U.S. Route 50 in California

From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia

U.S. Route 50
Defined by S&HC § 350, maintained by Caltrans
Length: 108.624 mi[1] (174.813 km)
History: Became a state highway from 1895 to 1915; numbered US 50 in 1926
West end: I-80 in West Sacramento
Major
junctions:		 I-80 Bus. / SR 99 in Sacramento
SR 49 in Placerville
SR 89 in South Lake Tahoe
East end: US 50 towards Carson City, Nevada
State highways in California (list - pre-1964)
County routes in California (list)
< SR 49 SR 51 >
History - Unconstructed - Deleted - Freeway - Scenic
Wikimedia Commons has media related to:

In the U.S. state of California, U.S. Route 50 (US 50) runs east from I-80 in West Sacramento to the Nevada state line in South Lake Tahoe. The western half of the highway, from I-80 through Sacramento and Placerville to the canyon of the South Fork American River at Riverton, is a four-or-more-lane divided highway, mostly built to freeway standards. The remainder, passing through the canyon, over the Sierra Nevada at Echo Summit, and into the Lake Tahoe Basin, is a mainly two-lane road, although it has been added to the California Freeway and Expressway System by the state legislature. The highway east of SR 49 is eligible for the State Scenic Highway System, and has been recognized as such except within the South Lake Tahoe city limits.[2]

The US 50 corridor is a historic one, used by many 49ers who came to California during the Gold Rush as well as the Pony Express. In 1895, part of the present-day route was designated as California's first state highway, and it was later considered as a scenic alternate of the Lincoln Highway. Much of US 50 was constructed during the initial construction of the California state highway system. During the second half of the twentieth century, US 50 was gradually designated and converted into a modern highway.

Contents

[edit] Route description

This sign at the west end indicates the distances to Placerville, South Lake Tahoe, and the east end of the route in Ocean City, Maryland.
This sign at the west end indicates the distances to Placerville, South Lake Tahoe, and the east end of the route in Ocean City, Maryland.

US 50 begins in West Sacramento, where I-80 leaves the West Sacramento Freeway onto a bypass of Sacramento. The old route of I-80 through Sacramento is signed as Business 80 (Capital City Freeway), which overlaps US 50 on the West Sacramento Freeway to the split with SR 275, then over the Sacramento River on the Pioneer Memorial Bridge and across I-5 to SR 99. There Business 80 splits to the north, SR 99 heads south, and US 50 continues east on the El Dorado Freeway. This freeway parallels Folsom Boulevard and the American River east-northeasterly past the suburb of Rancho Cordova to near Folsom. There US 50 turns east, running cross-country through the foothills of the Sierra Nevada via El Dorado Hills, Cameron Park, and Shingle Springs to downtown Placerville. The freeway temporarily ends, and US 50 has several at-grade intersections in Placerville, including SR 49.[3]

Descending eastbound into the Lake Tahoe Basin (this portion completed in 1940)
Descending eastbound into the Lake Tahoe Basin (this portion completed in 1940)

Leaving Placerville, the freeway restarts, only to end several miles later. The final section of freeway begins as a bypass of Camino, and then heads east-northeast through Pollock Pines to near the canyon of the South Fork American River. The four-lane cross section continues with intersections until the crossover bridge to the north side of the river at Riverton. From Riverton to the crest of the Sierras, US 50 is a steadily rising mostly two-lane road, staying just north of the river except for a 1995 cutoff that crosses the river twice in quick succession west of Kyburz. Several hairpin turns take the highway up a grade east of Strawberry, after which US 50 continues east alongside the river to its source at Echo Summit. From Echo Summit down to the Lake Tahoe Basin, the roadway slowly descends the side of a steep hill; it then curves northeast and meets SR 89, which heads south to Luther Pass and overlaps US 50 northeast into the city of South Lake Tahoe. Where US 50 and SR 89 split, at an intersection known as "The Y", the former turns east on the four-lane Lake Tahoe Boulevard, which it follows to and along the south shore of Lake Tahoe to the state line at Stateline, Nevada, an unincorporated place known for its casinos.[3]

