| State Route 163 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Cabrillo Freeway | ||||
| Route information | ||||
| Defined by S&HC § 463 | ||||
| Maintained by Caltrans | ||||
| Length: | 11.088 mi[1] (17.844 km) | |||
| Existed: | 1972 – present | |||
| Major junctions | ||||
| South end: | A Street and Ash Street in Downtown San Diego | |||
| I-5 in San Diego I-8 in San Diego I-805 in San Diego SR 52 in San Diego |
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| North end: | I-15 in Miramar | |||
| Highway system | ||||
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State highways in California(list • pre-1964)
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State Route 163 (SR 163), the Cabrillo Freeway, is a state highway in San Diego, California. It is an 11-mile (18-kilometre) stretch of freeway which was once the southern end of U.S. Route 395, the San Diego portion of which was eliminated in 1972. It begins in Downtown San Diego just west of an interchange with Interstate 5, extending north to its terminus at Interstate 15 at the south end of Miramar.
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The southernmost 2.5 miles (4 kilometers) of Route 163 passes through Balboa Park and under the Cabrillo Bridge. Emerging from Downtown San Diego on an intersection on Ash Street, it crosses Interstate 5 before entering Balboa Park. The section of Highway 163 south of Interstate 8 through Balboa Park is not Interstate standard, featuring a wide, grassy median with many mature trees. It has only four lanes for the most part and has several sharp curves (for a freeway). In an effort to improve safety along this section, wooden guardrails with steel reinforcement were installed in December 2004 on either side of the grassy median.[2] The section of Highway 163 north of Interstate 8 is an Interstate-standard, eight-lane freeway. Just north of the interchange with I-8, the expressway treks north, climbing uphill from Mission Valley to Linda Vista, where it has an interchange with Genesee Avenue. After a northbound only exit with Mesa College Drive / Kearny Villa Road, the interchange with Interstate 805 is northbound only in the northbound direction and southbound only in the southbound direction. In Kearny Mesa, the expressway has interchanges with Balboa Avenue, and Clairemont Mesa Boulevard, in which between the two interchanges, it gains a frontage road on both sides of the expressway. Following the Clairemont Mesa Blvd. interchange, it heads north to CA 52, where it forms one part of one of the biggest bottlenecks in San Diego County. The expressway then heads north to Kearny Villa Road, which was a former route of Interstate 15, before terminating at the current I-15 near Miramar and the southern terminus of the reversible lanes of I-15.
This route is part of the California Freeway and Expressway System[3] and is designated a State Scenic Highway.[4]
The southernmost portion of the highway, running through Balboa Park, was designated a California Historic Parkway in 2002.[5] This segment, which opened in 1948 as part of U.S. Route 395, was the first freeway in San Diego County and one of the first in California.[6] This stretch of road has been called one of America's most beautiful parkways.[7]
The entire route is in San Diego, San Diego County.
| Postmile [1][8][9] |
Exit [10] |
Destinations | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 0.60 | 1A | Ash Street | No exit number northbound; northbound exit only accessible from A Street | |
| 0.89 | 1A | I-5 north (San Diego Freeway) / 4th Avenue – Los Angeles | Southbound exit is part of exit 1B | |
| 0.89 | 1B | I-5 south (San Diego Freeway) / Park Boulevard | Southbound exit and northbound entrance | |
| 1.62 | 1B | Quince Street – Balboa Park | Northbound exit only | |
| 1.80 | 1C | Richmond Street – San Diego Zoo, Museums | Northbound exit only | |
| 2.49 | 2A | Robinson Avenue | Northbound exit and southbound entrance | |
| 2.75 | 2A | Washington Street east (I-8 Bus.) | Signed as exit 2B northbound | |
| 2.75 | 2B | Washington Street west (I-8 Bus.) | No northbound exit | |
| 2.98 | 2C | University Avenue | No northbound exit | |
| 3.74 | 3 | I-8 / Hotel Circle – El Centro, Beaches | Signed as exits 3A (east) and 3B (west) | |
| 4.37 | 4 | Friars Road | Northbound exit is part of exit 3B | |
| 5.79 | 5 | Genesee Avenue | Signed as exits 5A (east) and 5B (west) northbound | |
| 6.54 | 6 | Mesa College Drive, Kearny Villa Road | Northbound exit and southbound entrance | |
| 7.04 | 7A | I-805 north (Jacob Dekema Freeway) – Los Angeles | Northbound exit and southbound entrance | |
| 7.04 | 7A | I-805 south (Jacob Dekema Freeway) | Southbound exit and northbound entrance | |
| 8.01 | 7B | Balboa Avenue | Former SR 274 | |
| 8.81 | 8 | Clairemont Mesa Boulevard | ||
| 9.55 | 9A | SR 52 east | Northbound exit and southbound entrance | |
| 9.55 | 9B | SR 52 west | Signed as exit 9 southbound; no northbound entrance | |
| R10.84 | 10 | Kearny Villa Road | ||
| R11.66 | I-15 north (Escondido Freeway) – Riverside | Northbound exit and southbound entrance | ||
| 1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi Concurrency terminus • Closed/Former • Incomplete access • Unopened |
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