California State Route 99 Totally Explained

Everything about California State Route 99 totally explained

State Route 99 (SR 99), commonly known as Highway 99, is a north-south state highway in the U.S. state of California, stretching almost the entire length of the Central Valley. From its south end at Interstate 5 near Wheeler Ridge to its north end at State Route 36 near Red Bluff, SR 99 is a busy alternate to I-5 through the more populated eastern portions of the valley. Cities passed through or near include Bakersfield, Visalia, Fresno, Madera, Merced, Modesto, Stockton, Sacramento, Yuba City, and Chico.
Almost all of SR 99 south of Sacramento is a freeway, and there are current plans to complete this portion to Interstate Highway standards, as a parallel route to I-5 for Los Angeles-Sacramento traffic. North of Sacramento, the road ranges from a rural two-lane road to a four-lane freeway.
This route is part of the California Freeway and Expressway System.

Route description

The majority of its length is built to freeway standards, though it's at times a two-lane rural highway or a four lane divided highway. The freeway portions connect and serve the numerous small cities, and large urban centers as well, that mostly support the agriculture and industry of the Central Valley. These segments provide a fast medium distance haulage route connecting agricultural production with related processing and packing businesses.
Traveling southbound from Stockton, Route 99 passes through the cities of the San Joaquin Valley, while I-5 is relegated to less densely populated areas. Route 99 continues through Modesto, Ceres, Turlock, Merced, Madera, Fresno, Visalia, Tulare and Bakersfield. A few miles south of the Tehachapi Mountains or north of Grapevine Hill, the road made famous by Commander Cody and His Lost Planet Airmen in their song, "Hot Rod Lincoln," Route 99 meets I-5 again and ends in Wheeler Ridge.

History

General history

The first state highway bond issue, approved by the state's voters in 1910, included a north-south highway through the central part of the state, consisting of Route 3 through the Sacramento Valley from the Oregon state line south to Sacramento (replacing the Siskiyou Trail) and Route 4 through the San Joaquin Valley from Sacramento to Los Angeles. In addition, a second route followed the west side of the Sacramento Valley, using Route 7 from Red Bluff south to Davis and the short Route 8 east along the proposed Yolo Causeway to Sacramento. North of Bakersfield, these closely paralleled some of the main lines of the Southern Pacific Railroad, including the Fresno Line, East and West Valley Lines, Shasta Line, and Siskiyou Line. By 1920, paving of both routes from Red Bluff to Los Angeles was completed or in progress, including the only mountain crossing south of Red Bluff, the Ridge Route just north of Los Angeles. To the north of Red Bluff, the road was being graded but not paved over the Siskiyou Mountains into Oregon. Paving was finally completed in mid-1933, when a new alignment (now SR 263) opened through the Shasta River Canyon.
   The route from Davis to Oregon via Routes 7 and 3 came to be known as part of the Pacific Highway, an auto trail organized in 1910 to connect Canada and Mexico. The split in the Sacramento Valley was known as the East and West Side Highways (the latter also carrying the Pacific Highway). South of Sacramento, Route 4 was the Valley Route, but the San Joaquin Valley Tourist and Travel Association held a contest to rename it, selecting Golden State Highway as the winning entry in July 1927. This north-south central highway also became part of U.S. Route 99 in 1926, as part of the new U.S. Highway system developed by the American Association of State Highway Officials (AASHO), though signs were not posted in California until 1928. US 99 also continued southeast from Los Angeles along a paved state highway, Routes 9 and 26, to US 80 in El Centro. The paved county road south from El Centro to the Mexican border became a state highway in mid-1931, and part of US 99 in mid-1932. In mid-1929, AASHO approved a split designation between Sacramento and Red Bluff, with US 99W replacing the original western route via Davis, and US 99E following the East Side Highway (Route 3) via Roseville. A short-lived split also existed between Manteca and Stockton in the early 1930s, with US 99E becoming the main route and US 99W becoming an extended SR 120 where not concurrent with US 50.
A third highway heading north from Sacramento was constructed by the Natomas Company in the 1910s for 13 miles (21 km) along the Sacramento River levee in order to provide access to land reclaimed and sold by the company. Sacramento and Sutter Counties continued the road alongside the Sacramento and Feather Rivers to Nicolaus, where an existing county road crossed the river on a drawbridge and ran north to the East Side Highway at Yuba City. This continuous roadway between Sacramento and Yuba City was dedicated in October 1924 as the Garden Highway.
   Portions of the present SR 99 alignment between Sacramento and Yuba City were added to the state highway system in 1933, when the legislature added Route 87 (Sign Route 24, later U.S. Route 40 Alternate) from Woodland north past Yuba City to northwest of Oroville, and in 1949, with the creation of Route 232 (later Sign Route 24) between Sacramento and Marysville. The final piece became Route 245 (no signed number) in 1959, connecting Route 232 near Catlett with Route 87 near Tudor, and following the old Garden Highway across the Feather River to a point east of Tudor. Despite this combined route connecting the same cities as the Garden Highway, the only other piece of the old county road taken for the state highway was a short segment just north of Sacramento, carrying Route 232 between Jibboom Street and El Centro Road.
   In the mid-1964 renumbering, US 99 was truncated to Los Angeles, with the old route south to Mexico becoming mainly State Route 86. At the same time, Route 99 was defined legislatively to run from I-5 near Wheeler Ridge to Red Bluff, but this was only marked as State Route 99 between Sacramento and Yuba City, since the remainder was still US 99 or US 99E. The south end of US 99 was moved further north to Sacramento in late 1966, and SR 99 was extended to Wheeler Ridge; the rest of former US 99 to Los Angeles was either I-5 or the locally-maintained San Fernando Road. Several years later, US 99 and its branches were removed altogether from California, making SR 99 signage match the legislative definition; all of US 99W, and US 99 north of Red Bluff, remained as other routes (I-80, SR 113, and I-5), while US 99E between Roseville and Marysville became SR 65.