[edit] History

[edit] Emigrant trails and wagon roads

The earliest roads used by Europeans to cross the Sierra Nevada into California were branches of the California Trail. The first route near the present US 50 was the Carson Route, laid out in 1848 by an eastward Mormon party that wanted to avoid the Truckee Route and its deep crossings of the Truckee River. The group left Pleasant Valley, southeast of Placerville, on July 3, following Iron Mountain Ridge up to the crest of the Sierra at Carson Pass and then descending through Carson Canyon into the Carson Valley. Along the Humboldt River in Nevada, the Mormons met Joseph B. Chiles, who was leading a westward wagon train to California, and told him of their new trail. Although this new Carson Route crossed two summits - Carson Pass over the crest of the Sierra and West Pass over the Carson Spur just to the west, these crossings were easier than Donner Pass on the Truckee Route, and only three fords of the Carson River were required. The route became the primary westward route into California at the start of the Gold Rush. Through California, the general alignment of the Carson Route, in terms of today's highways, was State Route 88 over Carson Pass and Mormon Emigrant Trail and Sly Park Road to Pleasant Valley.[4]

John Calhoun Johnson of Placerville surveyed and cleared a shorter, lower (and thus less snow-covered) trail east from that town in 1852, completing the work by the summer. Rather than following the ridge to the Sierra's crest as the Mormons had, Johnson headed eastward to the South Fork American River, crossing to its north side near the present Pacific Ranger Station in order to follow Peavine Ridge around a rocky stretch of the river. Returning to the river between Kyburz and Strawberry, he then continued alongside it to the crest at Johnson Pass, where a steep slope descended to Lake Tahoe. Within Nevada, his route generally followed the lake to Glenbrook, where it turned inland and crossed the Carson Range over Spooner Summit into the Carson Valley near Carson City. This trail, known as Johnson's Cut-off, generally followed the present US 50, with notable deviations only just east of Placerville (via Carson Road), over Peavine Ridge (roughly following Peavine Ridge Road, some trails, and Wrights Lake Road), just east of Strawberry (via Slippery Ford Road), over the crest of the Sierra (via Johnson Pass Road and Meyers Road), south of Lake Tahoe (via Pioneer Trail), east of Lake Tahoe (via Genoa Peak Road[5]), and from Spooner Summit into the Carson Valley (via Kings Canyon Road). By 1854, Bartlett's Bridge had been built at the trail's westernmost crossing of the American River, allowing wagons to follow the cutoff;[6] it was soon washed away by a freshet on March 7, 1855, and replaced by Brockliss Bridge, several miles to the east.[7] Due to an improvement of the road through Carson Canyon on the old Carson Route, most travelers ended up turning southeast from Johnson Pass over Luther Pass (present SR 89) to join the older route northeast of Carson Pass rather than following the cutoff along Lake Tahoe.[8][9]

Johnson's Cut-off was the only trail that could be used year-round, but it still had problems, as it had been built without use of earth-moving equipment, and thus did not always take the optimal route. The state adopted a survey by Sherman Day in September 1855, but failed to make use of it. Two years later, the counties of Yolo, Sacramento, and El Dorado, all of which would be benefited by further improvements, began planning and carrying out work. The state legislature created a "Board of Wagon Commissioners" on March 8, 1858, and it completed the improvements by the end of that year. This new route had better grades than the old cutoff, deviating from it in several places: it followed the present Smith Flat Road rather than Carson Road east of Placerville, traversed Peavine Ridge much further down the slope, returning to the river west of Kyburz (roughly via the present White Meadows Road, Ice House Road, and Weber Mill Road to US 50 at Granite Springs Road), and crossed into Carson Valley via Luther Pass. By 1860, the immense traffic over the road and lack of maintenance had worsened it to the point that it could no longer be used by stagecoaches.[10][9]

