Skip to main content

Former California State Route 240


California State Route 240 was a short-lived State Highway designation applied during 1964 to the planned San Gabriel River Freeway south of California State Route 22 towards Seal Beach.  A small portion of California State Route 240 was opened to traffic during 1966 in the form of connecting ramps between the San Gabriel River Freeway and California State Route 22.  California State Route 240 was folded into the larger definition of Route 605 when the chargeable Interstate 605 corridor was shifted during 1968.  



Part 1; the history of California State Route 240

The origins of California State Route 240 are tied to the development of the San Gabriel River Freeway and Legislative Route Number 170 (LRN 170).  The original definition of LRN 170 was as follows:

"LRN 179 near Seal Springs via Santa Fe Springs to LRN 26 near West Covina."

The August 1934 California Highways & Public Works announced the initial run of Sign State Routes.  California State Route 35 was assigned completely concurrent with LRN 170 between US Route 99-60-70/LRN 26 in West Covina and California State Route 22/LRN 179 near Seal Beach.  



The November/December 1956 California Highways & Public Works noted the entire 23-mile corridor of the San Gabriel River Freeway/LRN 170 was adopted by the California Highway Commission on December 15, 1954.  



The corridor of LRN 170 was approved to become a chargeable Interstate on September 15, 1955.  On June 29, 1956, the Federal Highway Aid Act of 1956 was signed into law on the Federal Level.  The Federal Highway Aid Act of 1956 was the genesis point of the Interstate Highway System.

1957 Legislative Chapter 36 extended the definition of LRN 170 south to US Route 101A/LRN 60 near Seal Beach.  The segment of LRN 170 south of California State Route 22/LRN 179 was not included in the chargeable Interstate corridor of the San Gabriel River Freeway.  The extended definition of LRN 170 appears on the 1958 Division of Highways Map with no determined routing south of California State Route 22/LRN 179.  



The chargeable corridor of LRN 170 and the San Gabriel River Freeway was assigned Interstate 605 during the late 1950s.  During the 1964 State Highway Renumbering the original California State Route 35 was decommissioned and repurposed over what was California State Route 5 in the Santa Cruz Mountains.  The entirety of LRN 170 and the San Gabriel River Freeway was broken up into three designations.  Chargeable Interstate 605 was defined as being aligned from "Route 405 to Route 10 near the San Gabriel River."  The planned San Gabriel River Freeway south of Interstate 405 to California State Route 1 was reassigned as California State Route 240.  The planned San Gabriel River Freeway north of Interstate 10 to Interstate 210 and the Foothill Freeway was assigned as California State Route 243.  Interstate 605, California State Route 240 and California State Route 243 all appear on the 1964 Division of Highways Map.  The previous surface route of the original California State Route 35 is shown be temporarily designated as LRN 605.  







The November/December 1964 California Highways & Public Works noted Interstate 605 and the San Gabriel River Freeway was extended to Interstate 10 during the past October.  Construction of the California State Route 240 portion of the San Gabriel River Freeway to California State Route 22 is stated to be partially financed in the next budget.  


The November/December 1965 California Highways & Public Works noted 4.7-mile portion the Interstate 605 segment of the San Gabriel River Freeway south of Whittier Boulevard during the previous September.  The California State Route 240 segment of San Gabriel River Freeway to California State Route 22 is noted to have a planned completion during Fall 1966.  


The 1967 Division of Highways Map displays Interstate 605 as being complete between Interstate 5 and Interstate 405.  The California State Route 240 stub of the San Gabriel River Freeway to California State Route 22 is also shown completed.  The remaining portion of the original California State Route 35 is shown to be relinquished from the State Highway System.  


1967 Senate Bill 99, Chapter 1101 codified the name of Interstate 605 between Interstate 405 and Interstate 10 as the San Gabriel River Freeway.  