Local changes

Route 99 was originally part of U.S. Route 99 which was removed from California by 1968 after the completion of Interstate 5. Since the remnant didn't cross state lines, it wasn't allowed to keep its federal highway status. Many of the older highway signs in the southbound lanes still display a control city of Los Angeles, even though SR 99 no longer runs through that city. Caltrans also patched the US 99 shield with the SR 99 shield in many of the highway signs. The most prominent example is the Atwater exit in either direction, on which one can clearly see the old US shield outline underneath the newer spade. Other, better-covered, examples are in Tulare (J Street exit) and Merced, where one has to look carefully to note the square green patch.
   From the north, Route 99 runs generally parallel to, and to the east of, Interstate 5. SR 99 begins at the intersection of SR 36 east of Red Bluff, and serves as a two-lane highway, running through Butte and Sutter counties, with the exceptions of portions in Yuba City and Chico serving as freeways to the state capital, Sacramento. Before Sacramento, SR 99 is promoted to a freeway and meets I-5 briefly before diverging from it again. The two freeways run somewhat close to one another for about 90 miles, but after passing through Stockton, they begin to diverge more and more.
   Groundbreaking to widen Route 99 between Selma and Kingsburg from four to six lanes occurred on December 21 2005. Completion for this is expected by early 2008. Eventually Route 99 will be widened from four to six lanes from Kingsburg to Goshen beginning in 2010. A couple of years later this will be extended southward from Goshen to Tulare starting in 2012. An expressway stretch north of Madera will be converted to freeway status pending a final review. The long term goal is to upgrade Route 99 into a six lane (three in each direction) highway from one end to the other.
   A 1958 Caltrans state map shows US 99 running from Calexico to the Oregon state line. It meets the Oregon state line at the location of present-day Interstate 5.
   Highway 99 is commonly called "The Main Street of California."
It is mentioned John Steinbeck's The Grapes of Wrath as the main road used by the Joad family during their travels through California.
   The 5-mile segment of Route 99 south of its intersection with Route 70 in Sutter County is named the Bernie Richter Memorial Highway.
   The portion of State Highway Route 99 consisting of the four-lane expressway between the Edgar Slough south of Chico (Bridge No. 12128) and the Pentz Road overcrossing (Postmile 24.2) is officially designated as the "Ray E. Johnson" Expressway.