To provide for better maintenance, improvements funded by tolls were authorized. The first of these was built and operated by Kingsbury and McDonald, who improved the old Johnson's Cut-off between Johnson Pass and Stateline, where they turned east over Daggett Pass (now SR 207) in Nevada, connecting Lake Tahoe to the Carson Valley via a shorter route than that over Luther Pass. Two other competing toll roads soon opened across the Carson Range: one built by Rufus Walton from Spooner Summit down Clear Creek to the valley (now part of US 50), and an 1863 improvement of the original Johnson's Cut-Off along the lake, across Spooner Summit, and through Kings Canyon to Carson City.[11] West of Johnson Pass, the Slippery Ford Grade down to Strawberry was rebuilt by George W. Swan. The first toll-supported bypass of Peavine Ridge was built by Oglesby and opened in 1861, leaving the old road from Placerville at Pollock Pines, following the ridgetops and slopes south of the South Fork American River, crossing the river east of White Hall, and then following US 50 along the north bank to the 1858 county road west of Kyburz. Johnson began work on a lower-grade replacement on the north side of the river in 1864, but stopped when Pearson and McDonald opened a road over the present alignment of US 50, leaving the pre-1861 main road southwest of Brockliss Bridge and following US 50, across the river at Riverton, to Oglesby's road east of White Hall. Toll collection ended in California in 1886, when El Dorado County bought the privately-improved sections and made them public roads.[12][9]

West of Placerville, the wagon road headed south to Diamond Springs, where it turned west along the original Carson Route over relatively gentle terrain to Sacramento, generally following the present US 50 on parallel surface roads, such as Pleasant Valley Road and White Rock Road.[6][13] The Pony Express used this route from its beginning in April 1860 until July 1, when its western terminus became Folsom on the Sacramento Valley Railroad. (The route was further cut back to Placerville, where messages were passed to the telegraph, from July 1861 to its discontinuance in October.)[14] The Placerville and Sacramento Valley Railroad reached Latrobe in 1864,[6] Shingle Springs (on the old Carson Route west of Placerville) in 1865, and was finally completed to Placerville in 1888.[15] As the railroad extended east, the western terminus of the stage lines followed;[16] the completion of the First Transcontinental Railroad in 1869 took most of the traffic off the Placerville wagon road.[9]

[edit] State maintenance and reconstruction

The 1901 bridge at Riverton
The 1901 bridge at Riverton

At the dawn of the automobile era, the state legislature authorized California's first state road on March 26, 1895 by creating the post of "Lake Tahoe Wagon Road Commissioner" to maintain the road from Newtown Road near Smith Flat (several miles east of Placerville) to Nevada.[17] The county deeded the 58-mile[18] (93 km) road to the state on February 28, 1896. Funding was only enough for minimal improvements, including a new stone bridge over the South Fork American River at Riverton in 1901. The Department of Engineering took over its maintenance in 1907, immediately completed a survey and posted granite milestones that marked the distance from Placerville, and in 1910 started sprinkling the dirt road with water in summer to keep down dust (as had been done in the 1860s). A 1915 law added the short distance from Smith Flat west to the east limits of Placerville to the state road.[19][9][20][21][22]

With the passage of the first state highway bond issue in 1910, the Department of Engineering was directed to lay out and construct a system connecting all county seats. Placerville, seat of El Dorado County, was connected to Sacramento by the 46.5-mile (74.8 km) Route 11, which followed Folsom Boulevard from Sacramento to Folsom, Bidwell Street and Placerville Road to White Rock, the old Carson Route to El Dorado, and Forni Road and Placerville Drive to Placerville.[23] Between El Dorado and Placerville, the state had two routes to choose from, including one via Diamond Springs (present SR 49), where it decided improving a cut would be too expensive. Instead, it chose the "O'Keefe grade" (Forni Road), following the old road for about 4 miles (6 km) and then building a cutoff (now part of Placerville Drive) to the Green Valley road.[24] In 1917 the mileage that had been added by special laws, rather than as part of bond issues, was consolidated with the rest of the system, and Route 11 was extended east to the state line.[25] (The route was extended farther, from Sacramento southwest to Antioch via present SR 160, in 1933.[26][27]) The third bond issue, passed in 1919, included funds for the improvement of 10 miles (16 km) from Placerville east to Sportsman's Hall, by which time paving was complete west of Placerville.[28][29]

Westbound at the bottom of the 1947 grade to Echo Summit
Westbound at the bottom of the 1947 grade to Echo Summit

