Skip to main content

Former California State Route 215

By

 

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 time become part of California State Route 71.  LRN 19 can be seen on the 1918 California Highway Commission Map.  The routing of LRN 19 between Claremont and Pomona followed Garey Avenue.  



California State Route 71 was announced as one of the original Sign State Routes in the August 1934 California Highways & Public Works.  California State Route 71 originated at US Route 66 near Claremont and followed LRN 19 south towards Pomona.  From Pomona, California State Route 71 followed the entirety of LRN 77 to US Route 80 near San Diego.  



In 1935 the Division of Highways released County maps which depict routing of California State Route 71.  Within Los Angeles County, California State Route 71 is shown following Garey Avenue along LRN 19 south from US Route 66/LRN 9 in Claremont to US Route 99/US Route 60/US Route 70/LRN 26 at Holt Avenue in Pomona.  California State Route 71 briefly multiplexed US Route 60/LRN 19 on Garey Avenue south to 5th Street where the latter split east towards Riverside.  California State Route 71 transitioned onto LRN 77 following Garey Avenue and Philadelphia Street to the San Bernardino County line.  


The 1936-1937 Division of Highways Map displays California State Route 71/LRN 77 south of Pomona bypassing Chino via an extension of Garey Avenue.  The new bypass of Chino tied into Merrill Avenue south of the city of limit of Chino directly towards LRN 177.  

The January/February 1958 California Highways & Public Works announced a contract to construct the Temescal Freeway between 5th Street to 0.9 miles south of Riverside Drive in Pomona.  The initial segment of the Temescal Freeway is noted to have an anticipated completion during April as an expressway.  While not overly stated the Temescal Freeway was intended to be the new alignment of California State Route 71.  





The Temescal Freeway name was short lived as the corridor was announced as having been named the "Corona Freeway" in the November/December 1958 California Highways & Public Works.  The Corona Freeway name was selected by the California Highway Commission on July 23, 1958.  The Corona Freeway corridor is noted to have been selected by the California Highway Commission during 1947 between the Los Angeles County line and the US Route 395 Escondido Freeway.  




The 1959 Division of Highways Map displays California State Route 71 in Pomona as a bisected highway.  The northern segment of California State Route 71 is shown to follow LRN 19 between Claremont to the US Route 60 along Garey Avenue.  The segment of Garey Avenue south to the Corona Freeway is shown to have been relinquished back to Pomona.  The southern Segment of California State Route 71 is shown originating at US Route 60 and following the Corona Freeway south towards Chino.  The entire Corona Freeway corridor had been added the Freeway & Expressway System during 1959.  


The 1964 State Highway Renumbering heavily altered the corridor of California State Route 71.  The Legislative Route Numbers were dropped as part of the 1964 State Highway Renumbering in favor of Sign Route designations.  California State Route 71 was defined with several segments:

(A) Route 10 to near Pomona to Route 91 via Pomona.
(B) Route 91 to Route 395.
(C) Route 395 near Temecula to Route 74 east of Anza.  

The 1964 Division of Highways Map displays the changes to California State Route 71.  What had been California State Route 71 along Garey Avenue between US Route 66 in Claremont to US Route 60 in Pomona was designated as California State Route 215.  The establishment of California State Route 215 removed the gap in California State Route 71.  California State Route 71 was extended north of US Route 60/5th Street to the Interstate 10 and the San Bernardino Freeway.  



1965 Legislative Chapter 1372 deleted California State Route 215 along Garey Avenue between Claremont and Pomona.  It is unclear if California State Route 215 ever had any signage or was signed as California State Route 71 prior to being deleted.  Former California State Route 71/California State Route 215 along Garey Avenue between Claremont and Pomona no longer appears on the 1966 Division of Highways Map.  



Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

What's In a Name?: When the Roads Really Do Tell a Story

By
  Our tagline on the Gribblenation blog is "because every road tells a story". Some roads tell different stories than others. Along our travels, we may see historic markers that tell us a little story about the roads we travel or the places we pass by. Some historic markers are more general, as to telling us who lived where or what old trail traversed between two towns. During my travels across New York State and other states or provinces, I pass by many historic markers, some with interesting or amusing references to roads. I wanted to highlight a few of the markers I've seen along my travels around the Empire State and help tell their stories. Those stories may be as specific as explaining the tales of a tree that was used to help measure a distance of eight miles from Bath to Avoca in Steuben County, as referenced on the Eight Mile Tree historical marker above. They may also help point the way along historical roads first used centuries ago, or may help tell a local l...
Post a Comment
Read more

May 2023 Ontario Trip (Part 3 of 3)

By
  Over the years, I have made plenty of trips to Ontario, crisscrossing the southern, central and eastern parts of the province. Living in Upstate New York, it's pretty easy to visit our neighbor to the north, or is that our neighbor to the west? Ottawa is one of my favorite cities to visit anywhere in the world, plus I've discovered the charm of Kingston, the waterfalls of Hamilton (which is on the same Niagara Escarpment that brings us Niagara Falls), the sheer beauty of the Bruce Peninsula, and more. But I hadn't explored much of Cottage Country. So I decided to change that, and what better time to go than over Memorial Day weekend, when the daylight is long and I have an extra day to explore. On the third and final day of my trip, I started in Huntsville and made my way through Muskoka District and Haliburton County, passing by many lakes along the way. I stopped in towns such as Dorset, Haliburton and Bancroft before making a beeline down to Belleville and then over th...
Post a Comment
Read more

2018 Mojave Road Trip Part 2; The deadly desert highway (California State Route 127 and Nevada State Route 373)

By
After leaving Barstow via Old Highway 58 my next destination was in Death Valley.  To access Death Valley from rural San Bernardino County required a trek on north on Interstate 15 to California State Route 127 which becomes Nevada State Route 373 at the state line. Along I-15 I encountered the road sign oddity that is Zzyzx Road about eight miles south of Baker.   Zzyzx Road is a four mile road that used to go to the Zzyzx Mineral Springs and Health Spa.   The spa was founded in the 1940s and the owner made up the name "Zzyzx" to claim it was the last word in the English Language.  The spa has been shut down since the 1970s and is now part of a Desert Studies Center for California State University. The southern terminus of CA 127 in Baker is located at I-15 exit 246.  CA 127 is a 91 mile north/south highway which runs to the Nevada State Line in Inyo County.  CA 127 is called Death Valley Road from I-15 northward.  South of CA 127 ...
4 comments
Read more