Skip to main content

Unconstructed California State Route 234

By


California State Route 234 is a three-mile unconstructed State Highway which was planned near the southern city border of Stockton near French Camp.  The corridor which was adopted into the State Highway System by way of 1959 Legislative Chapter 1062.  The traversable routing of California State Route 234 is noted by Caltrans as French Camp Road despite it not matching the planned corridor routing displayed on State Highway Maps.  During 1983 San Joaquin County adopted a resolution to adopt French Camp Road formally California State Route 234.  The state never acted on the resolution and San Joaquin eventually lost interest.  Modern Arch Airport Road was completed in 2010s along the planned corridor of California State Route 234.  Arch Airport Road facilitates traffic to newer industrial construction at Airpark 599 near Stockton Metropolitain Airport.  

Planned California State Route 234 can be seen straddling the southern city border of Stockton on the blog cover as displayed on 1964 Division of Highways Map.  




The history of California State Route 234

What was to become planned California State Route 234 was added to the State Highway System during 1959 as Legislative Route Number 261 (LRN 261).  LRN 261 was adopted into the Freeways & Expressways System which was also created during 1959.  LRN 261 was defined by Legislative Chapter 1062 with the following description:

"LRN 238 (Interstate 5) near French Camp to LRN 4 (US Route 99"

LRN 261 appears for the first time on the 1960 Division of Highways Map as a planned State Highway.  The planned but unadopted routing of LRN 261 is shown to be aligned north of French Camp near the southern boundary of the city of Stockton.  The planned alignment of LRN 261 included a crossing of French Camp Slough approaching Interstate 5/LRN 238. 



The Legislative Route Numbers were dropped as part of the 1964 State Highway Renumbering.  LRN 261 was subsequently renumbered as "California State Route 234."  California State Route 234 retained the definition of LRN 261 and appears on the first time on the 1964 Division of Highways.  



Unconstructed California State Route 234 roughly aligned with then existing Sperry Road between McKinnley Avenue and Airport Way (County Route J3).  The corridor appears to have been intended to service Sharpe Army Depot Field Annex which was located at Stockton Municipal Airport.  Sperry Road can be seen as originally configured on the 1968 United States Geological Survey Map of Stockton.  The regular Army would withdraw from Stockton Municipal Airport during 1973 and the holdings of Sharpe Army Depot Field Annex were relinquished to San Joaquin County. 


California State Route 234 never had a formal alignment adoption.  In 1983 San Joaquin County passed resolution 8-83-1461 for procedures to be followed to add French Camp Road as California State Route 234 and Eight Mile Road as California State Route 235.  French Camp Road (County Route J9 and former US Route 99) is listed as the traversable routing of California State Route 234, but no State Highway map has ever shown the planned corridor following it.   During 1993 San Joaquin County adopted Eight Mile Road as arterial roadway and dropped interest in California State Route 235.  San Joaquin County never opined on continued interest with California State Route 234.

Sperry Road by the 1980s was extended east from Airport Way to California State Route 99 (former US Route 99) by San Joaquin County via the planned corridor of California State Route 234.  This extension appears on the 1989 United States Geological Map of Stockton.  


The corridor of Sperry Road was extended west to Interstate 5 and renamed as "Arch Airport Road" during the latter half of the 2010s.  Arch Airport Road is aligned directly over the planned corridor of California State Route 234.  The intent of Arch Airport Road is to increase access to Stockton Metropolitain Airport and the Airpark 599 (which broke ground in 2021).  

Arch Airport Road as it is configured now appears on the 2015 United States Geological Map of Stockton.  



Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

The Tale of Tollhouse Road, western California State Route 168 and failed Piute Pass Highway

By
Western California State Route 168 is entirely located in Fresno County and is linked historically to the Tollhouse Road corridor.   Tollhouse Road is one of the oldest highways in the Sierra Nevada range of Fresno County. The corridor presently begins in at Clovis Avenue in downtown Clovis and extends northeast to Huntington Lake. In 1866 the Woods Brothers established mining claims on Pine Ridge. In 1867 Fresno County would grant the brothers a toll franchise to construct a roadway to the desirable logging areas atop Pine Ridge and near Dinkey Creek. The Woods would establish a tollhouse at the start of their franchise road and lumber mill. The lumber mill attracted settlers which led to the establishment of the mountain town of Tollhouse. Fresno County would purchase the Tollhouse Road in 1878 and make it a public highway. The county would remove the tolls and incorporate the corridor into the existing county road network. Prior to the establishment of Clovis in 1...
Post a Comment
Read more

California State Route 73

By
California State Route 73 is 21 mile limited access highway aligned over the Corona del Mar Freeway and San Joaquin Hills Toll Road.  California State Route 73 connects Interstate 5 near San Juan Capistrano westward to Interstate 405 in Costa Mesa.  Prior to the construction of the Corona del Mar Freeway and San Joaquin Hills Tollway California State Route 73 was a surface highway located on largely MacArthur Boulevard. Part 1; the history of California State Route 73 What became California State Route 73 ("CA 73") entered the State Highway System in 1933 as Legislative Route Number 184 ("LRN 184").  LRN 184 was given the following route definition: "LRN 60 near Corona Del Mar to Santa Ana via Main Street" LRN 184 was announced in the April 1933 California Highways & Public Works .   LRN 184 appears for the first time on the  1934 Division of Highways Map .   LRN 184 appears under State Maintenance from US Route 101/LRN 2 in Santa Ana south ...
Post a Comment
Read more

Mormon Emigrant Trail (Emergency US Route 50 Alternate)

By
Mormon Emigrant Trail is an approximately 24.5-mile portion of the original routing of the Carson Pass Highway in Eldorado National Forest.  Mormon Emigrant Trail begins at California State Route 88 near Alder Hill and extends westward to Eldorado County Route J16 at Sly Park Road.   Carson Pass was a known crossing of the Sierra Nevada by the Washoe and was surveyed in an 1844 expedition led by John C. Fremont.  The Carson Pass Highway was plotted as a wagon road by the Mormon Battalion in 1848 and was once the primary crossing of the Sierra Nevada.  By the 1880s the Carson Pass Highway had several spurs with the primary traffic corridor being rerouted to Jackson.  The original routing towards Placerville would come to be known as Morman Emigrant Trail and became part of Eldorado National Forest in 1910.  Morman Emigrant Trail is part of Forest Road 10N50 and Eldorado National Forest Route 5.  Despite being a seasonally maintained roadway corrido...
Post a Comment
Read more