California State Route 58

State Route 58
SR 58 highlighted in red
Route information
Defined by Streets and Highways Code § 358
Maintained by Caltrans
Length:	241 mi[1] (388 km)
Existed:	1964 – present
Major junctions
West end:	US 101 near Santa Margarita
	I-5 near Buttonwillow SR 99 in Bakersfield SR 14 near Mojave US 395 near Kramer Jct
East end:	I-15 in Barstow
Location
Counties:	Santa Barbara, Kern, San Bernardino
Highway system
State highways in California Interstate U.S. State Pre-1964 History Unconstructed Deleted Freeway Scenic ← SR 57 SR 59 →

State Route 58 (SR 58) is an east-west highway across the California Coast Ranges, the southern San Joaquin Valley, the Tehachapi Mountains, which border the southern Sierra Nevada, and the Mojave Desert. It runs between its western terminus near Santa Margarita (junction U.S. Route 101) and its eastern terminus at Barstow (junction Interstate 15). It has junctions with Interstate 5 near Buttonwillow, State Route 99 in Bakersfield, State Route 202 in Tehachapi, State Route 14 in Mojave, and U.S. Route 395 at Kramer Junction. Route 58 gives good access to Edwards Air Force Base. At various points it is known as the Calf Canyon Highway, Carrisa Highway, Bakersfield-McKittrick Highway, Rosa Parks Highway, Rosedale Highway, Barstow-Bakersfield Highway, Kern County Korean War Veterans Memorial Highway, and Mojave-Barstow Highway.

Route description

Spring Wildflowers off SR 58 near California Valley, CA, 2010

This route is part of the California Freeway and Expressway System^[2] and is eligible for the State Scenic Highway System.^[3] However, it is not a scenic highway as designated by Caltrans.^[4]

Route 58 has several names throughout its length, including the Blue Star Memorial Highway (for its entire length); the Kern County Korean War Veterans Memorial Highway, for the section from Route 184 to the Kern County/San Bernardino County Line; and the Rosa Parks Highway, for the section between Route 99 and Route 184. The Korean War Veterans name honors the approximately 8,120 veterans from Kern County, while the section named for Rosa Parks honors the civil rights activist.^[5] The portion of the 58 from Barstow to Bakersfield is sometimes referred to as the Barstow–Bakersfield Highway.^[6]

Route 58 between Santa Margarita and Buttonwillow is a winding mountain road through a thinly populated area. From its westernmost terminus at US 101 near Santa Margarita, Route 58 heads east along the former US 101 (El Camino Real) for one mile, where Route 58 splits from El Camino Real. Route 58 then heads east and up the winding mountain road, passing through thinly populated area and an intersection with State Route 229. Alternatives such as State Route 46 to the north or State Route 166 to the south are recommended, as much of this section of Route 58 is prohibited to truck traffic. However, this section of SR 58 does pass through the Carrizo Plain, which is known for its scenic beauty and geological features, including the San Andreas Fault. Route 58 then takes another winding road before joining with State Route 33 in the small town of McKittrick. Route 33 then splits at the north end of McKittrick before Route 58 then enters another, but brief winding road. Route 58 then proceeds northeast for several miles before changing to an east-west alignment and reaching Buttonwillow. A few miles later, Route 58 has an interchange with Interstate 5. Approximately 7 miles (11 km) east of Interstate 5, Route 58 briefly joins State Route 43 before continuing east and eventually reaching the Bakersfield city limits.

Route 58 joins State Route 99 for about 1 mile (1.6 km) through Bakersfield before splitting as a freeway and heading east. Route 58 briefly enters expressway status with two at-grade intersections in the Caliente area before resuming freeway status east of Caliente. Route 58 then reaches the Tehachapi city limits and traverses the Tehachapi Pass before dropping out of the Tehachapi Mountains into the Antelope Valley at the town of Mojave. Shortly after an intersection with State Route 14, Route 58 reverts to an expressway east of Mojave before resuming freeway status bypassing North Edwards, Edwards Air Force Base, and Boron. East of Boron, Route 58 reverts to one lane in each direction before an at-grade signal intersection with U.S. Route 395. Approximately 10 miles (16 km) east of Route 395, Route 58 resumes expressway status for 9 miles (14 km) with two lanes in each direction until a few miles west of the town of Hinkley, where it once again reverts to one lane in each direction for another 8 miles (13 km). Route 58 then changes from a two-lane road to a four-lane freeway just before reaching the easternmost terminus at Interstate 15 near Barstow. Construction started in April 2016 on a freeway bypass of this section, and is scheduled to be completed in early 2017.^[7]

Westbound SR 58 near Mojave

Route 58 is a freeway from its south junction with Route 99 in Bakersfield (West Bakersfield Interchange) to several miles east of Mojave (a freeway bypass of Mojave was completed in 2004), except for two grade-level intersections two miles (3.2 km) apart in the Caliente area. There is another grade level intersection east of Mojave and west of the main Edwards AFB north gate exit where California City Blvd. intersects it. Other freeway segments are bypasses of Boron and Barstow. Except for the Boron freeway bypass, SR 58 is primarily a four lane expressway (two lanes per direction) just east of Boron up to the Barstow bypass segment with the exception of the portion of Route 58 between Boron and approximately 5 miles (8.0 km) east of Kramer Junction, which is currently two-lane highway and is not yet expressway.

