The California Roads Portal
The highway system of California is a network of roads owned and maintained by the state of California through the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans). Most of these are numbered in a statewide system, and are known as State Route X (abbreviated SR X). United States Numbered Highways are labeled US X, and Interstate Highways are Interstate X, though Caltrans typically uses State Route X for all classes.


Interstate Highways and U.S. Highways are assigned at the national level. Interstate Highways are numbered in a grid—even-numbered routes are east–west routes (with the lowest numbers along Mexico and the Gulf of Mexico), and odd-numbered routes are north–south routes (with the lowest numbers along the Pacific Ocean). U.S. Highways are also numbered in a grid—even numbered for east–west routes (with the lowest numbers along Canada) and odd numbered for north–south routes (with the lowest numbers along the Atlantic Ocean). There are 21 Interstate Highways in California, ranging from Interstate 5 to Interstate 980. There are seven current U.S. Highways including U.S. Route 6 and U.S. Route 395.


California State Routes are managed by Caltrans and designated by the California State Legislature. The state route's signs are in the shape of a miner's spade to honor the California Gold Rush. Each state highway in the U.S. state of California is assigned a Route (officially State Highway Route) number in the Streets and Highways Code (Sections 300-635). Since July 1 of 1964, the majority of legislative route numbers, those defined in the Streets and Highways Code, match the sign route numbers. On the other hand, some short routes are instead signed as parts of other routes — for instance, State Route 112 and State Route 260 are signed as part of the longer State Route 61, and State Route 51 is part of Interstate 80 Business. California County Routes are marked with the usual County route shield, and are assigned a letter for where they are located. For instance, county highways assigned "S" are located in Southern California, ones assigned "J" are found in Central California, and those assigned "A" are located in Northern California.
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Interstate 805 (I-805) is a major north–south Interstate Highway in Southern California. It is a bypass of I-5, running along the eastern areas of the Greater San Diego region from San Ysidro (part of the city of San Diego) near the Mexico–U.S. border to near Del Mar. The southern terminus of I-805 at I-5 in San Ysidro is less than a mile north of the Mexican border. I-805 then traverses through the cities of Chula Vista and National City before reentering San Diego. The freeway passes though the San Diego neighborhoods of North Park, Mission Valley, Clairemont, and University City before terminating at I-5 in the Sorrento Valley neighborhood near the Del Mar city limit. Planning for I-805 began in 1956, and the route was officially designated in 1959 before it was renumbered in the 1964 state highway renumbering. Starting in 1967, the freeway was built in phases, with the northern part of the freeway finished before the southern part. I-805 was completed and open to traffic in 1975. Named the Jacob Dekema Freeway after the longtime head of the regional division of the California Department of Transportation (Caltrans), I-805 has been frequently cited for its complex engineering and architecture, including near I-8 on the Mission Valley Viaduct. Since then, several construction projects have taken place, including the construction of local and express lanes at the northern interchange with I-5. High-occupancy toll lanes are under construction on both the northern and southern portions of the route.
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Related portals
Did you know...
- ...that the two parts of State Route 139 were constructed by a joint highway district of Lassen and Modoc Counties and by the U.S. federal government before being turned over to the state?
- ...that the easternmost part of State Route 20 follows a branch of the historic California Trail, parts of which have been preserved as a National Recreation Trail?
- ...that U.S. Route 50 in California was the route traveled by many '49ers and the Pony Express, and later became California's first state highway and a branch of the Lincoln Highway?
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- Los Angeles • San Diego • Southern California • Santa Barbara County • Inland Empire • San Francisco Bay Area
Quality content
| This is a list of recognized content, updated weekly by JL-Bot (talk · contribs) (typically on Saturdays). There is no need to edit the list yourself. If an article is missing from the list, make sure it is tagged or categorized (e.g. Category:California road transport articles) correctly and wait for the next update. See WP:RECOG for configuration options. |
Featured articles
Good articles
Arroyo Seco Parkway
Bayshore Freeway
California State Route 3
California State Route 7
California State Route 11
California State Route 14
California State Route 16
California State Route 20
California State Route 37
California State Route 46
California State Route 47
California State Route 54
California State Route 55
California State Route 70
California State Route 88
California State Route 98
California State Route 115
California State Route 125
California State Route 133
California State Route 139
California State Route 149
California State Route 160
California State Route 174
California State Route 177
California State Route 186
California State Route 188
California State Route 190
California State Route 195
California State Route 198
California State Route 209
California State Route 243
California State Route 244
California State Route 247
California State Route 266
California State Route 275
California State Route 282
California State Route 905
Interstate 205 (California)
Interstate 680 (California)
Interstate 780
Sierra Highway
U.S. Route 50 in California
U.S. Route 80 in California
U.S. Route 199
U.S. Route 395 in California
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