Skip to main content

California State Route 165

In December of 2017 I drove the entirety of California State Route 165.


CA 165 is a 38 mile north/south state highway traveling from CA 99 in Turlock to I-5 south of Los Banos.



Part 1; a drive on California State Route 165

My approach to CA 165 southbound was from CA 99 in Turlock.


From the Lander Avenue Exit traffic can turn left for Signed County Route J14 north and right for CA 165 south.


South of Turlock CA 165 runs on Lander Avenue.  All of CA 165 is designated as a Safety Corridor and has heavy truck traffic between CA 99 in Turlock south to CA 152/33 in Los Banos.




Just north of Hilmar CA 165 exits Stanislaus County and enters Merced county.


Hilmar is 4 miles south of Turlock on CA 165.  Hilmar dates back to the late 1910s and once the southern terminus of the now defunct Tidewater Southern Railway.   The community is mostly known today as the location of the Hilmar Cheese Company which just so happens to be located on CA 165.



South of Hilmar CA 165 twists around farm parcels on an approach to a bridge over the Merced River.


South of the Merced River CA 165 briefly multiplexes the east/west County Route J18 from River Road to Westside Boulevard.



CA 165 south next enters Stevinson which apparently dates back to the 1900s.


CA 165 junctions CA 140 in Stevinson.



South of CA 140 the routing of CA 165 crosses the San Joaquin River and enters Great Grass Lands State Park and San Luis National Wildlife Refuge.  Both parks are undeveloped marsh land along the San Joaquin River and a fairly decent analog as to how wet San Joaquin Valley used to be.  Despite the low rain levels this winter there was still plenty of water pouring into the surrounding landscape from the San Joaquin River.




CA 165 enters Los Banos and junctions CA 152/33 at Pacheco Boulevard.  CA 165 south of CA 152/33 is signed as "To I-5."




CA 165 south of Los Banos is signed on Mercey Springs Road which I find to be odd since there doesn't appear to be a through route connecting to the actual springs.  I did find this nice little wood/concrete bridge south of Los Banos on CA 165 on the Main Canal.  The bridge date is listed as being completed in 1949 which was well before the state was involved in maintenance.





Approaching the Diablo Range CA 165 crosses the California Aqueduct San Luis Canal.


CA 165 ends at I-5 and has a proper shield/end placard combination.




Part 2; the history of the California State Route 165 designation

The current CA 165 is the second highway to carry the designation.  The original CA 165 was a temporary connecting route between I-5 and CA 60 via Indian Street in Los Angeles County.  According to CAhighways the original CA 165 defined in 1963 and was part of Legislative Route 230 which was added to the State Highway System in 1947.  The first CA 165 can be seen on the 1964 Division of Highways State Map.


The original CA 165 was deleted in 1965 according to CAhighways.  CA 165 was recycled into the current highway in 1970.  By 1975 CA 165 is shown complete on the Caltrans State Highway Map from CA 140 south to I-5.



CA 165 appears on the 1979 Caltrans State Highway Map as a completed route from CA 140 north to CA 99.


The current CA 165 between CA 99 in Turlock and CA 33/152 in Los Banos was originally part of Signed County Route J14.  J14 appears on the 1966 Goshua Highway Map signed between Turlock and Los Banos.


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

US Route 62 and US Route 180 in the Guadalupe Mountains

US Route 62/US Route 180 between El Paso, Texas and Carlsbad, New Mexico passes through the Guadalupe Mountains.  The Guadalupe Mountains comprise the highest peaks of Texas which are largely protected as part Guadalupe Mountains National Park.  The automotive highway through the Guadalupe Mountains was constructed in the late 1920s as part of Texas State Road 54.  US Route 62 was extended from Carlsbad through the Guadalupe Mountains to El Paso during 1932.  US Route 62 was joined in the Guadalupe Mountains by US Route 180 in 1943.  The Guadalupe Mountains comprise a portion of the 130 mile "No Services" zone on US Route 62/US Route 180 between El Paso-Carlsbad. Part 1; the history of US Route 62 and US Route 180 in the Guadalupe Mountains The Guadalupe Mountains lie within the states of Texas and New Mexico.  The Guadalupe Mountains essentially is a southern extension of the larger Rocky Mountains.  The Guadalupe Mountains is the highest range in Texas with the peak elevati

Paper Highways; unbuilt California State Route 100 in Santa Cruz

This edition of Paper Highways examines the unbuilt California State Route 100 in Santa Cruz. The History of Unbuilt California State Route 100 The route that became CA 100 was added to the State Inventory in 1959 as part of the Freeway & Expressway System as Legislative Route 287 .  According to CAhighways.org the initial definition of LRN 287 had it begin at LRN 5 (CA 17) and was defined over the below alignment to LRN 56 (CA 1) through downtown Santa Cruz. -  Ocean Street -  2nd Street -  Chestnut Street For context the above alignment would required tearing down a large part of the densely populated Santa Cruz.  A modern Google imagine immediately reveals how crazy an alignment following Ocean Street, 2nd Street, and Chestnut Street would have been. LRN 287 first appears on the 1960 Division of Highways State Map . In 1961 the definition of LRN 287 was generalized to; from LRN 5 via the beach area in Santa Cruz to LRN 56 west of the San Lorenzo River. 

New Mexico State Road 7 (Carlsbad Caverns Highway)

New Mexico State Road 7 is approximately a seven-mile highway in the Guadalupe Mountains of Eddy County. New Mexico State Road 7 connects US Route 62/US Route 180 at Whites City to the visitor center of Carlsbad Caverns National Park via Walnut Canyon. The so-called Carlsbad Caverns Highway to the National Park visitor center complex was constructed following the designation of the namesake National Monument in 1923. The current iteration of New Mexico State Road 7 was designated by the New Mexico State Highway Commission during June 1929. A proposal once was once floated to connect New Mexico State Road 7 to a cavern drive which would have been blasted into Big Room. Part 1; the history of New Mexico State Road 7 What are now Carlsbad Caverns was explored in the Guadalupe Mountains of Eddy County by local Jim White during 1898.  White explored the caverns via a homemade ladder and named several of the more notable rooms.  The name "Carlsbad Caverns" was derived from the