or four-lane divided highway. The southern end of the freeway intersects SR 1 in Morro Bay. Between Morro Bay and Fresno, the highway intersects U.S. Route 101 in Atascadero, proceeds through the Coastal Range, then intersects Interstate 5 to the south of Kettleman City, and SR 198 just outside of the city of Lemoore. In Fresno, the route intersects SR 99 near Jensen Avenue, continues north into the city, then intersects SR 180 at a section of the latter route that links SR 41 to both SR 99 to the west, and to SR 168 to the east. North of Fresno, the route crosses the San Joaquin River, and enters Madera County near Children's Hospital of Central California. 8.5 miles further north, Route 41 intersects with SR 145, before entering California's Sierra-Nevada mountain range. Route 41 continues through the towns of Coarsegold and Oakhurst, where it intersects with SR 49. Route 41 ends in Yosemite National Park to the north.

In the 1980s, the urban stretch of 41 running through Fresno was upgraded to freeway standards, intersecting SR 99 to the south. In the late 1990s and early 2000s, the freeway portion was extended several miles beyond Fresno in both directions.

[edit] Points of interest

Listed in order from west to east.

Actor James Dean died in an accident at the intersection of SR 46 in Cholame. There is a memorial located there now. The interchange is now called the James Dean Memorial Interchange.
A large hazardous waste and municipal solid waste disposal facility operated by Waste Management, Inc. is located 5.6 km (3.5 mi) SSW of Kettleman City on the west side of the highway.
El Adobe de los Robles Rancho (California Historical Landmark #206), built by pioneer Daniel Rhoads, can be found north of Lemoore.
Tunnel View is a viewpoint located just outside the east end of the Wawona Tunnel in Yosemite National Park. Located about 1.5 miles (2.4 km) from the Yosemite Valley, this is the first view that most people have of Yosemite Valley.

Note: There is an END-41 sign just south of the southern entrance to Yosemite National Park. State routes within the park are not signed (with the exception of SR 120). Tunnel View is along Route 41's alignment, although state maintenance of the route ends at the south entrance of the park.

[edit] Other names

East portal of Wawona Tunnel near eastern terminus of SR 41

Route 41 has the following names, as designated by various state laws:^[3]

E.G. Lewis Highway: From Route 101 to Route 1 in San Luis Obispo County
Dwight David Eisenhower Memorial Freeway: From Ventura Avenue in Fresno to Herndon Avenue in Fresno
Donald DeMers Highway: From Jensen Avenue in Fresno to Elkhorn Avenue.
Southern Yosemite Highway: From the Fresno-Madera County line to Yosemite Natl. Park
Wawona Road: From Fresno to Yosemite Natl. Park
Yosemite Freeway: From Elkhorn Avenue to the Fresno-Madera County line

[edit] History

In 1930, the counties of Fresno, Kings, Kern, and San Luis Obispo considered organizing a joint highway district to construct a shortcut connecting Fresno with the Pacific Ocean at Morro Bay. This highway would pass through Kettleman City on its way to the Cholame Lateral (Legislative Route 33) near Cholame or Shandon, and then continue to Morro Bay, where a new harbor was being developed.^[4]^[5] The entire length from Fresno to Morro Bay, as well as the Wawona Road to Yosemite, was added to the state highway system in 1933 as Route 125,^[6]^[7] and subsequently improved by the state. In 1934, the state sign route system was established, and Sign Route 41 was designated along Route 125 from Yosemite south and southwest to Cholame and then west through Paso Robles to Cambria via Legislative Route 33.^[8] The part of Route 125 southwest of Cholame instead became part of the new U.S. Route 466.^[9]

By the 1950s, the short piece of US 466 (Route 125) between Creston and Atascadero had not yet been paved, and so US 466 was moved to the longer but better road via Paso Robles, replacing SR 41 to Paso Robles and overlapping US 101 to Atascadero. As SR 41 had not been signed over the unpaved road west of Paso Robles, it was truncated to Cholame.^[10] US 466 was eliminated in the 1964 renumbering, becoming SR 46 east from Paso Robles. However, instead of going south and west to Morro Bay, SR 46 continued west to Cambria, and the road via Creston and Atascadero to Morro Bay (which had since been paved) became part of SR 41.^[11]^[12]

[edit] Major intersections and 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 numbers reset at county lines; the start and end postmiles in each county are given in the county column.

County	Location	Postmile ^[1]^[13]^[14]	#^[15]	Destinations	Notes
San Luis Obispo SLO 0.00-50.43	Morro Bay	0.00		SR 1	Interchange
	Atascadero	15.89		US 101	Interchange
		27.98		SR 229 south
	Shandon	43.81 46 48.63		SR 46 west – Paso Robles	South end of SR 46 overlap
	Cholame	46 55.11 43.85		SR 46 east – Bakersfield	North end of SR 46 overlap
Kern KER 0.00-4.98	No major intersections
Kings KIN 0.00-R48.28		8.10		SR 33
		16.28		I-5	Interchange
	Lemoore	R39.96		SR 198 – Hanford, Sequoia Park, Coalinga, Lemoore NAS	Interchange
	Lemoore	R40.95		Bush Street	Interchange
		R48.28 R0.00		Excelsior Avenue	Interchange
Fresno (FRE R0.00-33.45)		R48.28 R0.00		Excelsior Avenue	Interchange
	Fresno	South end of freeway
		R20.08	124	North Avenue
		R21.11	125	Jensen Avenue
		R21.86	126A	SR 99 north – Madera, Sacramento	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
		R21.86	126A	SR 99 south – Bakersfield, Los Angeles	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		R22.65	126B	Van Ness Avenue – Civic Center	Former SR 180
		R22.95	127A	O Street	Southbound exit only
		R23.74	127B	Tulare Street, Divisadero Street	Signed as exit 127 northbound
		R24.53	128	SR 180 (Sequoia-Kings Canyon Freeway) – Mendota, Kings Canyon	Signed as exits 128A (east) and 128B (west) northbound
		R25.27	129	McKinley Avenue
		R26.46	130	Shields Avenue
		R27.47	131	Ashlan Avenue
		R28.47	132	Shaw Avenue – Clovis	Former SR 168
		R29.46	133	Bullard Avenue
		R30.45	134	Herndon Avenue – Clovis
		R31.68	135	Friant Road, Blackstone Avenue – Millerton Lake
Madera MAD 0.00-45.74		1	138	Rio Mesa Boulevard, Children's Boulevard (Bus. 41 north)	Signed as exits 138A (Rio Mesa Boulevard) and 138B (Children's Boulevard) northbound
	North end of freeway
		3.23		SR 41 Bus. south (Avenue 12)
		9.25		SR 145 south
	Oakhurst	35.48		SR 49 north
Mariposa MPA 0.00-4.92	Fish Camp	4.92	South boundary of Yosemite National Park