The Lincoln Highway, the first marked highway across the country, split in two over the Sierra Nevada. The main route followed the present I-80 alignment over Donner Pass, but an alternate "Pioneer Branch", designated as part of the initial routing in 1913, turned south at Reno, Nevada to Carson City and then crossed the Sierras via Johnson Pass and the Placerville route. Contrary to the Lincoln Highway Association's policy of marking the most direct route, this deviation was explained simply as "for those tourists desiring to see Lake Tahoe". However, it actually became shorter in 1921, when the Fallon Cut-off opened from Carson City directly east to the main route near Fallon, bypassing Reno.[30] The U.S. Highway system was created in 1926, and this route (along with the main Lincoln Highway east of the cutoff) became part of U.S. Route 50. (The Donner Pass route was U.S. Route 40, crossing Nevada on the Victory Highway.) US 50 initially ended in Sacramento, where motorists could follow US 40 (Victory Highway) southwest to the San Francisco Bay Area or turn south over US 99 to Stockton and take US 48 (Lincoln Highway) west over Altamont Pass.[31] At this time, US 50 was improved but unpaved east of Placerville.[32] As part of the state project to pave this portion, the old road was bypassed in several areas, completing the final two-lane alignment. These realignments included Broadway, bypassing Smith Flat Road, at Smith Flat (1932), a new route around Slippery Ford Grade east of Strawberry (1931), and a new route through South Lake Tahoe, leaving behind Pioneer Trail (1931). The crossing of the Sierra crest at Johnson Pass was bypassed in 1940 by a better-quality route over Echo Summit; the lower part of the current road east of the summit opened in 1947, bypassing Meyers Road.[9] West of Placerville, several major two-lane relocations were built. A bypass (now Mother Lode Drive) around El Dorado and the winding Forni Road was completed in 1938, and the improvement was extended west to Shingle Springs in 1947. A short relocation north of White Rock, between Bidwell Street and Bass Lake Road, opened in 1940, and was extended west beyond Hazel Avenue, bypassing Folsom, in 1949.[33][34][35]

Main article: Interstate 580 (California)

By the early 1930s, US 50 had been extended to San Francisco via the former US 48 by overlapping US 99 from Sacramento to Stockton and replacing US 48 over Altamont Pass to US 101E (Foothill Boulevard at Castro Valley Boulevard) near Hayward.[36][37] It was extended over the new Bay Bridge at the time of its opening in 1936, replacing US 101E on Foothill Boulevard and the present MacArthur Boulevard to the Bay Bridge Distribution Structure in Oakland.[38][39] As the new MacArthur Freeway (now I-580) was constructed, US 50 was moved to it.[40] This extension was officially eliminated in the 1964 renumbering,[41] but it remained on maps and signs for several more years[42][43][44] before being replaced I-80 over the Bay Bridge, I-580 over Altamont Pass, I-205 past Tracy, I-5 to Stockton, SR 4 and SR 26 (Charter Way) through Stockton, and SR 99 to Sacramento.

[edit] Freeway and expressway upgrades

When the California Freeway and Expressway System was created in 1959, it included US 50 from Sacramento to Nevada. (The Oakland-Sacramento portion was also included, mostly as part of the Interstate Highway System.)[45] Two segments had already been upgraded to freeway or expressway standards - an expressway through Placerville, completed in 1955, and a freeway bypass of Camino with an expressway continuing west to Five Mile Terrace, completed in 1957.[35] From Pollock Pines east to the bridge at Riverton, the road was widened to four lanes in about 1960.[46] The next decade saw the improvement of every remaining two-lane section between Rancho Cordova (near Sunrise Boulevard) and Riverton, with the final section, connecting Bass Lake Road and Shingle Springs, opening in July 1970.[47][48] The freeway was completed west to I-80 (now Business 80) and SR 99 in early 1973, bypassing the mostly four-lane Folsom Boulevard.[49] US 50 was extended west along former I-80 to the new I-80 bypass in 1981, when the old I-80 became Business 80. (Since Business 80 was not a valid legislative designation, the remainder became State Route 51.)[50]