1968 Legislative Chapter 282 reclassified the California State Route 240 and California State Route 243 portions of the planned San Gabriel River Freeway as Route 605.  During December 1968 the Federal Highway Administration added the San Gabriel River Freeway north of Interstate 10 as chargeable Interstate.  The addition of Interstate 605 as being chargeable north of Interstate 10 was made due to the provisions of the 1968 Federal Highway Aid Act.  

The two unbuilt segments of the San Gabriel River Freeway appear as Route 605 as on the 1969 Division of Highways Map.  The San Gabriel River Freeway never would be constructed south of California State Route 22 to Seal Beach.




Part 2; exploring the constructed portion of former California State Route 240

During 2020 Dan Murphy of the Roadwaywiz Youtube channel featured real-time drives on Interstate 605.  In the video below the transition of what would have been originally California State Route 240 can be seen as Interstate 605 southbound approaches Exit 1A which accesses westbound California State Route 22.  The transition ramp connecting Interstate 605 southbound to westbound California State Route 22 was constructed as California State Route 240. 


Below the California State Route 22 westbound can be seen approaching the transition ramp from southbound Interstate 605.  This structure was originally constructed as California State Route 240. 


Comments

Popular posts from this blog

US Route 62 and US Route 180 in the Guadalupe Mountains

US Route 62/US Route 180 between El Paso, Texas and Carlsbad, New Mexico passes through the Guadalupe Mountains.  The Guadalupe Mountains comprise the highest peaks of Texas which are largely protected as part Guadalupe Mountains National Park.  The automotive highway through the Guadalupe Mountains was constructed in the late 1920s as part of Texas State Road 54.  US Route 62 was extended from Carlsbad through the Guadalupe Mountains to El Paso during 1932.  US Route 62 was joined in the Guadalupe Mountains by US Route 180 in 1943.  The Guadalupe Mountains comprise a portion of the 130 mile "No Services" zone on US Route 62/US Route 180 between El Paso-Carlsbad. Part 1; the history of US Route 62 and US Route 180 in the Guadalupe Mountains The Guadalupe Mountains lie within the states of Texas and New Mexico.  The Guadalupe Mountains essentially is a southern extension of the larger Rocky Mountains.  The Guadalupe Mountains is the highest range in Texas with the peak elevati

Former California State Route 215

  California State Route 215 was a short-lived state highway which existed in the Los Angeles Metropolitain area after the 1964 State Highway Renumbering.  California State Route 215 was aligned from US Route 60 at 5th Street in Pomona north to US Route 66 near Claremont via Garey Avenue.  California State Route 215 came to be after California State Route 71 was bisected in Pomona due to relinquishment of a portion of Garey Avenue due to the opening of a portion of the Corona Freeway (now Chino Valley Freeway) during 1958.  California State Route 215 was deleted by the Legislature during 1965. The history of California State Route 215 The initial segment of what was to become California State Route 215 was added to the State Highway System as part of the 1909 First State Highway Bond Act.  The First State Highway Bond Act defined what would become  Legislative Route Number 19  (LRN 19) as running from Claremont to Riverside.  The segment of LRN 19 between Claremont and Pomona would in

Paper Highways; unbuilt California State Route 100 in Santa Cruz

This edition of Paper Highways examines the unbuilt California State Route 100 in Santa Cruz. The History of Unbuilt California State Route 100 The route that became CA 100 was added to the State Inventory in 1959 as part of the Freeway & Expressway System as Legislative Route 287 .  According to CAhighways.org the initial definition of LRN 287 had it begin at LRN 5 (CA 17) and was defined over the below alignment to LRN 56 (CA 1) through downtown Santa Cruz. -  Ocean Street -  2nd Street -  Chestnut Street For context the above alignment would required tearing down a large part of the densely populated Santa Cruz.  A modern Google imagine immediately reveals how crazy an alignment following Ocean Street, 2nd Street, and Chestnut Street would have been. LRN 287 first appears on the 1960 Division of Highways State Map . In 1961 the definition of LRN 287 was generalized to; from LRN 5 via the beach area in Santa Cruz to LRN 56 west of the San Lorenzo River.