Future upgrade to Interstate Standards

Recently, it has been recommended that Route 99 be upgraded to Interstate Highway standards between its southern terminus and Stockton (or Sacramento), which would require upgrading some substandard sections and eliminating the last at-grade intersections. Caltrans has recommended Interstate 9 as the designation of the route, although Interstate 7 is a possibility, given the route's proximity to Interstate 5.

Exit list

� Note: Except where prefixed with a letter, postmiles were measured in 1964, based on the alignment as it existed at that time, and don't necessarily reflect current mileage. The numbers reset at county lines; the start and end postmiles in each county are given in the county column.

County	Location	Postmile	#	Destinations	Notes
Kern KER L0.75-57.58		L0.75			Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		2.73	3
			4	Mettler (Valpredo Avenue)	Southbound exit and entrance
		5.34	5	David Road, Copus Road
		7.29	7	Sandrini Road
		9.30	9	Herring Road
		10.93	11	Union Avenue (Bus. 99 north) – Greenfield	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
		13.41	13
		15.43	15	Houghton Road
		17.50	18
		19.54	20	Panama Lane
	Bakersfield	21.08	21	White Lane, Wible Road
		22.60	23	Ming Avenue
		23.51	24		South end of SR 58 overlap
		23.62	24	Stockdale Highway, Brundage Lane	Former SR 204
		24.60	25	California Avenue – Civic Center
		25.65	26A		North end of SR 58 overlap; signed as exit 26 southbound
			26B	Buck Owens Boulevard	Northbound exit and entrance
		26.78	27	Airport Drive – Oildale	Northbound exit and southbound entrance; serves Meadows Field Airport
		27.05	27		Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		27.87	28	Olive Drive
		R28.56	29	Norris Road – Oildale	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		R29.88	30		Northbound exit and southbound entrance
		R30.53	31	7th Standard Road
		36.52	37	Lerdo Highway – Shafter
		R39.12	39	Merced Avenue
		R41.16	41	Kimberlina Road
		44.31	44
		R47.37	47	Whisler Road
	McFarland	49.30	49	Sherwood Avenue – McFarland	No northbound entrance
	McFarland	49.95- 50.41	50	Perkins Avenue, Elmo Highway – McFarland
		52.45	52	Pond Road – Lake Woollomes
	Delano	54.48	54	Woollomes Avenue – Delano (Bus. 99 north)
		55.52	55	First Avenue	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
		55.52	56A		Signed as exit 56 northbound
		56.10	56B	Central Delano (11th Avenue)	Northbound exit is via exit 56
		56.54	57	Cecil Avenue
		57.58 0.00	58	County Line Road – Delano (Bus. 99 south)
Tulare TUL 0.00-R53.94		57.58 0.00	58	County Line Road – Delano (Bus. 99 south)
			60	Avenue 16	Southbound exit and entrance
		3.06	61	Avenue 24
		6.15	64	Avenue 48 – Earlimart
		7.17	65A	Ducor, Alpaugh (Avenue 56, CR J22)	Signed as exit 65 northbound; former Legislative Route 135
			65B	Alpaugh, Earlimart (Front Street)	Southbound exit only
		9.71	67	Avenue 72, Avenue 76
			68	Bishop Drive	Southbound exit only
		12.30	70A	Avenue 96 (CR J24) – Pixley, Terra Bella
		12.80	70B	Court Street	No southbound entrance
			70C	Pixley (Main Street)	Southbound exit only
		13.33	71	Road 124	Northbound exit and entrance
		15.37	73	Avenue 120
		18.43	76
		19.46	77	Avenue 152 (CR J26) – Tipton
		23.49	81	Avenue 184
		25.43	83	Avenue 200
