Skip to main content

Former US Route 101 on Grant Street in Chualar

Chualar is small community located in Salinas Valley of Monterey County, California.  Modern US Route 101 is aligned through Chualar via a freeway bypass in what was once a Southern Pacific Railroad switching yard.  The original alignment of US Route 101 in Chualar was aligned directly through the community on Grant Street.  Above the cover photo of this blog features a view on the Chualar Freeway of US Route 101 shortly after it was completed during 1958.  Below Chualar can be seen along US Route 101 on the 1935 Division of Highways Map of Monterey County.  


Part 1; the history of US Route 101 in Chualar

Chualar was settled in 1871 in Salinas Valley along what was to become the coastal line of the Southern Pacific Railroad.  Post Office Service briefly disbanded in Chualar during 1873 but would resume in 1874.  During the 1880s when the Southern Pacific Railroad began to expand south towards Cuesta Pass the community of Chualar began to grow.  Unlike many of the nearby communities in Salinas Valley the community of Chualar would never incorporate as a city.  Chualar can be seen plotted along the Southern Pacific Railroad on the 1882 Bancroft's Map of California and Nevada.  Unlike the Spanish El Camino Real the Southern Pacific Railroad corridor in Salinas Valley largely followed the best grade through the valley center.  


Salinas Valley was ultimately part of the American El Camino Real which began being signed as an Auto Trail starting in 1906.  The era of State Highway Maintenance through Salinas Valley would ultimately begin with the 1909 First State Highway Bond Act which was approved by voters in 1910.  One of the highways approved through the 1909 First State Highway Bond Act was a 481.8-mile highway originating at the City Limits of San Francisco which terminated in San Diego.  This highway would ultimately come to be known in time as Legislative Route Number 2 ("LRN 2").  Within Salinas Valley much of LRN 2 would follow the existing corridor along the frontage roads of the Southern Pacific Railroad which included the community of Chualar.  

The July 1914 California Highway Bulletin notes surveys to construct LRN 2 through Chualar were recently completed.  


Chualar can be seen on the 1917 California State Automobile Association Map along LRN 2.  LRN 2 can be seen taking a jog into Chualar via what was likely part of Chualar River Road onto Grant Street to avoid the Southern Pacific Railroad switching yard and reservation.  


The 1920 Rand McNally Highway Map of California shows El Camino Real and the Pacific Highway following LRN 2 through Chualar.  



The 1924 Rand McNally Map of California shows the California Banff Bee-Line Highway co-signed with the Pacific Highway through Chualar. 



The initial draft of the US Route System was approved by the Secretary of Agriculture during November of 1925.  The US Route System within California was approved by California Highway Commission with no changes recommended by January 1926.  The initial alignment of US Route 101 ("US 101") was planned to follow LRN 2 from San Francisco to San Diego via Salinas Valley.  US 101 is shown on a map published in the 1926 California Highways & Public Works following LRN 2 south from San Francisco towards San Diego.
 


During November of 1926 the US Route System was approved by the ASSHO.  US Route 101 can be seen aligned through Chualar on the 1926 Rand McNally Junior Map of California.  


The January/February 1929 California Highways & Public Works notes US Route 101/LRN 2 was between Salinas-Chualar was slated to be reconstructed during the 1929-31 Fiscal year.  The volume notes the reconstruction of Salinas-Chualar corridor of US Route 101/LRN 2 included a railroad overhead.  



The July/August 1929 California Highways & Public Works details the reconstruction of the Salinas-Chualar corridor US Route 101/LRN 2.  The Salinas-Chualar corridor is project is stated to be planned to widen US Route 101/LRN 2 to a 36-foot roadbed and would eliminate a railroad crossing at Spence siding via an underpass structure.  



The October 1929 California Highways & Public Works noted the reconstruction of the Salinas-Chualar corridor of US Route 101/LRN 2 was underway. 


The February 1930 California Highways & Public Works notes the reconstruction of the Salinas-Chualar corridor of US Route 101/LRN 2 had recently been completed.  



The March 1933 California Highways & Public Works announced reconstruction of US Route 101/LRN 2 from Chualar to Camphora was underway.  The existing highway is stated to be too narrow and breaking apart too quickly.  

The 1935 Division of Highways Map of Monterey County displays US Route 101/LRN 2 aligned through Chualar via Grant Street. 

The May/June 1951 California Highways & Public Works notes US Route 101/LRN 2 between Spence Underpass-Chualar was to be graded and paved with a Portland Cement surface.  


The January/February 1952 California Highways & Public Works details the expansion of US Route 101/LRN 2 from Spence Underpass to Chualar to a four-lane expressway.  The Spence Underpass-Chualar Expressway segment of US Route 101/LRN 2 is cited as opening on November 30th, 1951.  The new northbound lanes of US Route 101/LRN 2 between Spence Underpass-Chualar were stated to be pressed into service early to provide relief to traffic while the southbound lanes were being modernized.  The article notes the corridor of LRN 2 through Chualar had been first constructed to State standards during 1916.  