Route 58 takes the southernmost route through the Sierra Nevada and allows motorists to travel between Northern California and points to the east, such as Las Vegas and Interstate 40 without having to face the extreme traffic congestion of greater Los Angeles. Route 58 and Interstate 80 are the only freeways to cross the Sierra Nevada. The route also offers an alternative to the often treacherous Donner Pass to truckers traveling from the San Francisco Bay Area to points eastward; prior to the construction of Interstate 80, the road (as U.S. Route 466) was heavily used for this purpose.

History

Westbound 58 in the Temblor Range, descending into the Carrizo Plain

A truck passes eastbound along the busy Highway 58 through the Antelope Valley. The Tehachapi Mountains are visible in the distance.

Route 58 did not exist as a California sign route until 1964 although previous to 1964 it was part of California legislative route 58. The other part of legislative route 58 is California's segment of Interstate 40; previous to 1964 it was a segment of US 66.

Prior to 1964 the segment of SR 58 between Bakersfield and Barstow was signed U.S. Route 466. Also at that time, the segment of Route 58 between State Route 33 at McKittrick and Route 99 in Bakersfield was signed as State Route 178. Although it was proposed for signing as Route 178 in 1934, the segment of legislative route 58 between US 101 near Santa Margarita and State Route 33 at McKittrick was not signed prior to 1964.

Note that US 466 was co-signed with US 99, now State Route 99, between Bakersfield and Famoso Junction. Between Famoso and US 101 at Paso Robles, US 466 largely became SR 46.

The eastern terminus was originally at I-15 north of Barstow. Route 58 was rerouted to I-15 in Barstow south of the I-40 interchange. The former eastern terminus is now known as "Old Highway 58."

Future

California has long sought federal funds for an extension of Interstate 40 west of Barstow; any such extension would use the general path of Route 58, if not existing highway, as far west at least as Bakersfield, whose rapid growth has made it a significant generator of traffic in its own right. The desired highway is being built piecemeal as Caltrans has funds available, at least between Mojave and Barstow. Two at-grade intersections within 1 ¹⁄₂ miles (2.4 km) of each other around mile 76, roughly halfway between Bakersfield and Mojave (Bealeville Road and California State Route 223), would have to be either closed or upgraded to interchanges for the whole of Route 58 to be up to Interstate standards, and the at-grade junction of Route 58 and US 395 in Kramer Junction is further complicated by the nearby BNSF Railway Mojave-Barstow line which Route 58 also crosses at grade 2 ¹⁄₂ miles (4.0 km) to the west.

In western Bakersfield, the Westside Parkway, a freeway running from intersection of Heath Road and Stockdale Highway east to Truxtun Avenue, was completed in April 15, 2015.^[8] Opening in stages since 2013, the road is currently under the jurisdiction of Bakersfield. As part of the Centennial Corridor project, Caltrans plans to build an eastern extension of the Westside Parkway to the current junction of Highways 58 and 99 at the West Bakersfield Interchange, but construction remains controversial since it would displace dozens of homes and businesses.^[9] Once the connection to Highway 99 is completed, Highway 58 will then be rerouted onto Stockdale Highway and the Westside Parkway (and the city transferring the latter's jurisdiction to Caltrans), with further plans to upgrade Stockdale Highway from Heath Road west to Interstate 5 as a freeway.^[10]

The San Luis Obispo Planning Commission is considering a permit application for the California Valley Solar Ranch and has released a Draft Environmental Impact Report with a public comment period closure date November 1, 2010. Among the points raised in the DEIR is the aesthetic impact on the viewshed which would be particularly troublesome if large industrial scale arrays of solar panels are placed north of Route 58 in the section of road just east of Soda Lake Road.

Business loops

Mojave

State Route 58 Business
Location:	Mojave, California

State Route 58 Business is a business route of California State Route 58 in Mojave. It provides access to downtown Mojave as Mojave-Barstow Highway. It also follows the former routing of U.S. Route 6 and U.S. Route 466.

Tehachapi

State Route 58 Business
Location:	Tehachapi, California

State Route 58 Business is a business route of California State Route 58 in Tehachapi. It provides access to downtown Tehachapi as Tehachapi Boulevard. It also follows the former routing of U.S. Route 466 and is overlapped with State Route 202.

Boron

State Route 58 Business
Location:	Boron, California

State Route 58 Business is a business route of California State Route 58 in Boron. It provides access to downtown Boron as Twenty Mule Team Road. It also follows the former routing of U.S. Route 466. It is signed from westbound Route 58 approaching the San Bernardino–Kern county line and the beginning of the Boron bypass.