		26.05		K Street – Tulare	Former northbound left exit and southbound entrance; now accessible via exit 83
	Tulare	27.60	85	Paige Avenue
		28.61	86	Bardsley Avenue
		29.57	87
		30.58	88	Hillman Street, Prosperity Avenue, Blackstone Street
		31.85	89	Oaks Street, Cartmill Avenue
			90	Oaks Street	Northbound exit and entrance
		33.22	91	J Street – Tulare	No northbound exit
		33.94	92	Avenue 260, Avenue 264
		36.41	94	Avenue 280, Caldwell Avenue
		R38.75	97		Signed as exits 96 (east) and 97 (west) northbound
			98A	Avenue 304 – Goshen	Northbound exit and entrance
			98A	Avenue 304	Southbound exit and entrance
		40.79	98B	Elder Avenue (CR J32) – Goshen
			106A	Traver	Northbound exit only
		48.71	106B	Merritt Drive (CR J36) – Traver	Signed as exit 106 southbound
		51.81	109	Avenue 384 (CR J38) – Woodlake
		R53.82	111	Mendocino Avenue – Kingsburg, Sanger
Fresno FRE R0.00-31.61	Kingsburg	R0.95	112
	Kingsburg	R2.06	114	Bethel Avenue, Kamm Avenue
		R3.74	115	Mountain View Avenue (CR J40) – Caruthers, Dinuba
	Selma	R5.32	117	Second Street
	Selma	6.43	118
	Fowler	9.16	121	Manning Avenue
		11.10	123A	Merced Street	Signed as exit 123 northbound
		11.84	123B	Adams Avenue	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		12.40	124	Clovis Avenue
		14.51	126	American Avenue	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		15.49- 15.86	127	Central Avenue, Chestnut Avenue – Malaga
		16.93- 17.26	128	Cedar Avenue, North Avenue
	Fresno	18.54	130	Jensen Avenue	Former SR 41 south
		19.29	131		Northbound exit and southbound entrance
		19.29	131		Northbound exit is via exit 130
		20.19	132A	Ventura Street, Kings Canyon Road	Former SR 180 east, earlier SR 41
		20.74	132B	Fresno Street – Civic Center
		21.01	133A	Stanislaus Street	Southbound exit and northbound entrance; former SR 180 west, earlier both directions
		22.16	133		Signed as exits 133A (west) and 133B (east) southbound
		22.74	134	Belmont Avenue – Pine Flat Dam
		23.30	135A	Olive Avenue	Signed as exit 135 southbound
		23.85	135B	McKinley Avenue	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
		24.42	136A	North Golden State Boulevard, Clinton Avenue	Signed as exit 136 northbound
			136B	Princeton Avenue	Southbound exit and entrance
		25.00	137A	Shields Avenue	Southbound exit and entrance
			137B	Dakota Avenue	Southbound exit only
		26.22	138A	North Golden State Boulevard	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
		26.55	138B	Ashlan Avenue	Signed as exit 138 southbound
		28.10	140	Shaw Avenue
		30.48	142	Herndon Avenue, Grantland Avenue
		30.99	143	Herndon Avenue (Golden State Boulevard)	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
Madera MAD 0.00-29.36		R0.99	144	Avenue 7, Road 33
		R3.56	147	Avenue 9, Road 30½, Road 31½
		R7.46	151	Avenue 12, Road 29
			152	Almond Avenue	Southbound exit and entrance
		9.49	153A	Gateway Drive (Bus. 99 north) – Madera	Northbound exit only
	Madera	10.27	153B		Signed as exit 153 southbound
		11.01	154	Fourth Street – Central Madera
		12.13	155	Cleveland Avenue – Millerton Lake, Yosemite
		12.75	156	Avenue 16, Gateway Drive (Bus. 99 south) – Madera
		R14.22	157	Avenue 17
		R16.33	159	Avenue 18½, Road 23
		R18.68	162	Avenue 20, Avenue 20½
	North end of freeway
				Avenue 22½ – Fairmead	Interchange under construction
	South end of freeway
		22.73	166		No northbound entrance
