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California State Route 269

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Back in late April I had a chance to make it out to the Kettleman Hills to clinch California State Route 269.


CA 269 is a 30 mile state highway which has a south terminus at CA 33 in Avenal which a rural community in Kings County. 

 
The first photo is from CA 33 north approaching CA 269 and second is the south terminus of CA 269.



CA 269 is signed on Skyline Boulevard and quickly ascends into the Kettleman Hills which is a small mountain range east of the Diablos.  Huron is 16 miles to the north of Avenal in San Joaquin Valley.



CA 269 is signed as a connecting route to I-5.


Skyline Boulevard is essentially a straight shot over the Kettleman Hills.  There is oil derricks on both sides of the highway along with a decent overlook of the Diablos if you're willing to look for one.




The descent northward towards San Joaquin Valley can really nice looking a clear day.  Weird to think that the endless farm fields used to essentially an inland sea and wetland.




Before the junction with I-5 the route of CA 269 crosses the Avenal Cut-Off Road which essentially a commuter route for state prison workers coming from Lemoore/Hanford to the northeast.


CA 269 crosses I-5, enters Fresno County, and becomes Lassen Avenue.


Huron is still 7 miles to the north and Five Points is 24 miles away.


Jayne Avenue connects to Coalinga to the west.


CA 269 passes through the city of Huron on Lassen Avenue.  Huron dates back to the 1870s as a Southern Pacific Railroad siding but is now one of the poorest communities in the United States with a 39.4% poverty rating back on the 2000 census.



North of Huron CA 269 junctions CA 269.  From here Five Points is only 12 miles to the north.



CA 269 is called the Officer John Palacios Memorial Highway.  Really there isn't much to CA 269 until the north terminus at CA 145 at Five Points.






Five Points apparently was founded some time before World War II as a possible stopping point along the Fresno-Coalinga Road which would eventually become part of CA 145.  It appears that Five Points is named after the five pointed junction of Mount Whitney Avenue, Fresno-Coalinga Road, and Lassen Avenue.  I've never once seen Five Points on any state highway map and it really appears to just have been a collection of bars for the locals to hang out at.





Unlike the vast majority California State Highways CA 269 is a relatively new state road.  The highway alignment was adopted off pre-existing roadways in 1972.   Although adopted in 1972 it does not appear that the entirety of what is now CA 269 was upgraded to state highway standards until sometime between 1978 and 1979.   It appears that the State Highway may have been in part built to service Avenal State Prison which opened in the late 1980s.  The applicable map references can be found below.

1935 Kings County Road Map


1935 Fresno County Road Map


1975 State Highway Map


1977 State Highway Map


1979 state Highway Map



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