Skip to main content

Paper Highways: California State Route 285

In this edition of Paper Highways, we examine the history unbuilt California State Route 285.  California State Route 285 was defined by way of 1970 Legislative Chapter 1473 between Portola to the Grizzly Reservoir.  What was to become California State Route 285 was never constructed to State Highway standards and was deleted by 1998 Assembly Bill 2132, Chapter 877.  Above as the blog cover planned California State Route 285 can be seen on the 1975 Caltrans Map.  



The history of California State Route 284 and unconstructed California State Route 285

California State Route 285 (CA 285) was adopted as part of 1970 Legislative Chapter 1473.  CA 285 was designated as a highway connecting from Route 70 on West Street in Portola northwesterly to the north city limits then to Lake Davis via Humbug Canyon.  Legislative Chapter 1473 defined numerous State Highways during 1970, some of the others include CA 284, CA 283, CA 281, CA 271, and CA 270.

Notably the Chapter 1473 State Highways appear to have been contingent that an existing roadway be built to State Highway Standards or would be built up to them shortly.  Lake Davis was completed by the California Department of Water Resources during 1966.  Unlike nearby Frenchman Lake a new roadway had to be built to the site of Grizzly Valley Dam on Big Grizzly Creek.  According to CAhighways.org by 1972 about 4.8 miles of the planned 8 miles of CA 285 on West Street and Lake Davis Road were constructed.  CAhighways.org goes elaborates further stating that West Street and Lake Davis Road were noted to have drainage issues which likely kept them from meeting State Highway standards.

On the 1975 Caltrans State Highway Map the planned route of CA 285 appears for the first time.


CA 285 was deleted in 1998 via Assembly Bill 2132, Chapter 877.  The last time the planned route of CA 285 appears on a Caltrans State Highway Map is the 1990 edition.


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Abandoned US Route 40 in the Truckee River Canyon

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...

Former California State Route 41 past Bates Station

When California State Route 41 was commissioned during August 1934 it was aligned along the then existing Fresno-Yosemite Road north of the San Joaquin River.  Within the Sierra Nevada foothills of Madera County, the original highway alignment ran past Bates Station via what is now Madera County Road 209, part of eastern Road 406 and Road 207.   Bates Station was a stage station plotted during the early 1880s at what was the intersection of the Coarsegold Road and Stockton-Los Angeles Road.   The modern alignment bypassing Bates Station to the east would be reopened to traffic during late 1939.   Part 1; the history of California State Route 41 past Bates Station Bates Station was featured as one of the many 1875-1899 Madera County era towns in the May 21, 1968, Madera Tribune .  Post Office Service at Bates Station is noted to have been established on November 23, 1883 and ran continuously until October 31, 1903.  The postal name was sourced...

The William Flinn (not Flynn) Highway - Pittsburgh's Misspelled Street

For decades if you traveled along PA Route 8 in Pittsburgh's North Hills suburbs, you would have noticed signs that read "William Flynn Highway" at every intersection.  Even today, many businesses and residences have their addresses listed as XXXX William Flynn Highway.  However, it's not William Flynn Highway, it is William FLINN Highway - and the gentleman who it is named for has a long and storied past in Pittsburgh's infrastructure history. William Flinn was born in England in 1851; however later that year, his family emigrated to the United States and would settle in Pittsburgh.  A 10-year-old school dropout, Flinn grew interested in politics and would join the Allegheny County Republican Party in 1877 as a ward commissioner and a seat on the Board of Fire Commissioners.  Flinn would serve in the Pennsylvania State House of Representatives and Senate from 1877 to 1902. (1) Flinn along with James J. Booth would found the Booth and Flinn construction firm ...