The November/December 1953 California Highways & Public Works announced a contract to grade and pave US Route 101/LRN 2 from Chualar south to Gonzales.  


The July/August 1954 California Highways & Public Works announced US Route 101/LRN 2 had been expanded to expressway standards from Chualar south to Gonzales.  


The November/December 1956 California Highways & Public Works announced a freeway alignment of US Route 101/LRN 2 through Chualar was to be constructed during the 1957-58 Fiscal Year.  


The May/June 1957 California Highways & Public Works announced construction of the US Route 101/LRN 2 freeway in Chualar was underway.  


The July/August 1958 California Highways & Public Works announced the completion of the US Route 101/LRN 2 freeway through Chualar.  The Chualar Freeway corridor is stated to have broken ground during April 1957 and took approximately a year to complete.  The former corridor of US Route 101 on Grant Street is stated to have been converted to a frontage road of the new Chualar Freeway.  










Since the completion of the freeway grade during 1958 there has been no major alterations to US Route 101 in Chualar.  The Legislative Route Numbers were dropped as part of the 1964 State Highway Renumbering which left US Route 101 as the legislative designation through Chualar. 



Part 2; a drive on former US Route 101 in Chualar

From modern US Route 101 northbound traffic can access the original alignment of the highway via Exit 317 onto Grant Street. 





The former alignment of US Route 101 on Grant Street passes through Chualar for approximately a mile before looping back into the northbound lanes of the current freeway.  Notably Main Street can be accessed from Grant Street via a freeway overpass.  The Main Street overpass accesses a rail crossing which was the site of a deadly bus accident which occurred on September 17th, 1963.  Said bus accident killed 32 migrant farm workers and is cited to be the deadliest automobile accident in United States history by the National Safety Council. 








Comments

Popular posts from this blog

US Route 101 in Benbow, Garberville and Redway

The communities of Benbow, Garberville and Redway can all be found along US Route 101 within southern Humboldt County.  The former surface alignment of US Route 101 in Garberville and Redway once crossed the Garberville Bluffs along what is now Redwood Drive via a corridor constructed as part of the Redwood Highway during the 1910s.  US Route 101 through Benbow, Garberville and Redway was modernized by 1935.  US Route 101 would eventually be upgraded to freeway standards in Benbow, Garberville and Redway by extension of the Redwood Freeway during 1966-68.  As the cover photo the original grade of US Route 101 and the Redwood Highway can be seen at the Garberville Bluffs during 1934.  US Route 101 can be seen in the communities of Benbow, Garberville and Redway on the 1935 Division of Highways Map of Humboldt County .   The history of US Route 101 in Benbow, Garberville and Redway Benbow, Garberville and Redway lie on the banks of the South Fork Eel River of southern Humboldt County.  D

Highways in and around Old Sacramento; US 40, US 99W, CA 16, CA 24, CA 70, CA 99, CA 275, and more

This past weekend I was visiting the City of Sacramento for a wedding.  That being the case I decided to head out on a morning run through Old Sacramento, Jibboom Street Bridge, I Street Bridge, Tower Bridge, and path of US Route 40/US Route 99W towards the California State Capitol.  My goal was to retrace the paths of the various highways that once traversed the Old Sacramento area. This blog is part of the larger Gribblenation US Route 99 Page.  For more information pertaining to the other various segments of US Route 99 and it's three-digit child routes check out the link the below. Gribblenation US Route 99 Page The old highway alignments of Sacramento The City of Sacramento lies at the confluence of the Sacramento River and American River in Sacramento Valley.  Sacramento Valley was discovered by Spanish Explorer Gabriel Moraga in 1808.  Moraga referred to the fertile Sacramento Valley akin to a "Blessed Sacrament."  By 1839 John Sutter Sr. settled in Mexican held

Old Stage Road in Tulare County and Kern County

Old Stage Road is an approximately 30-mile rural highway comprised of Tulare County Mountain Road 1, Kern County Mountain Road 447 and Tulare County Mountain Road 109.  Old Stage originates at Jack Ranch Road near Posey and ends at the outskirts of Porterville at Deer Creek.  Old Stage Road notably is comprised of two 19th Century stage routes.  From White Mountain Road northwest to Fountain Springs, Old Stage Road overlays Thomas Baker's 1860s era stage road to Linn Valley (now Glennville) and the Kern River Gold Rush Claims.  From Fountain Springs to Deer Creek, Old Stage Road is comprised of the 1853 Stockton-Los Angeles Road. Featured as the blog cover is the northward descent on Old Stage Road along Arrastre Creek to the town site of White River.  What became White River was settled along a spur of the Stockton-Los Angeles Road as "Dog Town" when gold was discovered nearby.  By 1856 the community had been renamed Tailholt.  A stage road from Tailholt to Linn Valley w