California State Route 46

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

State Route 46
Defined by S&HC § 346, maintained by Caltrans
Length: 110.696 mi[1] (178.148 km)
(plus about 4 mi (6 km) on US 101)
History: State highway in 1916; numbered in 1964
West end: SR 1 near Cambria
Major
junctions:		 US 101 in Paso Robles
SR 43 in Wasco
East end: SR 99 at Famoso
State highways in California (list - pre-1964)
County routes in California (list)
< SR 45 SR 47 >
History - Unconstructed - Deleted - Freeway - Scenic

State Route 46 (SR 46) is an east-west state highway in the U.S. state of California. It is a major crossing of the Coast Ranges, connecting SR 1 on the Central Coast near Cambria and US 101 in Paso Robles with the San Joaquin Valley, ending at SR 99 at Famoso. East of Paso Robles, where it carried U.S. Route 466 until 1964, SR 46 is part of the California Freeway and Expressway System, though it is mostly a two-lane highway. The highway from SR 1 to SR 41 near Cholame is an eligible State Scenic Highway, but has not been designated as such.

Contents

[edit] Route description

State Route 46 begins at SR 1 southeast of Cambria, about one mile (2 km) from the Pacific Ocean. It heads east across the Santa Lucia Range on a relatively straight roadway built in the 1970s, bypassing the steep, curvy Santa Rosa Creek Road. This first segment ends at US 101 north of Templeton, where SR 46 turns north, overlapping the US 101 freeway through the valley formed by the Salinas River to central Paso Robles. Immediately after splitting from US 101, SR 46 crosses the Salinas River, and then heads east through a hilly area, partially alongside the Estrella River, to a merge with SR 41 near Shandon. There it turns northeast, following Cholame Creek through Cholame Pass, between the Cholame Hills and Temblor Range, to the settlement of Cholame and the split with SR 41. The highway continues to rise as it heads east up the Antelope Grade to a summit north of the Bluestone Ridge before descending through Polonio Pass into the Antelope Valley, an arm of the San Joaquin Valley.[2]

The James Dean Memorial Junction, looking northeast, with SR 41 heading away from the camera
The James Dean Memorial Junction, looking northeast, with SR 41 heading away from the camera

The two-lane stretch from Paso Robles to Cholame was once known as "Blood Alley" for the large number of crashes, mainly head-on collisions, among the high volume of commuters, truckers, and tourists. The east end of this portion, at the SR 41 split, is where 24-year-old James Dean died in 1955; the intersection is now marked as the James Dean Memorial Junction. The California Department of Transportation (Caltrans) carried out an interim safety project in December 1995, mandating daytime headlights and installing thermoplastic striping and rumble strips. Present plans are to widen the road to a four-lane divided expressway.[3][4]

Once it enters the San Joaquin Valley, SR 46 follows an almost perfectly straight eastward alignment, crossing SR 33 at Blackwells Corner, passing through the Lost Hills Oil Field, and intersecting I-5 about two miles past Lost Hills. SR 46 and SR 43 overlap for a short distance in Wasco, and then SR 46 ends at SR 99 at Famoso. The county-maintained Famoso Road continues east across SR 65 and into the Sierra Nevada foothills.[2]

[edit] History

As part of the second state highway bond issue, approved by the state's voters in 1916, Route 33 was created, linking the San Joaquin Valley trunk (Route 4, now SR 99) near Bakersfield with the coast trunk (Route 2, now US 101) in Paso Robles, passing through the Coast Ranges via Cholame Pass.[5][6] The road was not yet built in 1919, when the Automobile Blue Book recommended only the county-maintained "very poor road" (now SR 58) via Simmler as a connection between the valley and Central Coast.[7] By 1925, the Cholame Pass highway had been improved,[8] and paving was completed in December 1930.[9] An extension west to Route 56 (now SR 1) near Cambria was added in 1933.[10][11]

