Skip to main content

Paper Highways: US Route 64 to Morro Bay, California

 

During June 1933 the California Division of Highways proposed an extension of US Route 64 from Raton, New Mexico west to Morro Bay, California.  The proposed routing of US Route 64 required a lengthy multiplex of US Route 66 and generally was not met favorably with the American Association of State Highway Officials.  A compromise was eventually reached during October 1933 which led to the creation of US Route 466.  This blog will examine the brief history of the proposed extension of US Route 64 to Morro Bay, California and how it evolved to become US Route 466.  


The history of the application to extend US Route 64 to Morro Bay, California

During June 1933 the California Division of Highways petitioned the American Association of State Highway Officials (then AASHO, now AASHTO) for an extension of US Route 64 west of Raton, New Mexico to Morro Bay, California.  The extension of US Route 64 was not considered ideal by AASHO due to proposed routing including a lengthy multiplex of US Route 66 from Santa Fe, New Mexico to Barstow, California.  

Within California, US Route 64 as proposed would have split from US Route 66 in Bartow and followed Legislative Route Number 58 west over Tehachapi Pass to Bakersfield.  From Bakersfield, proposed US Route 64 would follow US Route 99 north along Legislative Route Number 4 to Famoso.  From Famoso, proposed US Route 64 would follow Legislative Route Number 33 west over the Polino Pass to Cholame.  From Cholame, proposed US Route 64 was to follow Legislative Route Number 125 to Morro Bay by way of Shandon, Creston, Rocky Canyon and Atascadero. 

An alternate proposed routing of US Route 64 in New Mexico did little to mitigate the lengthy multiplex of US Route 66 in Arizona and California.  The alternate proposed routing for US Route 64 diverged from US Route 66 in Albuquerque southward multiplexed along US Route 85 to San Antonio.  From San Antonio the proposed alternate corridor of US Route 64 multiplexed US Route 60 to Springerville, Arizona and would replace US Route 260 west to Holbrook.  The alternate routing of US Route 64 did not resolve the multiplex along US Route 66 from Holbrook west to Barstow, California.  Ultimately, the proposal to extended US Route 64 was to be reviewed by the AASHO Executive Committee during their October 1933 meeting.  




During their August 1933 meeting AASHO suggested US Route 466 to the California Division of Highways as an alternative to the lengthy extension of US Route 64.  US Route 466 was initially proposed as originating in Barstow, California and terminating at Morro Bay.  The Division of Highways via telegram to AASHO dated August 10, 1933, expressed that such a short US Route located entirely in-state would not provide the same utility as their US Route 64 extension proposal.  

 
During the October 1933 AASHO meeting a compromise was reached which brought US Route 466 into existence.  US Route 466 would begin at US Route 66 in Kingman, Arizona and travel northwest to the site of Boulder Dam at the Nevada state line.  Within in California, US Route 466 would retain the same Barstow-Morro Bay alignment desired by the California Division of Highways for their US Route 64 extension proposal.  

The first description of US Route 466 in Nevada is a letter dated November 14, 1933.  In said letter the Nevada State Highway Engineer describes the routing of US Route 466 to the AASHO Executive Secretary.  The origin point of US Route 466 is stated to be from the site of Boulder Dam westerly via Nevada State Route 26 and Nevada State Route 5 to Las Vegas.  From Las Vegas, US Route 466 multiplexed US Route 91 along Nevada State Route 8 to the California state line at Primm.  US Route 466 would continue to multiplex US Route 91 along Legislative Route Number 31 in California to Barstow where it would branch off towards Morro Bay.  



Comments

Popular posts from this blog

Chowchilla Mountain Road to Yosemite National Park

Chowchilla Mountain Road of Mariposa County is one of the oldest roadways servicing Yosemite National Park.  As presently configured this fourteen-mile highway begins at California State Route 49 near Elliot Corner and terminates at the Wawona Road in Yosemite National Park.  Chowchilla Mountain Road was constructed as a franchise toll road over Battalion Pass circa 1869-1870.  The highway was built at behest of Galen Clark to connect the town of Mariposa to his property near the South Fork Merced River at what is now Wawona.   In late 1874 the highway along with Clark’s Station would be purchased by the Washburn Brothers.  The Washburn Brothers would continue to toll Chowchilla Mountain Road as part of their Yosemite Stage Route lines.  The highway would ultimately become a Mariposa County public highway in 1917.  Mariposa would later be more directly linked with Yosemite Valley in 1926 following the completion of the Yosemite All-Year Highwa...

Angus L. Macdonald Bridge

At 1.3 kilometers (or about 0.84 miles) in length, the Angus L. Macdonald Bridge is one of two bridges crossing over the Halifax Harbour between Halifax, Nova Scotia and Dartmouth, Nova Scotia, with the other bridge being the A. Murray Mackay Bridge . Opened in 1955 and named after former Nova Scotia Premier and Canadian Minister of Defense for Naval Services Angus L. Macdonald, the Macdonald Bridge was the first bridge that crossed Halifax Harbour that was opened to traffic. The Macdonald Bridge was also the subject of the Big Lift, which was only the second time in history that the span of a suspension bridge were replaced while the bridge was open to traffic. Planning began in 2010 for the Big Lift, while construction took place between 2015 and 2017. Similar work occurred on the Lion's Gate Bridge in Vancouver, British Columbia before the project took place on the Macdonald Bridge. At this time, much of the bridge infrastructure is new, leaving only the towers, main cables and...

Interstate 40's Tumultuous Ride Through the Pigeon River Gorge

In the nearly 60 years Interstate 40 has been open to traffic through the Pigeon River Gorge in the mountains of Western North Carolina, it has been troubled by frequent rockslides and damaging flooding, which has seen the over 30-mile stretch through North Carolina and Tennessee closed for months at a time. Most recently, excessive rainfall from Hurricane Helene in September 2024 saw sections of Interstate 40 wash away into a raging Pigeon River. While the physical troubles of Interstate 40 are well known, how I-40 came to be through the area is a tale of its own. Interstate 40 West through Haywood County near mile marker 10. I-40's route through the Pigeon River Gorge dates to local political squabbles in the 1940s and a state highway law written in 1921. A small note appeared in the July 28, 1945, Asheville Times. It read that the North Carolina State Highway Commission had authorized a feasibility study of a "...water-level road down [the] Pigeon River to the Tennessee l...