Skip to main content

The original California State Route 26 in Orange County

By


The original run of Sign State Highways were announced in the August 1934 California Highways & Public Works.  One of the initial Sign State Routes was California State Route 26 which was located in Orange County.  The original California State Route 26 followed Legislative Route Number 183 from Seal Beach to Santa Ana via Bolsa Avenue and 1st Street.  The original California State Route 26 was short lived and it would be eliminated as part of the shuffling of Sign State Route designations due to the extension of US Route 6 California.  Pictured above is the 1937 Gousha Map of California which features the original California State Route 26 on Bolsa Avenue and 1st Street. 



The history of the original California State Route 26

What became the original California State Route 26 (CA 26) entered the State Highway System as part 1933 Legislative Chapter 767 as part of Legislative Route Number 183 (LRN 183).  The definition of LRN 183 was "LRN 60 near Seal Beach to LRN 2/US Route 101 in Santa Ana."  LRN 183 was one of many new State Highways which was adopted in 1933 when the State removed the barriers preventing the Division of Highways from maintaining roadways in incorporated cities. 

LRN 183 first appears on the 1934 Division of Highways Map aligned between Seal Beach-Santa Ana on Bolsa Avenue and 1st Street. 


As noted in the introduction the August 1934 California Highways & Public Works announced the initial run of Sign State Routes.  The initial Sign State Routes were assigned to corridors of travel that were largely considered essential to state-wise transportation.  CA 26 was announced as following the entirety of LRN 183 between Seal Beach and Santa Ana.  




CA 26/LRN 183 appears in detail on the 1935 Division of Highways Map of Orange County following Bolsa Avenue and 1st Street in the Seal Beach-Santa Ana corridor.


As noted in the intro CA 26 appears on LRN 183 on the 1937 Gousha Highway Map of California.  


The demise of the original CA 26 came when US Route 6 was extended into California on February 8th, 1937, by the American Association of State Highway Officials.  Given US Route 6 was duplicating the number the original CA 6 it would require the latter be renumbered.  CA 6 had been defined as being aligned on LRN 173 from Santa Monica to Fullerton in the original run of Sign State Routes announced during August 1934.  To accommodate US Route 6 the original CA 26 and CA 6 were eliminated from their initial corridors.  LRN 173, LRN 166 and LRN 171 received the second designation of CA 26 whereas LRN 183 was left without a Sign State Route.  



Thusly the second CA 26 appears on the corridor of LRN 173 whereas LRN 183 is shown to not have a Sign State Route on the 1937-1938 Division of Highways Map.  


Harbor Boulevard facing north towards LRN 183/Bolsa Avenue appears in the November-December 1947 California Highways & Public Works.  


The original iteration of LRN 183 would never have another Sign State Route applied to it.  The original LRN 183 was eliminated from the State Highway System as part of 1951 Legislative Chapter 1562.  LRN 183 thusly does not appear on the 1952 Division of Highways Map.  


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