The state sign route system was established in 1934, but the majority of Route 33 did not receive a state route designation, instead becoming part of the new U.S. Route 466. However, US 466 turned southwest from Cholame Pass along Route 125 to Morro Bay, and Sign Route 41, which followed Route 125 northeast of Cholame, continued along Route 33 west to the coast.[12][13][14][15] However, Route 125 had still not been paved between Cholame and Atascadero by the 1950s, and so US 466 was moved to the longer but better-quality Route 33 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.[16] 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.[17][18] A new paved two-lane expressway carrying SR 46 west from Paso Robles[19] was built in the mid-1970s, replacing Santa Rosa Creek Road.[20]

[edit] Major intersections

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][20][21]		 Destinations Notes
San Luis Obispo
SLO R0.15-60.85		 R0.15 SR 1
Paso Robles R21.97
101 54.12		 US 101 south West end of US 101 overlap; interchange
See U.S. Route 101
101 57.92
29.76		 US 101 north / CR G14 (24th Street) East end of US 101 overlap; interchange
Shandon 48.63 SR 41 south West end of SR 41 overlap
Cholame 55.11 SR 41 north East end of SR 41 overlap
Kern
KER 0.00-57.79		 Blackwells Corner 20.54 SR 33 – Coalinga, McKittrick, Taft
Lost Hills 32.53 I-5 Interchange
Wasco 50.90 SR 43 south West end of SR 43 overlap
51.22 SR 43 north East end of SR 43 overlap
Famoso 57.79 SR 99 Interchange

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b California Department of Transportation, State Truck Route List (XLS file), accessed January 2008
  2. ^ a b Google Maps street maps and USGS topographic maps, accessed January 2008 via ACME Mapper
  3. ^ Roadway Safety Foundation, The California Coalition cleans up "Blood Alley", accessed January 2008
  4. ^ California Department of Transportation, Highway 46 Project: Project Background, accessed January 2008
  5. ^ Howe & Peters, Engineers' Report to California State Automobile Association Covering the Work of the California Highway Commission for the Period 1911-1920, pp. 11-16
  6. ^ "An act authorizing the acquisition, construction, improvement, maintenance and control of the uncompleted portions of the system of state highways...and certain extensions therefrom...", 1915 chapter 404, p. 653: "an extension connecting the San Joaquin valley trunk line at or near Bakersfield with the coast trunk line in San Luis Obispo county, through Cholame pass, by the most direct and practical route"
  7. ^ Official Automobile Blue Book, Volume Eight, 1919, pp. 20-21, 114
  8. ^ Clason Map Company, Mileage Map of the Best Roads of California and Nevada, 1925
  9. ^ Fresno Bee, Bakersfield to Paso Robles Road Now Completed, December 24, 1930
  10. ^ "An act...relating to...the addition of certain highways to the State system.", 1933 chapter 767, p. 2038: "State Highway Route 56 near Cambria to State Highway Route 2 near Paso Robles."
  11. ^ "An act to establish a Streets and Highways Code...", 1935 chapter 29, p. 277: "Route 33 is from: (a) Route 4 near Bakersfield to Route 2 in San Luis Obispo County via Cholame Pass. (b) Route 56 near Cambria to Route 2 near Paso Robles."
  12. ^ California Highways and Public Works, State Routes will be Numbered and Marked with Distinctive Bear Signs, August 1934
  13. ^ Richard F. Weingroff, U.S. 666: "Beast of a Highway"?
  14. ^ H.M. Gousha Company, Oregon, 1935
  15. ^ Rand McNally & Company, Richfield Strip Maps: California, Oregon, Washington, 1936
  16. ^ H.M. Gousha Company, California, 1955
  17. ^ H.M. Gousha Company, California, 1963
  18. ^ "An act...relating to routes on the state highway system.", 1963 chapter 385, p. 1175
  19. ^ Los Angeles Times, Shortage of Money Delays Expressway, October 5, 1966, p. E6
  20. ^ a b California Department of Transportation, Log of Bridges on State Highways, July 2007
  21. ^ California Department of Transportation, All Traffic Volumes on CSHS, 2005 and 2006

[edit] External links