Skip to main content

The mystery of the original California State Route 83

By
A recently trip to Riverside County entailed encountering the terminus points of what was the first California State Route 83.  The first CA 83 was one of the shortest lived State Highway designations.


The original CA 83 was aligned on Legislative Route 194 between CA 79 near Aguanga north to US Route 60 in the Moreno Valley Badlands.  CA 83 was not one of the original run of Signed State Routes which were announced in a 1934 Department of Public Works Guide.

LRN 194 was added to the State Highway System in 1933 according to CAhighways.org.  LRN 194 as originally defined beginning at the Descanso-Temecula Road and ending to the north at LRN 19 which was US 60 at the intersection of what is now Gillman Springs Road and Jack Rabbit Trail.  When US 60 was extended into California in 1932 it utilized Jack Rabbit Trail and Gillman Springs Road west from Beaumont to cross the Moreno Valley Badlands.  In 1934 US 70 was co-signed with US 60 over Jack Rabbit Trail and Gillman Springs Road in the Moreno Valley Badlands which can be seen on the 1935 Gousha Highway Map of California. 


By 1936 US 60 had been moved to a new alignment through the Moreno Valley Badlands north of Jack Rabbit Trail and Gillman Springs Road.  US 70 subsequently was shifted to a co-signed route to the north on US 99.  Subsequently Jack Rabbit Trail was relinquished as a State Highway and Gillman Springs Road became an extension of LRN 194.  The new alignment of US 60 through the Moreno Valley Badlands can be seen on the 1936-37 Division of Highways Map of California.  Note; LRN 194 is shown on the 1936-37 State Highway Map as a partially constructed route with a segment of local maintenance.


By 1938 State Maintenance of LRN 194 was complete and the route appears signed as CA 83 for the first time on 1938 Division of Highways Map of California.


Interestingly the first CA 83 did not last long as by 1940 the route is shown to be signed as a realignment of CA 79.  The new alignment of CA 79 is shown replacing CA 83 on the 1940 Division of Highways Map of California.  CA 71 is shown replacing what was CA 79 west from the south terminus of CA 83 towards Temecula.


During the 1964 State Highway Renumbering CA 79 was shifted to a new alignment north of Sanderson Avenue via Lamb Canyon Road to Beaumont.  Former CA 83/CA 79 on Gillman Springs Road subsequently became the first CA 177.  These changes can be seen on 1964 Division of Highways Map of California.


The first CA 177 on Gillman Springs Road was deleted in 1965 according to CAhighways.org.  What had been CA 83/LRN 194 south of Hemet was deleted from the State Highway System the year.  The 1966 Division of Highways Map of California shows CA 79 moved to the west towards Temecula (which ironically put it back on it's original corridor multiplexed with CA 71) onto a new alignment.   

As stated above on my recent trip to Riverside County I encountered both terminus points of what was the first CA 83.  The photo below is from CA 60 (former US 60) westbound in the Moreno Valley Badlands approaching Gillman Springs Road.  US 60 would have looked substantially different in the time of the first CA 83 as it was expanded to a limited access facility in the 1950s.


The photos below are from CA 79 eastbound approaching Sage Road which was the south terminus of the first CA 83.



The designation of CA 83 was recycled during the 1964 State Highway Renumbering as a Route between CA 71 and CA 30.  CAhighways.org has a photo of one of the original CA 83 State Highway shields which can be seen on this Page.

Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Abandoned US Route 40 in the Truckee River Canyon

By
Within the Truckee River Canyon in the Sierra Nevada range numerous abandoned portions of US Route 40 can be found alongside modern Interstate 80.   This segment of highway was opened during 1926 as a bypass of the Dog Valley Grade which carried the early North Lincoln Highway and Victory Highway. The corridor of the Truckee River Canyon State Highway would be assigned as US Route 40 when the US Route System was commissioned during November 1926. During 1958 the segment of Interstate 80 between Boca, California and the Nevada state line was complete. When Interstate 80 opened east of Boca numerous obsolete portions of US Route 40 were abandoned. Some of these abandoned segments have been incorporated into the Tahoe-Pyramid Trail.  Part 1; the history of US Route 40 in the Truckee River Canyon The Truckee River Canyon for centuries has been an established corridor of travel known to native tribes crossing the Sierra Nevada range.  The first documented wagon crossi...
Post a Comment
Read more

Former US Route 50 and the Pioneer Route Lincoln Highway on Johnson's Pass Road

By
Johnson's Pass Road is one of the oldest highway corridors in California.  Johnson's Pass was part of the Lake Tahoe Wagon Road as it was completed during 1856 over the Sierra Nevada.  The pass would later be incorporated into the Pioneer Branch of the Lincoln Highway in 1913 and US Route 50 in 1926.  Johnson's Pass Road would be bypassed by a new alignment of US Route 50 over Echo Summit in 1938.  A replacement of the Meyers Grade east of Johnson's Pass would be opened to traffic in 1947.   Johnson's Pass Road remains accessible to traffic and is still signed by the Lincoln Highway Association.  Pictured as the blog cover is the view from the top of Johnson's Pass Road overlooking modern US Route 50 and Lake Tahoe.   Part 1; the history of Johnson's Pass Much of the history of what become the Lake Tahoe Wagon Road is discussed in the  September 1950 California Highways & Public Works  during its Centennial Edition.  The or...
Post a Comment
Read more

Former California State Route 41 past Bates Station

By
When California State Route 41 was commissioned during August 1934 it was aligned along the then existing Fresno-Yosemite Road north of the San Joaquin River.  Within the Sierra Nevada foothills of Madera County, the original highway alignment ran past Bates Station via what is now Madera County Road 209, part of eastern Road 406 and Road 207.   Bates Station was a stage station plotted during the early 1880s at what was the intersection of the Coarsegold Road and Stockton-Los Angeles Road.   The modern alignment bypassing Bates Station to the east would be reopened to traffic during late 1939.   Part 1; the history of California State Route 41 past Bates Station Bates Station was featured as one of the many 1875-1899 Madera County era towns in the May 21, 1968, Madera Tribune .  Post Office Service at Bates Station is noted to have been established on November 23, 1883 and ran continuously until October 31, 1903.  The postal name was sourced...
Post a Comment
Read more