		23.77	167	Avenue 24
		24.43	168	Avenue 24½	No access across SR 99
		26.58	170
		28.17	171	Road 15 – Le Grand
	North end of freeway
Merced MER 0.00-R37.30	South end of freeway
	Merced		185	Mission Avenue, Campus Parkway	Under construction
		13.09	186A	Childs Avenue, Motel Drive
		13.86	186B		South end of SR 140 overlap
		14.08	186C	16th Street (Bus. 99 north)	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
		14.41	187A	G Street	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
		14.69	187B		South end of SR 59 overlap
		15.80	188		North end of SR 59/SR 140 overlap
		16.54	189	16th Street (Bus. 99 south)	No northbound exit
		18.51	191	Franklin Road	Northbound exit and entrance
		20.52	193	Buhach Road – Castle Airport
		21.61	194	Atwater (Bus. 99 north)	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
	Atwater	22.76	195	Applegate Road – Winton
	Atwater	23.46	196	Atwater (Bus. 99 south)	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
	Short gap in freeway
			200	Liberty Avenue, Sultana Drive	Under construction
	Livingston	R29.00	201	Hammatt Avenue
	Livingston	R30.38	203	Winton Parkway
		R31.93	204	Collier Road
			206	South Avenue
		R34.43	207	Shanks Road – Delhi
			208	Bradbury Road
		R36.34	209	Golden State Boulevard (Bus. 99 north)	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
Stanislaus STA R0.00-R24.75	Turlock	R1.63	211
		R3.45	213	West Main Street (CR J17) – Patterson, Central Turlock
		R4.54	214	Fulkerth Road
		R5.64	215	Monte Vista Avenue – Denair
		R6.75	217	Taylor Road (Bus. 99 south)
		R7.81	218	Keyes Road (CR J16) – Keyes
	Ceres	R10.04	220	Mitchell Road
			221	Ceres	Southbound exit is via exit 222
		R11.91	222	Whitmore Avenue
		R13.26	223A	Hatch Road	Signed as exits 223A (east) and 223B (west) northbound
		R13.90	223C	South 9th Street	Southbound exit is part of exit 223
	Modesto	R14.47	225A	Crows Landing Road
		R15.10	225B	Tuolumne Boulevard, B Street
		R15.75	226A	Central Modesto	Signed as exit 226 northbound
		R16.12	226B		Northbound exit is via exit 226
		R16.83	227	Kansas Avenue
		M18.52	229	Carpenter Road, Briggsmore Avenue
		R20.22	230	Beckwith Road, Standiford Avenue
		R21.74	232	Pelandale Avenue
		R22.56	233
		R24.27	234	Hammett Road
San Joaquin SJ 0.00-38.78	Ripon	0.89	236	Ripon
		1.71	237A	Milgeo Avenue	Northbound exit and entrance
		2.37	237B	Jack Tone Road	Signed as exit 237 southbound
		4.89	240	Austin Road
				Moffat Boulevard	Former northbound left exit and southbound entrance
		5.82	241		South end of SR 120 overlap
	Manteca	6.65	242		North end of SR 120 overlap
	Manteca	8.83	244A	Manteca (Main Street)	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		9.18	244B	Lathrop Road
		11.47	246	French Camp Road (CR J9)
			248	Frontage Road	No access across SR 99
	Stockton		250	Arch Road
			251	Clark Drive	Northbound exit and entrance
		16.70	252A	Mariposa Road (CR J7, Bus. 99 north, Bus. 4 west) – Escalon	Former SR 4 west
		17.22	252B		South end of SR 4 overlap
	Stockton	18.02	253	Charter Way west	No northbound exit; former SR 26 west
		18.15	253	Main Street	Northbound exit only
	Stockton	18.68	254A		North end of SR 4 overlap
		19.29	254B
		20.34	255		Signed as exits 255A (east) and 255B (west) northbound
		20.88	256	Cherokee Road
		21.67	257A	Wilson Way (Bus. 99 south) – Downtown Stockton	Southbound exit and northbound entrance
