Skip to main content

California State Route 4; Stockton Cross Town Freeway

This past month I drove the California State Route 4 Cross Town Freeway located in Stockton from I-5 east to CA 99.


The CA 4 Cross Town Freeway is officially known as the "Ort J. Loftus Freeway" and connects I-5 east to CA 99 through downtown Stockton.  The Cross Town Freeway as currently configured replaced the original alignment of CA 4 by 1994 through downtown Stockton.  The original alignment of CA 4 in downtown Stockton had been on the former US 50/US 99W corridor on Charter Way.  CA 4 connected to US 99 via Mariposa Road (former US 99E) east of Charter Way.

CAhighways.org on CA 4

The Cross Town Freeway first appeared on State Highway Maps as a proposed freeway in 1965. 

1965 State Highway Map City Insert

Originally the Cross Town Freeway was intended to connect to with the surface route of CA 4 near the San Joaquin River. Today the Cross Town Freeway only extends west of I-5 to Navy Drive.  This was part of the early segment of the Cross Town Way which was completed between Fresno Avenue and Center Street by 1975.

1975 State Highway Map City Insert

The Cross Town Freeway is shown as nearly complete between I-5 east to CA 99 by the 1990 State Highway Map City Insert.

1990 State Highway Map City Insert

Interestingly the route of CA 4 through Stockton was submitted as a proposed Interstate in 1945 according to CAhighways.org.  The irony is that recent (somewhat) studies for a possible I-7/I-9 corridor tend to favor routing an Interstate over the Cross Town Freeway rather than CA 99 north of Stockton.  This likely has much to do with the standards of the Cross Town Freeway being at or are far closer to Interstate standards than CA 99 north of Stockton.

My approach to the Cross Town Freeway east was from I-5 south.


Eastbound traffic is given an a ramp to the Cross Town Freeway westbound which is simply signed as connecting to Navy Drive.


CA 4 east on the Cross Town Freeway enters downtown Stockton.  CA 4 east actually multiplexes I-5 north to reach the Cross Town Freeway.


CA 4 eastbound traffic can enter downtown Stockton on El Dorado Street while merging onto the Cross Town Freeway.


East of El Dorado Street CA 99 is signed as 2.5 miles away on the Cross Town Freeway.  Exit 66 is signed as access to Stanislaus Street.


Wilson Way is accessed from CA 4 east on the Cross Town Freeway at Exit 67.


Exit 68A accesses Filbert Street whereas Exit 68B accesses CA 99 north.  CA 4 east exits the Cross Town Freeway onto CA 99 south before splitting away at Farmington Road.




Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Did Caltrans just kill the G26 cutout US Route shields?

The US Route System was formally created by the American Association of State Highway Officials during November 1926.  Through the history of the system the only state to which has elected to maintain cutout US Route shields has been California.  The G26 series cutout US Route shields have become a favorite in the road enthusiast hobby and are generally considered to be much more visually pleasing than the standard Federal Highway Administration variant.  However, the G26 shield series appears to have been killed off on January 18, 2026, when Caltrans updated their Manual of Uniform Traffic Control Devices.  This blog will examine the history of the US Route shield specifications in California and what is happening with the 2026 changes.  The blog cover photo is facing towards the terminus of California State Route 136 and at a G26-2 specification US Route 395 shield.  In the background Mount Whitney can be seen in the Sierra Nevada range.   ...

Hawaii Route 50

Hawaii Route 50 is the longest Sign Route on the island of Kauai at 32.6 miles.  The entirety of Hawaii Route 50 is overlaid atop Kaumualii Highway from Lihue west to the Pacific Missile Range Facility at Barking Sands. Hawaii Route 50 is one of the original 1955-era State Highway designations on Kauai.  Much of the Kaumualii Highway corridor was constructed during the sugar plantation boom of the late Hawaiian Kingdom.  The first tee beam bridge in Hawaii would be constructed along the Kaumualii Highway in 1911 at the Hanapepe.  Much of this highway would be modernized to two-lane standards through the 1930s and 1940s. This page is part of the Gribblenation Hawaii Roads series.  A compellation of all Hawaii-related media from both Gribblenation and RoadwayWiz can be found by clicking  here .  Part 1; the history of Hawaii Route 50 and Kaumualii Highway Hawaii Route 50 is the longest highway on Kauai at 32.6 miles.  The highway begins at Rice Str...

Ghost Town Tuesday; Nichols, FL

A couple years ago I spent a lot of spare time exploring phosphate mining ghost towns in the Bone Valley of Polk County, Florida.  One ghost town in particular called Nichols on Polk County Route 676 west of Mulberry caught my eye due to a relative lack of documentation on ghosttowns.com. Nichols was created in 1905 during the early phosphate mining boom in the Bone Valley region.  For the time Nichols was unusual since it had company housing in the Nichols Mine site and private residences outside the gate.  Nichols is only about two miles west of Mulberry which probably made it a somewhat reasonable commute even by the wonky standards of the early 20th Century.  Most of the Bone Valley region was relatively remote which made commuting or homesteading impractical which is why there are so many ghost towns in the area.  The company housing section of Nichols was phased out and abandoned by 1950. The Nichols town site is largely abandoned and could "possibl...