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Old Salinas Highway (former California State Route 68)

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Old Salinas Highway is an approximately one-mile bypassed surface portion of former California State Route 68.  The corridor became part of the State Highway System as Legislative Route Number 117 in 1933 and began to be signed as California State Route 68 in 1961.  What is now Old Salinas Highway would be relinquished following the completion of the California State Route 1 and 68 interchange during the 1967-68 Fiscal Year.  




Part 1; the history of Old Salinas Highway

The Monterey-Salinas Highway was added to the State Highway System as Legislative Route Number 117 (LRN 117) via 1933 Legislative Chapter 767.  The initial definition of LRN 117 was as follows:

"Monterey to LRN 2 (US Route 101) near Salinas." 

LRN 117 originally entered the city of Monterey using Monterey-Salinas Highway and following Fremont Street west to California State Route 1/LRN 56 at Munras Avenue.  This early alignment can be seen on the 1935 Division of Highways map of Monterey County.  


California State Route 1/LRN 56 appears shifted onto Fremont Street from Munras Avenue in downtown Monterey through Seaside on the 1942 Division of Highways Map.  The realignment of California State Route 1/LRN 56 onto Fremont Street eliminated a large bottleneck point in downtown Monterey that would have been an issue on the original highway.  The realignment saw LRN 117 truncated to the intersection of Fremont Street and Monterey-Salinas Highway.  


The 1961 Division of Highways map is the first edition to display California State Route 68 being applied to the corridor of LRN 117.  


As part of the 1964 State Highway Renumbering the Legislative Route Numbers were dropped.  California State Route 68 was extended west from was the terminus of LRN 117 in Monterey along what was LRN 262 to Pacific Grove.  This extension included a multiplex of California State Route 1 from Monterey-Salinas Highway south to Holman Highway.  

The November/December 1965 California Highways and Public Works announced that a new 6.7-mile freeway alignment of California State Route 1 from the southern City Limit of Monterey and Fort Ord as budgeted for the 1967-68 fiscal year.  The new freeway alignment of California State Route 1 included a freeway interchange with California State Route 68 eastbound towards Salinas.


The 1969 Division of Highways State Map shows the California State 1 and 68 interchange complete in Monterey.  The new freeway alignment of California State Route 1 bisected a portion of Fremont Street where California State Route 68 once met it on Monterey-Salinas Highway.  The new interchange saw a portion of the former surface alignment of California State Route 68 south of Mark Thomas Drive relinquished to the city of Monterey.  This relinquished road segment is now Old Salinas Highway. 




Part 2; exploring Old Salinas Highway

From modern westbound California State Route 68 the grade of Old Salinas Highway can be seen next next to the modern highway approaching the California State Route 1 interchange.  


Old Salinas Highway can only be accessed from Mark Thomas Drive.  



Old Salinas Highway continues approximately for about a mile and dead ends at Montsalas Drive.  The roadway shows evidence of Division of Highways style rock cuts and is otherwise unusually wide for a seldom used corridor.  The grade direct lines with the eastbound lanes of the stub freeway of California State Route 68.  








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