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Route 66 Wednesdays; Pasadena to Cajon Pass

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This week I look back at the old section of US Route 66 from the city of Pasadena east to Cajon Pass.


Essentially the historic routing of US 66 from Pasadena in Los Angeles County east through to Cajon Pass in San Bernardino County was the following:

Pasadena

-  East on Colorado Boulevard.

Arcadia

-  East on Colorado Boulevard, Colorado Place, and Huntington Drive.

Monrovia

-  East on Huntington Drive

Duarte

-  East on Huntington Drive

Azusa

-  East on Foothill Boulevard

Glendora

-  East on Foothill Boulevard

San Dimas

-  East on Foothill Boulevard

La Verne

-  East on Foothill Boulevard

Claremont

-  East on Foothill Boulevard to the San Bernardino County Line

Upland

-  East on Foothill Boulevard

Rancho Cucamonga

-  East on Foothill Boulevard

Fontana

-  East on Foothill Boulevard

Rialto

-  East on Foothill Boulevard

San Bernardino

-  East on 5th Street

-  North on Mount Vernon Avenue

-  Northwest on Cajon Boulevard


I believe there was some earlier minor alignment changes on US 66 from Pasadena eastward but essentially everything described above can be seen on the following maps:

1935 California Division of Highways Map of the City of Los Angeles

1935 California Divisions of Highways Map of San Bernardino County

1938 State Highway Map

Essentially everything with US 66 was pretty much the same from Pasadena to Cajon Pass until the route was kicked out of California in 1972.  The truncation history of US 66 can be seen on USends.com here:

US Route 66 endpoints

Much of US 66 between Pasadena and Cajon Pass became CA 66 after 1972.  CA 66 can be seen on the 1975 State Highway Map running between what is now modern CA 210 and I-215:

1975 State Highway Map

CAhighways.org has a detailed history on CA 66:

CAhighways.org on CA 66

Today CA 66 is barely signed if at all, that wasn't the case back in 2012 when I found this shield at the corner of H Street and 5th Street in San Bernardino.



The Google Street Vehicle Image shows that this shield disappeared some time between 2012 and 2015.

Google Street Vehicle H Street/5th Street

At the corner of 14th Street and E Street in San Bernardino is the Historic McDonald's Museum.  I'm to understand the museum is on the site of the original McDonald's but it is much more of a Route 66 museum.  I want to say it was only $2-$3 dollars to enter the museum and it was worth the price with the classic shields on display.


There isn't much on the surface routes between Pasadena and San Bernardino that really dates back to the classic highway era.  When I worked in the Inland Empire I often had to go to LAX to pick people up from the airport.  Usually the traffic was so bad that I had to bail off of I-10 or I-210 onto the surface roads.  Surprisingly old Route 66 was actually a very decent alternative during a busy rush hour, I want to say that I usually jumped on Foothill Boulevard just east of CA 57 in most instances.  I'd like to re-photograph the area as I didn't think most of my pictures didn't really hold up over time.

As for Cajon Pass, it is really worth checking out.  In 2012 on a small segment of Cajon Boulevard was open west of I-15 between exit 129 and exit 123.  The expressway alignment was butchered by barriers and cut-off completely south of Kenwood Avenue.











I want to say that Cajon Boulevard was reopened as a through route to exit 129 from downtown San Bernardino last year.  I haven't been back to check out the freshly repaired roadway, but it does appear to be a partially restored road with a new segment traversing under I-15.

I used to also have pictures of the Summit Inn at the top of Cajon Pass before it burned down last year.

Summit Inn Burns

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