Skip to main content

California State Route 52

By
A recent acquisition in sign collecting renewed my interest in revisiting the history of a freeway I used to frequently drive in northern San Diego; California State Route 52.


CA 52 is a 17.22 mile freeway which connects Interstate 5 in San Diego east to CA 67 in Santee.



Part 1; The History of California State Route 52

The history of CA 52 is fully documented on stub page for the highway on CAhighways.org.   The origin of what became CA 52 was in 1959 when Legislative Route Number 279 was added as a planned highway between La Jolla and Santee.  LRN 279 can be seen for the first time on the 1960 Division of Highways State Map City Insert as a planned highway.


According to CAhighways.org the alignment of LRN 279 between what is now I-5 and I-805 was formally adopted in 1962.  The formal route adoption of LRN 279 between I-5 and I-805 can be seen on the 1963 Division of Highways State Map City Insert.


During the 1964 State Highway Renumbering all Legislative Route Numbers were dropped.  LRN 279 was replaced with the designation of CA 52 which can be seen on the 1964 Division of Highways State Map City Insert.


According to CAhighways.org CA 52 between I-5 and I-805 opened during 1970.  The 1970 Division of Highways State Map City Insert shows CA 52 under construction between I-5 and I-805 whereas the 1975 Caltrans State Map City Insert shows it open.  According to CAhighways the planned route of CA 52 east to I-15 was formally adopted in July 1972 (which can be seen on the 1975 Caltrans Map).



CA 52 was opened east to I-15 in 1988 according to CAhighways and can be seen on the Caltrans State Map City Insert from said year.


According to CAhighways.org the formally planned alignment of CA 52 east to CA 67 was adopted in July of 1989.  CA 52 was completed to Mast Boulevard in 1993 and to CA 125 by November 1998.  CA 52 can be seen on the 2005 Caltrans State Map City Insert opened to CA 125.


CA 52 was completed to CA 67 during the Spring of 2011.  Unfortunately 2005 was the last year Caltrans published a State Highway Map hence why there is no accompanying image below.  CA 52 today is known as the Soledad Freeway but was known as the San Clemente Freeway previously.


Part 2; Some Road Scenes Related to CA 52

As noted above I recently acquired a CA 52 shield for my sign collection.  There was a button-copy variation available but the standard shield was only one third of the price.


Most my drives on CA 52 were during 2011-2013 when I was working frequently in Southern California.  Most of my photo stock from those times was lost in a hard drive crash in 2013.  I recently took some photos related to CA 52 in April/May of 2019.  These photos below were taking from I-5 north approaching the CA 52 interchange.





Below are photos of I-805 southbound approaching the interchange with CA 52.





Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Former US Route 50 and the Pioneer Route Lincoln Highway on Johnson's Pass Road

By
Johnson's Pass Road is one of the oldest highway corridors in California.  Johnson's Pass was part of the Lake Tahoe Wagon Road as it was completed during 1856 over the Sierra Nevada.  The pass would later be incorporated into the Pioneer Branch of the Lincoln Highway in 1913 and US Route 50 in 1926.  Johnson's Pass Road would be bypassed by a new alignment of US Route 50 over Echo Summit in 1938.  A replacement of the Meyers Grade east of Johnson's Pass would be opened to traffic in 1947.   Johnson's Pass Road remains accessible to traffic and is still signed by the Lincoln Highway Association.  Pictured as the blog cover is the view from the top of Johnson's Pass Road overlooking modern US Route 50 and Lake Tahoe.   Part 1; the history of Johnson's Pass Much of the history of what become the Lake Tahoe Wagon Road is discussed in the  September 1950 California Highways & Public Works  during its Centennial Edition.  The or...
Post a Comment
Read more

Former US Route 50 and the South Lincoln Highway from Folsom east to Placerville

By
The corridor of Folsom of Sacramento County east to Placerville of El Dorado County has been a long established corridor of overland travel dating back to the California Gold Rush.  The Folsom-Placerville corridor was once part of the path of the Lake Tahoe Wagon Road which became the first California State Highway and later the South Lincoln Highway.  In time the South Lincoln Highway's surface alignment was inherited by US Route 50.  The Folsom-Placerville corridor also includes the communities of; Clarksville, Shingle Springs and El Dorado. Part 1; the history of the Lake Tahoe Wagon Road, South Lincoln Highway and US Route 50 through Folsom-Placerville Folsom is located on the American River/Lake Natoma of eastern Sacramento County.  That lands now occupied by the City of Folsom were part of Rancho Rio de los Americanos prior to the finding of gold at Sutter's Mill during 1848.  During the California Gold Rush the lands of Rancho Rio de los Americanos were p...
Post a Comment
Read more

Abandoned US Route 40 in the Truckee River Canyon

By
Within the Truckee River Canyon in the Sierra Nevada range numerous abandoned portions of US Route 40 can be found alongside modern Interstate 80.   This segment of highway was opened during 1926 as a bypass of the Dog Valley Grade which carried the early North Lincoln Highway and Victory Highway. The corridor of the Truckee River Canyon State Highway would be assigned as US Route 40 when the US Route System was commissioned during November 1926. During 1958 the segment of Interstate 80 between Boca, California and the Nevada state line was complete. When Interstate 80 opened east of Boca numerous obsolete portions of US Route 40 were abandoned. Some of these abandoned segments have been incorporated into the Tahoe-Pyramid Trail.  Part 1; the history of US Route 40 in the Truckee River Canyon The Truckee River Canyon for centuries has been an established corridor of travel known to native tribes crossing the Sierra Nevada range.  The first documented wagon crossi...
Post a Comment
Read more