| State Route 119 | ||||
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Taft Highway | ||||
| Route information | ||||
| Defined by S&HC § 419 | ||||
| Maintained by Caltrans | ||||
| Length: | 29.783 mi[1] (47.931 km) | |||
| Existed: | 1934 as US 399 1964 as SR 119 – present |
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| Major junctions | ||||
| West end: | SR 33 in Taft | |||
| I-5 near Old River | ||||
| East end: | SR 99 near Bakersfield | |||
| Highway system | ||||
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State highways in California(list • pre-1964)
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State Route 119 (SR 119) is a state highway in the U.S. state of California that runs in an east–west direction from State Route 33 in Taft to State Route 99 just south of Bakersfield. SR 119 is part of the former U.S. Route 399, which ran along SR 33 and State Route 166 before ending at SR 99 (known as US 99 before 1964). Today, it serves as the main connector between the extreme southewestern corner of the San Joaquin Valley and Bakersfield.
Highway 119 is commonly known as Taft Highway. It passes through some of Kern County's most famous oil fields, including the Midway-Sunset, the third-largest oil field in the United States; the Buena Vista Oil Field; and runs adjacent to the Elk Hills Oil Field, formerly the Naval Petroleum Reserve No. 1, infamous as one of the two illicit leases – the other being Teapot Dome – part of the scandal which marred the administration of President Warren G. Harding in the 1920s.
SR 119 starts at SR 33 near the southern end of Taft. It travels north on Taft Hwy. on the eastern edge of the city. Leaving the city, the road continues north through the oil producing foothills of the Western San Joaquin Valley. The road then turns northeast and enters the valley. Here it passes through the towns of Valley Acres and Dustin Acres. Unlike most of the San Joaquin Valley, little farming is done in this portion of the valley. The road then turns east, and crosses I-5. The route enters agricultural land as it continues east. It then terminates at SR 99 south of Bakersfield. Taft Hwy. continues as a county road to Union Ave. (old US 99 and SR 99 Bus.), where it becomes Panama Ln.
SR 119 was created in 1933 as a state route as Legislative Route 140. Originally, its definition was from Taft to LRN 4 (currently SR 99) in Greenfield (not to be confused with Greenfield in Monterey County), and from LRN 4 to LRN 58 (currently SR 58) via Arvin. The western portion was signed as part of US 399, the eastern portion was unsigned. In 1959, the eastern portion was dropped from LRN 140 and became its own state route, defined as LRN 264, and later as the signed route SR 223. After the California renumbering of state routes in 1964, LRN 140 would become SR 119. US 399 was decommissioned that year, so the route was also signed SR 119.[2]
The entire route is in Kern County.
| Location | Postmile [1][3][4] |
Destinations | Notes | |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| Taft | 0.00 | SR 33 – Maricopa | Former US 399 south | |
| 2.14 | Harrison Street – Ford City, Taft | Serves Taft College | ||
| Midway Road – Fellows | ||||
| Elk Hills Road – Buttonwillow | ||||
| R13.29 | Tupman Road – Tupman, Tule Elk Reserve | |||
| 18.17 | SR 43 north (Enos Lane) – Shafter, Wasco | |||
| 19.77 | I-5 – Sacramento, Los Angeles | Interchange | ||
| Old River | Old River Road – Maricopa | |||
| 31.28 | SR 99 | Interchange | ||
| 31.28 | Taft Highway | Continuation beyond SR 99 | ||
| 1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi | ||||