For many years, the four lanes from Sacramento stopped at Riverton, where the original two-lane road continued through the canyon and over Echo Summit.[51][52] The state rejected a proposed $133 million total realignment between Riverton and Kyburz in 1985, instead opting for a less expensive program of spot improvements including new bridges and passing lanes.[53] Portions of the work were completed by 1987, including a four-lane bridge at Riverton (though two lanes are used by traffic turning at Ice House Road at the east end of the bridge).[54] Between White Hall and Kyburz, a pair of four-lane bridges over the South Fork American River, carrying a realignment across a bend in the river, were dedicated on May 31, 1995 as the El Dorado County Veterans Bridges.[55]

The route through the South Fork American River Canyon remains vulnerable to mudslides and other storm damage. One particularly bad slide closed the highway east of Riverton for 28 days from January 24 to February 21, 1997, only a week after a similar 17-day closure caused by flooding on January 1. A project to make more permanent repairs and prevent future closures began on July 31, and from September 2 to October 24 the highway was closed during the week to allow for more efficient reconstruction. The state signed the detour, which followed Sly Park Road, Mormon Emigrant Trail (the old ridgetop Carson Route), SR 88, and SR 89 (over Luther Pass), as Alternate U.S. Route 50,[56] a designation not approved by the American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials, which generally assigns new bannered U.S. Highways.[57] After the work was complete, signs were left along the route.[58]

[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 numbers reset at county lines; the start and end postmiles in each county are given in the county column.
County Location Postmile
[1][48][59]		 #[60] Destinations Notes
Yolo
YOL 0.00-3.16		 West Sacramento 0.00 I-80 west – San Francisco Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
0.00 1A I-80 east – Reno Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
1.20 1B Harbor Boulevard Signed as exit 1 eastbound
2.50 3 Jefferson Boulevard (SR 84) – Downtown Sacramento (SR 275), West Sacramento
2.92 3 South River Road Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
Sacramento
SAC L0.00-L2.48
R0.00-23.14		 Sacramento L0.35 4A I-5 to SR 99 north – Redding, Los Angeles
L0.6 4B 5th Street – Downtown Sacramento Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
L0.96 4B 10th Street – Downtown Sacramento Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
L1.37 5 15th Street, 16th Street Former SR 160
L2.20 6A 26th Street Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
L2.48
R0.00		 6B SR 99 south – Fresno
6C I-80 Bus. east (Capital City Freeway) – Reno East end of Bus. 80 overlap; no exit number eastbound
R0.4 7 34th Street Eastbound exit only
R0.60 7 Stockton Boulevard No eastbound exit
R2.13 8A 59th Street Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
R2.63 8B 65th Street Signed as exit 8 westbound
R3.47 9 Cal State University Sacramento Eastbound exit and westbound entrance
R3.67 9 SR 16 east (Howe Avenue) / Power Inn Road – Jackson
R5.34 11 Watt Avenue
R7.75 13 Bradshaw Road
Rancho Cordova
R9.51 15 Mather Field, Rancho Cordova (Mather Field Road)
R10.92 17 Zinfandel Drive – Rancho Cordova
12.50 18 Sunrise Boulevard (CR E2) – Fair Oaks
15.76 21 Hazel Avenue (CR E3)
16.10 22 Aerojet Road Eastbound exit only
Folsom 17.01 23 Folsom Boulevard
19.23 25 Prairie City Road
21.50 27 East Bidwell Street, Scott Road
El Dorado
ED 0.00-80.44		 0.86 30 Latrobe Road, El Dorado Hills Boulevard Signed as exits 30A (Latrobe Road) and 30B (El Dorado Hills Boulevard) eastbound
R3.23 32 Bass Lake Road
4.96 34 Cambridge Road – Cameron Park
6.57 35 Cameron Park Drive
R8.56 37 Ponderosa Road
R10.30 39 Shingle Springs Drive
40 Foothill Oaks Boulevard – Shingle Springs Rancheria Under construction
R12.19 41 Greenstone Road
R14.01 43 El Dorado Road
R15.06 44A Missouri Flat Road – Diamond Springs
Placerville 15.83 44B Forni Road, Placerville Drive
16.99 46 Placerville Drive Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
17.42 46 Central Placerville, Diamond Springs (Main Street) Former eastbound exit
East end of freeway
17.67 SR 49 (Spring Street) – Auburn, Georgetown, Diamond Springs At-grade intersection
West end of freeway
18.52 47 Broadway, Mosquito Road, Main Street No eastbound entrance
19.12 48 Schnell School Road, Apple Hill Drive
20.30 49A Point View Drive Signed as exit 49 eastbound
20.74 49B Smith Flat Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
East end of freeway
23.96 Carson Road At-grade intersection
West end of freeway
R25.95 54 Apple Hill Drive – Cedar Grove, Camino
R28.84 57 Apple Hill Drive – Pollock Pines, Cedar Grove
R31.30 60 Sly Park Road (CR E16 / Alt. US 50 east)
East end of freeway
Riverton 39.77 Icehouse Road
67 Echo Summit
70.62 SR 89 south (Alt. US 50 west) – Markleeville, Jackson West end of SR 89 overlap
South Lake Tahoe 75.45 SR 89 north (Emerald Bay Road) / Lake Tahoe Boulevard – Tahoe City East end of SR 89 overlap
80.44 Nevada state line

