Skip to main content

Former California State Route 231

This past month I drove the entirety of former California State Route 231 west of Mecca in Coachella Valley of Riverside County.


Former CA 231 was an approximately 4 mile State Highway which connected former CA 195 west on 66th Avenue to former CA 86 in Valerie.



Part 1; history of the California State Route 231 designation

The first CA 231 was initially added to the State Highway System as Legislative Route 204 in 1935 according to CAhighways.  The future route of LRN 204 appears on the 1935 Division of Highways Map of Riverside County as a heavily traveled County Highway.  


LRN 204 first appears on the 1936-37 Division of Highways Map aligned between US 99 and CA 111.



During the 1964 Highway Renumbering LRN 204 was reassigned as CA 231.  CA 231 first appears routed from CA 86 and CA 195 on the 1964 Division of Highways Map.


According to CAhighways the first CA 231 was deleted from the State Highway System in 1972.  The 1975 Caltrans State Highway Map is the first not to display the original CA 231.


CA 231 was recycled as a designation for a new route between I-5 in Tustin and CA 91 in Irvine according to CAhighways.  The second CA 231 designation first appears on the 1990 Caltrans State Highway Map.


According to CAhighways the proposed route of the second CA 231 was extended via transfer from CA 241 in 1991.  Part of the original planned route of the second CA 231 split into the planned alignment of the second CA 261.  In 1996 the second CA 231 designation was deleted and it's future alignment was eventually assumed by CA 241 and CA 133.


Part 2; a drive on the original California State Route 231

My approach to former CA 231 was via what was CA 195 on 66th Avenue west of Mecca.  At Pierce Street CA 195 would have swung southward whereas CA 231 continued westward on 66th Avenue.   Former CA 231 westward on 66th Avenue faces the Santa Rosa Mountains.



Former CA 231 west on 66th Avenue passes by the Torres-Martinez Indian Reservation at Martinez Road.  The Torres-Martinez Reservation is home to the Cahuilla Tribe and the small community of Martinez was a stage stop on the Bradshaw Trail.





Former CA 231 would have continued west on 66th Avenue to Harrison Street in Valerie.  Harrison Street once carried US Route 99 before the 1964 State Highway Renumbering and CA 86 until it was moved to an expressway grade.




Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Abandoned US Route 40 in the Truckee River Canyon

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...

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

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...

Former California State Route 41 past Bates Station

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...