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).^[11] Segments that remain unconstructed or have been relinquished to local control may be omitted. The numbers reset at county lines; the start and end postmiles in each county are given in the county column.

County	Location	Postmile [11][12][13]	Exit [14][15]	Destinations	Notes
San Luis Obispo SLO 0.00-57.15	Atascadero	0.00		US 101 – San Francisco, San Luis Obispo, Los Angeles	Interchange; west end of SR 58; US 101 exit 211
	​	6.89		SR 229 north – Creston, Shandon
	​	45.20		Soda Lake Road – California Valley, Soda Lake	Serves Carrizo Plain National Monument
Kern KER 0.00-R143.86	McKittrick	15.41 33.45[N 1]		SR 33 south – Taft	West end of SR 33 overlap
		34.29[N 1] 15.42		SR 33 north – Coalinga	East end of SR 33 overlap
	Buttonwillow	27.28		To I-5 north / Buttonwillow Drive
	​	31.64		I-5 – Sacramento, Los Angeles	Interchange; I-5 exit 257
	​	39.96 8.11[N 2]		SR 43 north (Enos Lane) – Shafter, Wasco	West end of SR 43 overlap
	​	9.16[N 2] 39.97		SR 43 south (Enos Lane) / Sidding Road – Taft	East end of SR 43 overlap
	Bakersfield	51.81 25.65[N 3]		SR 99 north / SR 178 east (24th Street) – Fresno, Sacramento, Downtown Bakersfield	Interchange; west end of SR 99 overlap; SR 99 north exit 26A, south exit 26
		​	West end of freeway
		24.60[N 3]	25C	California Avenue – Civic Center	Exit number follows SR 99
		T52.14– R52.36	110A	SR 99 south / Real Road – Los Angeles	East end of SR 99 overlap; Real Rd. not signed eastbound; left exit eastbound; SR 99 exit 24
		23.62[N 3]	—	Stockdale Highway, Brundage Lane	Eastbound exit only
		R53.39– R53.52	111	Chester Avenue, H Street
		R54.42	112	SR 204 (Union Avenue)	Former US 99
		R55.40	113	Cottonwood Road
		R56.41	114	Mt. Vernon Avenue
	​	R57.41	115	Oswell Street
	​	R58.44	116	Fairfax Road
	​	R59.44	117	SR 184 (Weedpatch Highway, Morning Drive) – Lamont	Signed as Weedpatch Hwy. eastbound, Morning Dr. westbound
	​	R61.51	119	Edison Road – Edison
	​	R63.58	121	Comanche Drive – Arvin, Edison
	​	R65.68	123	Tower Line Road
	​	69.75	127	General Beale Road
	​	​	East end of freeway
	​	75.63		SR 223 west – Arvin
	​	​	West end of freeway
	​	80.24	137	Hart Flat
	​	82.06	139	Keene
	​	R85.15	142	Broome Road
	​	R90.72	148	SR 202 (Tucker Road) – Tehachapi
	Tehachapi	R91.67	149	Mill Street
	​	R94.16	151	Tehachapi Boulevard (SR 58 Bus.)
	​	R99.49	156	Sand Canyon Road – Monolith
	​	R101.56	159	Cameron Road
	​	R108.90	165	SR 58 Bus. east – Mojave	Former US 466 east / SR 58 east
	​	R111.13	167	SR 14 – Bishop, Mojave	SR 14 exit 71; former US 6
	​	R116.22	172	SR 58 Bus. west – Mojave	Former US 466 west / SR 58 west
	​	​		25th Street	At-grade intersection; east end of freeway
	​	R127.63		California City Boulevard – California City	At-grade intersection; west end of freeway
	​	R129.67	186	Edwards AFB
	​	R132.04	188	Clay Mine Road
	​	R136.40	193	Twenty Mule Team Road	Former US 466 east
	​	R137.77	194	Gephart Road, Rocket Site Road
	​	R139.00	195	Boron Rest Area
	​	R139.80	196	Borax Road (SR 58 Bus. east), Rocket Site Road
	Boron	R142.87	199	Boron Avenue – Boron
San Bernardino SBD R0.00-R34.81	​	​	East end of freeway
	​	​		Twenty Mule Team Road (SR 58 Bus. west)	Former US 466 west
	Kramer Junction	5.40		US 395 – Bishop, San Bernardino
	​	​	West end of freeway
	Barstow	R33.65	—	CR 66 (West Main Street) to I-15 Bus. – Barstow	Former US 66 / US 91
		R34.81	—	I-15 (Mojave Freeway) to I-40 – Las Vegas, San Bernardino	Eastbound exit and westbound entrance; east end of SR 58; I-15 exit 179
1.000 mi = 1.609 km; 1.000 km = 0.621 mi       Concurrency terminus       Incomplete access

See also

• California Roads portal

References

External links

Wikimedia Commons has media related to State highways in California.

Route map: Google

• Caltrans: Route 58 highway conditions
• California Highways State Route 58
• California @ AARoads.com - State Route 58