Interstate 380

This past weekend I drove over twenty Californian highways with a good chunk of them being around the San Francisco Bay Area. The first highway I attempted was Interstate 380 from San Francisco International Airport west to I-280.

I-380 is an approximately 1.7 mile freeway connecting from US 101 at San Francisco International Airport west to I-280. The entire routing of I-380 is within San Mateo County and despite it's small size was conceived as a much larger route.

According to CAhighways.org the path of I-380 was first conceived as Legislative Route Number 229 in 1947 between US 101 Bypass west to US 101 in San Bruno.

CAhighways.org on LRN 229

LRN 229 was extended to CA 1 Pacifica in 1959 by the Legislature. While LRN 229 in it's original form was too small display on State Highway Maps it does appear in full scope by the 1960 addition.

1960 State Highway Map

During the 1964 State Highway renumbering LRN 229 was reassigned as LRN 186 which is reflective on the State Highway Map of the same year.

1964 State Highway Map

According to CAhighways.org the path of LRN 186 was authorized to be built as part of the Interstate system in 1968. By 1969 the route of I-380 was defined by the Legislature and it's implied path appears on the 1970 State Highway Map .

1970 State Highway Map

I-380 is shown as mostly complete between US 101 and I-280 on the 1975 State Highway Map. There appears to be a small gap over the rails between CA 82 (former US 101) and US 101 on the Bayshore Freeway (former US 101 Bypass).

1975 State Highway Map

On the 1977 State Highway Map I-380 is shown fully completed between I-280 and US 101.

1977 State Highway Map

The extension of I-380 west to CA 1 in Pacifica would be cancelled by 1979 according to CAhighways.org.

CAhighways.org on Interstate 380

Interestingly I-380 has been the subject of several proposals for a new bridge across San Francisco Bay with the latest popping up in 2017. Most of the modern proposals would have the new crossing connecting with I-238 which would in theory remove the Interstate numbering violation. CAhighways.org summaries the I-380 extension proposals on the above link.

My approach to I-380 was from US 101 northbound at San Francisco International Airport.

As I approached the westbound ramp for I-380 there was a small but strong storm overhead. While my photos didn't turn out all that great given the strong rains I was able to get some "acceptable" enough samples to convey the route. As I-380 ascends over US 101 it enters the City of San Bruno.

I-380 westbound meets CA 82 approximately in the middle of it's routing. CA 82 is the historic route of the El Camino Real and original alignment of US 101 before the Bayshore Freeway was built.

I-380 westbound terminates at I-280. Traffic is given the option of heading both northbound and southbound on I-280.

Deer Isle Bridge in Maine

As graceful a bridge that I ever set my eyes upon, the Deer Isle Bridge (officially known as the Deer Isle-Sedgwick Bridge) surprisingly caught my eye as I was driving around coastal Maine one Saturday afternoon. About 35 miles south of Bangor, Maine , the Deer Isle Bridge connects the Blue Hill Peninsula of Downeast Maine with Little Deer Isle over the Eggemoggin Reach on ME 15 between the towns of Sedgwick and Deer Isle . It should be noted that Little Deer Isle is connected to Deer Isle by way of a boulder lined causeway, and there is a storied regatta that takes place on the Eggemoggin Reach each summer. But the Deer Isle Bridge holds many stories, not just for the vacationers who spend part of their summer on Deer Isle or in nearby Stonington , but for the residents throughout the years and the folks who have had a hand bringing this vital link to life. The Deer Isle Bridge was designed by David Steinman and built by the Phoenix Bridge Company of Phoenixville,

Former US Route 99 through Athlone and the last Wheeler Ridge-Sacramento corridor expressway

Athlone was a siding of the Southern Pacific Railroad located in Merced County on the alignment of what was US Route 99 between the cities of Chowchilla and Merced. The Athlone corridor of US Route 99 was one of the first in San Joaquin Valley to fully upgraded to four lane expressway standards. The Athlone expressway corridor was inherited by California State Route 99 when US Route 99 was truncated to Ashland, Oregon during June 1965. The four-lane expressway through Athlone was the last segment of what had been US Route 99 in the Wheeler Ridge-Sacramento corridor to be bypassed by a freeway. The Athlone expressway corridor was bypassed by the modern California State Route 99 freeway in 2016. Despite being put on a road diet and narrowed what was the Athlone expressway corridor still displays evidence of being part of US Route 99. Above the blog cover photo displays the Athlone expressway corridor of US Route 99 south of Merced as depicted in the July 1939 California Highways &

California State Route 38

California State Route 38 is a fifty-nine-mile State Highway located entirety in San Bernardino County and a component of the Rim of the World Highway. California State Route 38 begins at California State Route 18 at Bear Valley Dam of the San Bernardino Mountains and follows an easterly course on the north shore of Big Bear Lake. California State Route 38 briefly multiplexes California State Route 18 near Baldwin Lake and branches east towards the 8,443-foot-high Onyx Summit. From Onyx Summit the routing of California State Route 38 reverses course following a largely westward path through the San Bernardino Mountains towards a terminus at Interstate 10 in Redlands. Pictured as the blog cover is California State Route 38 at Onyx Summit the day it opened to traffic on August 12th, 1961. Part 1; the history of California State Route 38 California State Route 38 (CA 38) is generally considered to be the back way through the San Bernardino Mountains to Big Bear Lake of Bear Valley

Unknown said…

The next time you are in the area, you might want to approach I-380 from southbound 280. As you follow that ramp you will see an "overpass to nowhere" which apparently was meant to be the first piece of the planned westward extension over the hills to Pacifica.

2:43 PM

Jonathan - Beaver State Roads said…

I noticed that the exits on I-380 are numbered 5 for CA-82, but then 5A and 5B for I-280. Do you have any idea for the numbering discrepancy? Shouldn't the CA-82 exit have been numbered 5C, or I-280 4A and 4B?

4:14 AM