		SJ 21.91	257B	Frontage Road
		22.92	258	Hammer Lane (CR J8)
		24.03	259	Morada Lane
		25.42	260	Eight Mile Road
		27.50	262	Armstrong Road
		28.48	263	Harney Lane
		29.00	264A	Lodi (Bus. 99 north)	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
	Lodi	29.50	264B		South end of SR 12 overlap; signed as exit 264 southbound
		30.97	266		North end of SR 12 overlap
		31.58	267A	Turner Road – Lodi (Bus. 99 south)
		31.72	267B	Frontage Road
		32.57	268	Woodbridge Road
		33.57	269	Acampo Road
		34.58	270	Peltier Road (CR J12)
		35.60	271	Jahant Road
		36.67	272	Collier Road
		37.83	273	Liberty Road, Frontage Road
Sacramento SAC 0.12-36.86	Galt	0.33	274A	Crystal Way, Boessow Road	Northbound exit and entrance
		0.33	274A	Fairway Drive	Southbound exit and entrance
		0.79	274B	C Street – Central Galt
		1.57	275A	Elm Avenue, Simmerhorn Road (CR J10)
		1.88	275B	Pringle Avenue	Southbound exit and entrance
			275B	Ayers Lane	Northbound exit and entrance
		2.70	276	Walnut Avenue	No access across SR 99
		3.53	277
		4.39	278	Mingo Road	Northbound exit and entrance
		4.39	278	West Stockton Boulevard	Southbound exit and entrance
		6.01	280	Arno Road
		7.36	281	Dillard Road
		8.96	283	Eschinger Road	Southbound exit and entrance
	Elk Grove	10.07	284	Grant Line Road (CR E2)
		12.76	286	Elk Grove Boulevard (CR E13)
		13.84	287	Laguna Boulevard, Bond Road
		14.87	288	Sheldon Road
				Jacinto Road	Former southbound exit and entrance
	Sacramento	15.90	289	Cosumnes River Boulevard, Calvine Road
	Sacramento	17.24- 17.66	291	Stockton Boulevard, Bruceville Road, Mack Road	Signed as exits 291A (Mack Road east, Bruceville Road) and 291B (Mack Road west) southbound
		19.61	293	Florin Road	Signed as exits 293A (east) and 293B (west)
		20.86	294	47th Avenue	Signed as exits 294A (east) and 294B (west)
		21.57	295	Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
	Sacramento	21.94	296	Fruitridge Road	Northbound exit to Fruitridge Road east is via exit 295
		23.13	297	12th Avenue
		SAC 24.19	298B	Broadway	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
		R24.35 51 0.00	298A		Northbound exit and southbound entrance
		51 0.24	6C	T Street	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
				– Reno	Northbound exit and southbound entrance
		Gap in SR 99
		R32.12	306		Southbound exit and northbound entrance; signed as exits 306 (north) and no number (south)
		33.36	307	Elkhorn Boulevard (CR E14) – Rio Linda
	North end of freeway
Sutter SUT 0.00-42.39		5.81	316	Howsley Road – Pleasant Grove	Interchange
		R8.07	319		Interchange; northbound exit and southbound entrance
		11.98		Garden Highway	Interchange
		20.99
	Yuba City	T30.63
		South end of freeway
		R31.31	342	Queens Avenue
		R33.95	344	Eager Road
	North end of freeway
Butte BUT 0.00-45.98		11.16			South end of SR 162 overlap
		13.16			North end of SR 162 overlap
		21.81			Interchange under construction
		23.86	376	Durham, Pentz	Interchange
	Chico	South end of freeway
		R30.60	383	Park Avenue – Paradise
		R31.50	384	East 20th Street
		R32.45	385
		R33.28	386	East First Avenue
		R34.25	387A	Cohasset Road, Mangrove Avenue
		R34.93	387B	East Avenue
		R36.31	389	Eaton Road
	North end of freeway
Tehama TEH 0.00-24.94		24.94

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