[edit] References

  1. ^ a b California Department of Transportation, State Truck Route List (XLS file), accessed January 2008
  2. ^ California Department of Transportation, Route 50 - Scenic Highway, accessed January 2008
  3. ^ a b Google Maps street maps and USGS topographic maps, accessed January 2008 via ACME Mapper
  4. ^ Howard, pp. 41-53
  5. ^ Sam Bauman, Nevada Appeal, Magnificent views await weary at top of Genoa Peak, August 17, 2007
  6. ^ a b c Douglas E. Kyle, Mildred Brooke Hoover, Historic Spots in California, Stanford University Press, 2002, pp. 77-78, 84
  7. ^ Hubert Howe Bancroft, Chronicles of the Builders of the Commonwealth: Historical Character Study, 1891, pp. 194-195
  8. ^ Howard, pp. 62-65
  9. ^ a b c d e f California Highways and Public Works: Centennial Edition, September 9, 1950, pp. 61, 64, 66
  10. ^ Howard, pp. 144-155
  11. ^ Thompson & West, History of Nevada, 1881, pp. 542-543
  12. ^ Howard, pp. 155-156
  13. ^ George H. Goddard, Britton & Rey's Map of the State of California, 1857
  14. ^ Joe Bensen, The Traveler's Guide to the Pony Express Trail, Globe Pequot Press, 1995, p. 137
  15. ^ Lewis Publishing Company, A Memorial and Biographical History of Northern California, chapter on El Dorado County, 1891
  16. ^ Gerald M. Best, Iron Horses to Promontory, Golden West Books, 1969, p. 21
  17. ^ "An act to authorize the state of California to secure the title to and right of way for that certain wagon-road...commencing a short distance easterly from the village of Smith's Flat...and running thence to Lake Tahoe...", 1895 chapter 128, p. 119
  18. ^ Report of the Lake Tahoe Wagon Road Commissioner, November 29, 1898
  19. ^ "An act declaring the wagon road extending from the western end of the Lake Tahoe state wagon road to the eastern limits of the city of Placerville to be a state highway.", 1915 chapter 32, p. 41
  20. ^ Howard, p. 175
  21. ^ Department of Engineering, Report of the Department of Engineering of the State of California, May 11, 1907 to November 30, 1908, 1908, pp. 107-112
  22. ^ Department of Engineering, Fifth Biennial Report of the Department of Engineering of the State of California, December 1, 1914, to November 30, 1916, 1917, pp. 181-182
  23. ^ Automobile Club of Southern California, Automobile Road Map of California, 1917
  24. ^ League of American Wheelmen, Good Roads, v.43 (1913 January-June), p. 138
  25. ^ Automobile Club of Southern California and California State Automobile Association, The State Highways of California: An Engineering Study, 1921, p. 16
  26. ^ "An act...relating to...the addition of certain highways to the State system.", 1933 chapter 767, p. 2036: "Walnut Creek-Stockton Road near Antioch to Sacramento."
  27. ^ "An act to establish a Streets and Highways Code...", 1935 chapter 29, p. 275: "Route 11 is from Route 75 near Antioch to the Nevada State line near Lake Tahoe via Sacramento, Folsom, Placerville and Sportsman's Hall."
  28. ^ Howard, p. 175
  29. ^ 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
  30. ^ Kevin J. Patrick and Robert E. Wilson, Indiana University of Pennsylvania, Lincoln Highway Resource Guide: Chapter 16: Lincoln Highway in Nevada, August 2002
  31. ^ Bureau of Public Roads, United States System of Highways, November 11, 1926
  32. ^ Rand McNally Auto Road Atlas, 1926, accessed via the Broer Map Library
  33. ^ United States Geological Survey, Folsom (scale 1:62500), 1944
