Skip to main content

Abandoned Fowler Avenue in Clovis, California

By

Originally Fowler Avenue in the city of Clovis had a brief discontinuation approaching Herndon Avenue.  Fowler Avenue traffic heading northbound was required to detour briefly onto westbound Herndon Avenue.  During 2001 this discontinuation was removed when Fowler Avenue was reconfigured to access the Sierra Freeway (California State Route 168) via an interchange.  This led to a segment of the original alignment of Fowler Avenue just south of Herndon Avenue to be abandoned.  Despite a shopping center opening over part of the original Fowler Avenue alignment in 2016 much of the abandoned roadway remains.  




The history of the abandoned original alignment of Fowler Avenue in Clovis

The original alignment of California State Route 168 departed downtown Clovis eastbound along Tollhouse Road.  This original alignment did not interact with Fowler Avenue at the Herndon Avenue intersection.  Fowler Avenue north of Tollhouse Road ran north to Herndon Avenue where a break in the corridor was encountered.  Traffic wishing to continue north on Fowler Avenue was required to take a left-hand turn onto westbound Herndon Avenue followed by a quick right-hand turn.  

The original configuration at the Fowler Avenue and Herndon Avenue intersection can be seen on the 1946 United States Geological Survey map of Clovis.  California State Route 168 can be seen displayed following Tollhouse Road.  


During the 1990s construction on the Sierra Freeway broke ground as the new alignment of California State Route 168.  The limited access freeway grade spanned from California State Route 180 at Postmile FRE R0.435 to R11.85 a short distance east of Thompson Avenue.  This freeway corridor would be fully opened to traffic during May 2001.  

Fowler Avenue was selected for a freeway interchange with the Sierra Freeway a short distance north of Herndon Avenue.  Part of this project included realigning Fowler Avenue to make it continuous with the segment north of Hernon Avenue.  This led to the original alignment of Fowler Avenue from Herndon Avenue south to Backowski Avenue being abandoned.  The segment was likely not razed due to be the land parcels being purchased by commercial real estate interests.  

The abandoned portion of Fowler Avenue can be seen behind a shopping center just south of Herndon Avenue on Googe Maps.  


The abandoned portion of Fowler Avenue can be seen facing south from Herndon Avenue on a July 2011 Google Street View Image.  The abandoned roadway is shown to have been subject to road paint testing at some point.  


The shopping center located at the southeast corner of the Fowler Avenue/Hernon Avenue intersection opened during 2016.  The new shopping center consumed much of the abandoned portion of Herndon Avenue.  Despite the presence of a modern shopping center a portion of abandoned Fowler Avenue is still located behind the parking lot. 

These photos face south along the abandoned original alignment of Fowler Avenue.  




The reverse view on abandoned Fowler Avenue facing towards Hernon Avenue.  


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Crescent City Connection (New Orleans, LA)

By
The Crescent City Connection is a massive dual-span steel truss bridge that spans the lower Mississippi River at downtown New Orleans, about 95 river miles upstream from the mouth of the great river at the Head of Passes Light. If counted as a single bi-directional highway bridge, the parallel spans combine to form the single busiest bridge on the Mississippi River and its importance as a linchpin in the region’s transportation network cannot be overstated. While there have been various schemes over the years to construct bridges downriver from Algiers Point, this bridge has been the southernmost bridge on the Mississippi River since its initial construction in the 1950s. The years immediately following the end of World War II were a transformational period in the history of New Orleans. Already one of the great economic and cultural centers of the American Deep South, it was recognized at this time that major changes and improvements to the city’s transportation infrastructure would b...
Post a Comment
Read more

Old US Route 99 through Tipton, Tulare, and Tagus Ranch

By
This summer I had a look into the alignment history of US Route 99 through the Tulare County communities of Tipton, Tulare, and Tagus Ranch.  While this slab below might seem like much it is one of the few remaining reminders of how US Route 99 was during the 1920s in Tulare County. This blog is part of the larger Gribblenation US Route 99 Page.  For more information pertaining to the other various segments of US Route 99 and it's three-digit child routes check out the link the below. Gribblenation US Route 99 Page Part 1; the history of US Route 99 in Tipton, Tulare, and Tagus Ranch Tipton and Tulare were both founded in 1872 as sidings of the Southern Pacific Railroad.  The Southern Pacific Railroad laid the groundwork for development of southern San Joaquin Valley.  Previous to the Southern Pacific Railroad travel via wagon or foot in Central California tended to avoid San Joaquin Valley in favor of the Stockton-Los Angeles Road.  The Stockton Los Ange...
Post a Comment
Read more

Winnemucca to the Sea Highway

By
The Winnemucca to the Sea Highway was conceived as an idea to establish a continuous, improved route branching from what was then US Highway 40 (now I-80) in Winnemucca, Nevada to the Pacific Coast in Crescent City, California . This highway was to span 494 miles as it crossed through deserts, mountains and forests on its way to the Pacific Ocean. Community leaders from points along this proposed highway formed the Winnemucca to the Sea Highway Association, which worked with state and local governments to obtain funding for the planning, construction and upgrade of the highway. The original proposal was to create one highway, numbered 140, which was to be applied to the complete route as the parent major US highway was coast-to-coast US-40, the Victory Highway. However, this idea never fully came to fruition. Currently, a traveler driving on the Winnemucca to the Sea Highway actually follows seven different highway numbers, which are US 95, NV 140, OR 140, US 395, OR 62, I-5, US 19...
Post a Comment
Read more