California State Route 77; the real "Shortest Signed" State Highway

Over the last two weeks I visited almost every State Highway in the San Francisco Bay Area. The shortest State Highway by a large margin in the Bay Area is California State Route 77.

CA 77 is presently only 0.45 miles in length and is located entirely within the City of Oakland. CA 77 begins at Interstate 880 and heads eastward on 42nd Avenue to CA 185 on 14th Street.

As presently completed CA 77 would rank as the fourth shortest State Highway only behind CA 225, CA 275 and CA 283.

CAhighways.org list of Shortest State Highways

CA 77 presently has a 13.4 mile portion that has not been constructed. CA 77 as originally envisioned would have continued northeast towards Concord and would have junctions with; I-580, unbuilt CA 93, CA 24, I-680 and CA 242. According to CAhighways.org the present route of CA 77 was designated as Legislative Route Number 233 which was approved by the State Legislature in 1953. The legislative description of LRN 233 was changed to LRN 235 by 1957.

CAhighways.org on CA 77

CAhighways.org on LRN 235

The path of LRN 233 first appears on the 1954 State Highway Map City Insert.

The designation of LRN 235 replaces LRN 233 on the 1958 State Highway Map City Insert.

By 1963 the portion of LRN 235 between CA 17 on the Nimitz Freeway (current I-880) and LRN 105 (present CA 185) is shown completed.

During the 1964 State Highway Renumbering LRN 235 was reassigned as CA 77.

According to CA 77 the planned route of CA 77 was cut back to CA 24 in Layayette by 1975. This is reflected on the 1977 State Highway Map City Insert.

Note; as completed in 1963 the configuration of LRN 235/CA 77 was a freeway with free flowing ramps to/from CA 17/I-880 northbound. Said ramps were reconfigured in 2012 into the at-grade ramps present at the western terminus of CA 77.

Access to CA 77 can be obtained from I-880 via Exit 38. Oddly High Street is signed from I-880 and not 42nd Avenue even though that is the direct connection. From I-880 there is not CA 77 signage, the downpour was about as miserable as it looks.

From the exit ramp CA 77 begins with a left hand turn onto 42nd Avenue. Again there is no CA 77 shields to be found.

CA 77 east travels under both travel lanes of I-880 and essentially is limited access (albeit not a freeway).

Between the northbound lanes of I-880 and on-ramp from Coliseum Way the first CA 77 reassurance shield appears. CA 77 east even features an off-ramp to 12th Street which can be seen in the second photo below.

The CA 77 reassurance shield makes it the real "shortest" signed State Highway and not CA 153 which is often proclaimed as such. My previous blog entry on CA 153 can be found below.

California State Route 153; the supposedly shortest State Highway

CA 77 east even has a second reassurance shield before it terminates at CA 185 at 14th Street.

I-40 rockslide uncovers old debates on highway

The Asheville Citizen-Times continues to do a great job covering all the angles of the Interstate 40 Haywood County rock slide. An article in Sunday's edition provides a strong historical perspective on how the Pigeon River routing of Interstate 40 came about. And perhaps most strikingly, in an article that ran just prior to the highway's opening in the fall of 1968, how engineers from both Tennessee and North Carolina warned "...that slides would probably be a major problem along the route for many years." On February 12, 1969, not long after the Interstate opened, the first rock slide that would close I-40 occurred. Like many other Interstates within North Carolina, Interstate 40 through the mountains has a history prior to formation of the Interstate Highway System and was also a heated political battle between local communities. The discussion for a road that would eventually become Interstate 40 dates back to the 1940's as the idea for interregional high

Mines Road

Mines Road is an approximately twenty-eight-mile highway located in the rural parts of the Diablo Range east of the San Francisco Bay Area. Mines Road begins in San Antonio Valley in Santa Clara County and terminates at Tesla Road near Livermore of Alameda County. The highway essentially is a modern overlay of the 1840s Mexican haul trail up Arroyo Mocho known as La Vereda del Monte. The modern corridor of Mines Road took shape in the early twentieth century following development of San Antonio Valley amid a magnesite mining boom. Part 1; the history of Mines Road Modern Mines Road partially overlays the historic corridor used by La Vereda del Monte (Mountain Trail). La Vereda del Monte was part of a remote overland route through the Diablo Range primarily used to drive cattle from Alta California to Sonora. The trail was most heavily used during the latter days of Alta California during the 1840s. La Vereda del Monte originated at Point of Timber between modern day Byron and Bre

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 from Bates Station owner/operator George Ba

Littledots said…

Hi, I was researching the 42nd Ave freeway entrance for my blog and came across your page. Great photos. I am writing a page on the "Bancroft Parkway" which began at the San Leandro border on Bancroft and ended at 42nd Ave with entrance to the Nimitz (880) Freeway. Bancroft Parkway - Oakland Tribune November 25, 1956 -https://www.newspapers.com/clip/67723058/bancroft-parkway-nov-25-1956/
Littledots@yahoo.com

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