  34. ^ United States Geological Survey, Folsom (scale 1:62500), 1941 (road data updated later, since it shows the completed bypass)
  35. ^ a b California Department of Transportation, Index to California Highways and Public Works, 1937-1967, June 1997, pp. 77-78, 99
  36. ^ Rand McNally & Company, California, 1933
  37. ^ Division of Highways, Los Angeles and Vicinity, 1934
  38. ^ Modesto Bee and News-Herald, Bridge Changes Travel Routes to Bay Cities; Club Tells Best Roads, December 4, 1936: "Those bound for Oakland can proceed from the distribution structure out U. S. 50, via Thirty-eighth Street, Moss Avenue, Excelsior, Hopkins, Trenor and Foothill Boulevard or down Cypress Street to East Seventh Street."
  39. ^ H.M. Gousha Company, San Francisco and Vicinity, 1941
  40. ^ H.M. Gousha Company, California, 1963
  41. ^ "An act...relating to routes on the state highway system.", 1963 chapter 385, p. 1175: "Route 50 is from Route 80 in Sacramento to the Nevada state line near Lake Tahoe via Placerville."
  42. ^ Thomas Guide, San Francisco, 1967
  43. ^ Modesto Bee and News-Herald, Highway Projects Speed Along, July 19, 1967: "Route 205, which will be the north Tracy Bypass linking Route 580 (the present Route 50) to Interstate 5."
  44. ^ H.M. Gousha Company, San Francisco, 1968
  45. ^ "An act to amend...the Streets and Highways Code, relating to state highways, providing for a California Freeway and Expressway System...", 1959 chapter 1062, p. 3111: "U. S. 50 from Sacramento to the Nevada state line."
  46. ^ Mountain Democrat, US 50 Freeway Between Capital and Lake Tahoe is Stretching, September 5, 1963
  47. ^ Mountain Democrat, New Freeway Section Opened to Traffic, July 16, 1970
  48. ^ a b California Department of Transportation, Log of Bridges on State Highways, July 2007
  49. ^ Mountain Democrat, December 28, 1972: "The final leg of the El Dorado freeway (US 50 from Sunrise to west of Watt avenue in Sacramento county) is scheduled to open sometime next month."
  50. ^ "An act to amend...the Streets and Highways Code, relating to state highways.", 1981 chapter 292, p. 1417: "Route 50 is from Route 80 west of Sacramento to the Nevada state line near Lake Tahoe via Placerville."
  51. ^ Sacramento Bee, Big Rig Blocks Traffic on I-80, November 28, 1988, p. B1: "holiday-jammed traffic was stop-and-go on US 50 from Echo Summit to Riverton, where the trans-Sierra Nevada route widens to four lanes."
  52. ^ Rand McNally Auto Road Atlas: United States, Canada, Mexico, 1988
  53. ^ Sacramento Bee, Shifting US 50 Opposed; Improvement Plan Favored by State, May 9, 1985, p. B1
  54. ^ Mountain Democrat, Caltrans Reveals New Plan for the County, July 29, 1988
  55. ^ Mountain Democrat, May 22, 1995
  56. ^ California Department of Transportation, Storm restoration of U.S. 50, accessed January 2008
  57. ^ American Association of State Highway and Transportation Officials Special Committee on U.S. Route Numbering, Committee Action (1989-2007 reports)
  58. ^ Photograph of sign on Mormon Emigrant Trail at SR 88, taken July 5, 2004
  59. ^ California Department of Transportation, All Traffic Volumes on CSHS, 2005 and 2006
  60. ^ California Department of Transportation, California Numbered Exit Uniform System, US-50 Eastbound and US-50 Westbound, accessed January 2008

[edit] External links


U.S. Route 50
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