California State Route 204

State Route 204
Map of Kern County in south central California with SR 204 highlighted in red
Route information
Defined by Streets and Highways Code § 504
Maintained by Caltrans
Length:	6.76 mi[1] (10.88 km)
Existed:	1933 as LRN 141, 1964 as SR 204 – present
Major junctions
South end:	SR 58 in Bakersfield
	SR 178 in Bakersfield
North end:	SR 99 near Oildale
Location
Counties:	Kern
Highway system
State highways in California List Pre-1964 History Unconstructed Deleted Freeway Scenic ← SR 203 I‑205 →

State Route 204 is a short state highway in the Bakersfield, California, United States area. It connects SR 99 and SR 58 with downtown. It also connects Bakersfield's three major freeways together (SR 99, SR 58, and SR 178). Only the north 1.4 miles has been built to freeway standards; the rest is a six-lane arterial road.

All of SR 204 is a part of State Route 99 Business. The business route also continues south, where it meets with SR 99.

Route description

SR 204 begins as a six-lane arterial at SR 58 as Union Avenue. From there, the route travels north on Union Avenue. After intersecting California Avenue., SR 204 crosses underneath the Truxtun Avenue. interchange. At the Union Avenue. Y intersection, the route turns northwest as Golden State Avenue. It then crosses SR 178 and Garces Circle, which provides access to Downtown Bakersfield. The route then crosses F St, at which point it becomes a four-lane freeway. The route crosses its only numbered interchange at Airport Dr, and then terminates at SR 99.

History

Before the 1964 renumbering, State Route 204 was known as Legislative Route 141. It was created in 1933 as a western bypass to Bakersfield via Brundage Ln. and Oak St. At that time, US 99 (defined by the State as Legislative Route 4) ran through Bakersfield via Chester Ave, and through Oildale (north of Bakersfield) via Roberts Ln. LRN 141 started at the intersection of US 99 (Chester Ave.) and Brundage Ln, where it traveled west to Oak St. At Oak St, the route turned north, crossed the Kern River, and terminated at US 99 (Roberts Ln.) near Beardsley School in Oildale.^[2]

In the mid 1930s US 99 was moved from Chester Ave./Roberts Ln. to Union Ave./Golden State Ave. During the late 1950s, the Union Ave. Wye, Truxton Ave. Interchange, and Chester Ave. Interchange (with the bridge over Garces Circle) were constructed to improve traffic flow. However, when the US 99 freeway bypass was constructed in 1963, Caltrans decided to use the Oak St. route around the city instead of the Union Ave. route through the city. As a result, the route designations were swapped. The freeway parallel to Oak St. would become US 99. LRN 141 would become the US 99 bypass via Brundage Ln, Union Ave, and Golden State Ave. That designation never took effect because in 1963 all of the state highways were renumbered. As a result, LRN 141 became SR 204. Its definition was also simplified to bypass SR 99 via Union Ave. and Golden State Ave, although that change lengthened the route. In 1978, the route was shortened to connect SR 58 to SR 99 via Union Ave. and Golden State Ave, which was close to the original 1963 definition.^[2][3]

Future

Bakersfield has considered several times to convert all or part of SR 204 to a freeway. In 1986, part of the route was considered as the western extension of SR 178.^[4] However, that study (which was not a formal route adoption study) recommended another alignment for the freeway. In 2001, Bakersfield’s system study proposed converting all of SR 204 to a freeway as part of the western extension of SR 58.^[5] However, that proposal has been dropped in favor of the Westside Parkway connection (known as the Centennial Corridor).

Major intersections

Except where prefixed with a letter, postmiles were measured on the road as it was in 1964, based on the alignment that existed at the time, and do not necessarily reflect current mileage. R reflects a realignment in the route since then, M indicates a second realignment, L refers an overlap due to a correction or change, and T indicates postmiles classified as temporary (for a full list of prefixes, see the list of postmile definitions).^[6] Segments that remain unconstructed or have been relinquished to local control may be omitted. The entire route is in Bakersfield, Kern County.

Postmile [6][7][8]	Exit [9]	Destinations	Notes
0.00		SR 99 Bus. south (Union Avenue)	Continuation beyond SR 58; former US 99 south / SR 204 south
R0.00– R0.10		SR 58 to SR 99 – Mojave	Interchange; south end of SR 99 Bus. overlap; south end of SR 204; SR 58 exit 112
2.07		Brundage Lane
3.09		California Avenue, East California Avenue
3.41		Truxtun Avenue	Interchange
3.76		Union Avenue to SR 178
4.06		24th Street to SR 178 west
4.24		SR 178 east – Lake Isabella	Interchange; southbound exit and northbound entrance; SR 178 west exit 2A
4.88		Chester Avenue – Oildale	Interchange
	South end of freeway
6.46	6	To SR 99 south / Airport Drive, Buck Owens Boulevard	Airport Drive serves Meadows Field Airport
6.75		SR 99 north – Fresno, Sacramento	Northbound exit and southbound entrance; north end of SR 99 Bus. overlap; north end of SR 204; former US 99 north / US 466 west; SR 99 south exit 27
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus       Incomplete access

See also

• California Roads portal

References

External links