Unbuilt California State Route 256

California State Route 256 was a never constructed western bypass of downtown Roseville of Placer County. California State Route 256 was created via 1965 Legislative Chapter 1372 and appears to have been a conceptual replacement for what was US Route 99E. The adopted routing of California State Route 256 was dropped in 1976 and it was deleted by the State Legislature during 1994.

The history of California State Route 256

As noted in the intro, 1965 Legislative Chapter 1372 added California State Route 256 (CA 256) to the State Highway System as a western freeway bypass of Roseville between Interstate 80 and CA 65/former US Route 99E. The planned route of CA 256 appears for the first time on the 1966 Division of Highways Map. CA 256 never appears in any volume of the California Highways & Public Works, and it isn't clear when it was assigned an adopted routing. Notably 1966 is the last Division of Highways Map which any segment of US 99 appears in California.

The planned western freeway bypass route of CA 256 around downtown Roseville was cancelled during 1976. Although CA 256 does not appear on the 1977 Caltrans Map it wasn't deleted until 1994 Legislative Chapter 1220.

The September 1984 Final Environmental Impact Report for eastern CA 65 Roseville Bypass notes that construction of CA 256 would have been too costly largely due to having to cross the Southern Pacific Railroad Switch Yard.

Comments

Paper Highways: The Unbuilt New Orleans Bypass (Proposed I-410)

There are many examples around the United States of proposed freeway corridors in urban areas that never saw the light of day for one reason or another. They all fall somewhere in between the little-known and the infamous and from the mundane to the spectacular. One of the more obscure and interesting examples of such a project is the short-lived idea to construct a southern beltway for the New Orleans metropolitan area in the 1960s and 70s. Greater New Orleans and its surrounding area grew rapidly in the years after World War II, as suburban sprawl encroached on the historically rural downriver parishes around the city. In response to the development of the region’s Westbank and the emergence of communities in St. Charles and St. John the Baptist Parishes as viable suburban communities during this period, regional planners began to consider concepts for new infrastructure projects to serve this growing population. The idea for a circular freeway around the southern perimeter of t

Huey P. Long Bridge (New Orleans, LA)

Located on the lower Mississippi River a few miles west of New Orleans, the Huey P. Long Bridge is an enormous steel truss bridge that carries both road and rail traffic on an old-time structure that is a fascinating example of a bridge that has evolved in recent years to meet the traffic and safety demands of modern times. While officially located in suburban Jefferson Parish near the unincorporated community of Bridge City, this bridge’s location is most often associated with New Orleans, given that it’s the largest and most recognizable incorporated population center in the nearby vicinity. For this reason, this blog article considers the bridge’s location to be in New Orleans, even though this isn’t 100% geographically correct. Completed in 1935 as the first bridge across the Mississippi River in Louisiana and the first to be built in the New Orleans area, this bridge is one of two bridges on the Mississippi named for Huey P. Long, a Louisiana politician who served as the 40th Gove

Legacy of US Route 466 Part 5: Old Highway 58 through North Barstow

Old Highway 58 is a relinquished portion of what was once US Route 466 in the North Barstow area. US Route 466 served the North Barstow area from 1933 until it was truncated to Baker during June 1964. The segment would become the easternmost portion of California State Route 58 which remained as an active highway until 1996 when freeway south of downtown Barstow opened. Old Highway 58 has numerous remaining Caltrans signs and more or less functions as an alternative northern bypass of downtown Barstow. US Route 466 can be seen branching from US Route 91 in North Barstow on the 1953 United States Geological Survey Map. Part 1-Part 4 of the US Route 466 Legacy Series can be found below: Legacy of US Route 466 Part 1: California State Route 46 Legacy of US Route 466 Part 2: Tehachapi to Bakersfield Legacy of US Route 466 Part 3: Morro Bay to Shandon via Rocky Canyon Legacy of US Route 466 Part 4: Hoover Dam Part 1; the history of US Route 466 and California State Route 58 in North B