Skip to main content

Cummings Skyway

By

Cummings Skyway is a locally maintained highway in the Crockett Hills of Contra Costa County, California.  Cummings Skyway begins at former US Route 40 at San Pablo Avenue and traverses the Diablo Range southeast to the John Muir Parkway segment of California State Route 4 in Franklin Canyon.  Cummings Skyway primarily serves as cutoff route between Interstate 80 and California State Route 4.  




Part 1; the history of Cummings Skyway

The first reference to Cummings Skyway appears in the May/June 1961 California Highways & Public Works.  California State Route 4 is cited to have been designated at the Arnold Industrial Freeway between US Route 40 (realigned off San Pablo Avenue onto what is now Interstate 80) and California State Route 21 (now Interstate 680) via a route adopted made by the California Highway Commission during October 1958.  Advanced planning of a segment of the Arnold Industrial Freeway between the Cummings Skway east to East Alhambra Avenue in Martinez is cited.  



The completed Cummings Skyway is detailed in the September/October 1961 California Highways & Public Works.  Cummings Skyway is described as being one of two Federal Aid Secondary Programs constructed in Costa Contra County during 1961.  The Cummings Skyway was constructed as part of Federal Aid Secondary Route 1256 as a direct cutoff line between US Route 40 and California State Route 4 in Franklin Canyon.  The Cummings Skyway was named in honor of Contra Costa County Supervisor H.L. Cummings.  The Cummings Skyway is described as having two 12-foot-wide lanes and a grade which could be expanded to a four-lane expressway in the future.  The Cummings Skyway is described as being built as part of Federal Aid Secondary Route 1256 between US Route 40 1.96 miles to Crockett Boulevard to an existing segment which spanned another 1.55 miles to California State Route 4 in Franklin Canyon.  Construction of the Cummings Skyway between US Route 40 and Crockett Boulevard is cited to have begun December 3rd, 1959 and was completed by January 16th, 1961.  






Part 2; a drive on Cummings Skyway

Cummings Skyway can be accessed from Interstate 80 via Exit 26 on the outskirts of Crockett.  From Interstate 80 westbound the Exit to Cummings Skyway is signed as "TO California State Route 4."  



From Interstate 80 westbound Exit 26 traffic can either travel west or east on Cummings Skyway.  Westbound traffic can follow Cummings Skyway via short of extension of the road to former US Route 40 at San Pablo Avenue.  


Eastbound Cummings Skyway jogs over Interstate 80 and climbs into the Crockett Hills to Crockett Boulevard.  Traffic is advised via eastbound Cummings Skyway of a truck prohibition on Crockett Boulevard.  










From Crockett Boulevard eastbound Cummings Skyway crests the Crockett Hills and descends to California State Route 4 in Franklin Canyon.  










Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The case to move Interstate 73 in Southern Ohio onto US 33

By
Every decade or so, Ohio pushes to revisit the proposed Interstate 73 that would connect Michigan to Myrtle Beach, South Carolina.  It's been happening since Congress legislated the route in 1991.  Within Ohio, Interstate 73 generally follows the US 23 corridor from Portsmouth through Columbus to Toledo, and into Michigan. Since High Priority Corridor Five was created , Ohio has really done nothing to move forward with Interstate 73.  Sure, there have been feasibility studies here and there.  But actual dollars and construction just haven't occurred. The US 33 Nelsonville Bypass appears to have been built to Interstate standards. However, Ohio has been slowly upgrading US 33 to a full freeway through Southeastern Ohio.  Bypasses of Lancaster and Nelsonville opened in 2004 and 2013, respectively.  Other sections of two-lane road are being twinned, some to freeway or, at a minimum, to expressway standards.  Currently, a $274 million widening project in...
Post a Comment
Read more

Local Sign Find - The last remnant of Business Interstate 95 between Kenly and Rocky Mount , NC

By
As you head north on Interstate 95 at Exit 107 for Kenly and US 301, you'll notice something odd about the overhead sign for the exit.  Peeling off the sign for all that can see is the word 'NORTH' off-center from the US 301.  This old sign (probably close to original from when this section of I-95 opened - more on that in a little bit) gives a hint to a short-lived Business Interstate Route that ran from here to Rocky Mount. The last hint of the Kenly-Wilson-Rocky Mount Business I-95 (Shaun White - August 2020) Interstate 95 in North Carolina has a unique history.  But one of the overlooked and forgotten pieces of Interstate 95 in North Carolina is the 38 mile section between Kenly and Rocky Mount.  When opened to traffic in late 1978, it was the next to last piece of Interstate 95 in North Carolina to open replacing a four lane US 301 from Battleboro through Rocky Mount and Wilson to eventually tying back into the Interstate in Kenly. Though it was not delayed in l...
Post a Comment
Read more

Nostalgia fast food with style - Returning to Rax

By
Nostalgia. It sells. It evokes, and more accurately, warps memories of days gone by.  Things were better, simpler, and we eat it up. Nostalgia can make you drive three hours and over a hundred miles out of your way just to reconnect with a dying fast-food restaurant you last enjoyed in the early to mid-90s.  That person was me - that restaurant was Rax. I could go on about Rax's history, but in short, Rax was briefly a very popular roast beef fast-food chain.  Growing up in the 80s and early 90s in Western PA, Rax was the good fast-food spot.  The milkshakes.  (Personally, the chocolate chip milkshake was heaven.)  Uncle Alligator Kids Meal with the chocolate chip cookie. Take that McDonald's Happy Meal!  The fancy salad and hot foods bar.  Going to Rax was special.  Like so many similar restaurants, various investments, management decisions, etc., led Rax to almost disappear overnight.  By the time I graduated college in late 1999, abou...
Post a Comment
Read more