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| South of Ash Street, southbound 6th Avenue travels south to the Ballpark District, ending at the Omni Hotel adjacent to Petco Park. Prior to A Street, southbound 6th Avenue approaches the World Trade Center and Union Bank (right) and 600 B Street (left). Photo taken 10/06/05.
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| Southbound 6th Avenue reaches A Street. On the southwest corner of this intersection is the World Trade Center, which is the former Harcourt Brace Jovanich building. This building is one of the older high rises downtown, and it is now shadowed by the much taller Union Bank Building behind it. Photo taken 10/06/05.
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| Westbound Ash Street reaches 6th Avenue, which travels south toward the Gaslamp Quarter and the Ballpark District. Continue west on Ash Street toward the Civic Center, Little Italy, and the North Embarcadero (bayfront). Photo taken 10/06/05.
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| Although not visible in the first photograph, San Diego Bay and the Star of India (tall ship) are visible from this vantage point along westbound Ash Street as the road descends from Cortez Hill at the intersection with 7th Avenue. Photos taken 10/06/05.
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| The El Cortez condominium complex on Cortez Hill comes into view at the intersection of westbound Ash Street at 9th Avenue about a block west of southbound California 163 (10th Avenue). Photo taken 10/06/05.
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| Many redevelopment activities are currently taking place in downtown San Diego. Several projects are clustered on Cortez Hill, which is named for the famous El Cortez Hotel, which was redeveloped into a condominium complex earlier this decade after years of laying dormant. As a result of this reconstruction, many other buildings nearby have been retrofitted or replaced with new construction, including the tower shown as proposed for the northeastern corner of 9th Avenue and Ash Street. Photo taken 10/06/05.
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| This view of the 9th Avenue and Ash Street intersection is afforded from northbound 9th Avenue. The billboard for the proposed new tower on the northeast corner is visible, as is the older style one-way signage that is white on black with button copy. Photo taken 10/06/05.
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| Nearing the southern end of California 163, the left two lanes of eastbound A Street transition directly onto northbound California 163/Cabrillo Freeway upon reaching the intersection with 11th Avenue. A Street is a major eastbound route through the Financial District of San Diego, skimming the southern edge of Little Italy. Together with Ash Street, A Street offers the best east-west route across downtown San Diego north of Broadway. Photo taken 10/06/05.
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| Southbound Ingraham Street approaches the entrance to Sea World (traffic signal), which is located on the southern shore of Mission Bay. Photo taken 05/22/04.
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| After passing by the traffic signal, southbound Ingraham Street briefly takes on the characteristics of a freeway. The first exit ramp is to westbound West Mission Bay Drive en route to Mission Beach. Photo taken 05/22/04.
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| The second exit ramp is to Sunset Cliffs Boulevard, which leads southwest to Point Loma and Ocean Beach. Photo taken 05/22/04.
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| Finally, Ingraham Street reaches its end at the Sea World Drive interchange, where the through traffic is defaulted onto Sports Arena Drive southbound. Sea World Drive heads east to meet Interstate 5; this is the only connection to northbound Interstate 5. Photo taken 05/22/04.
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| Southbound Ingraham Street at Sea World Drive. Photo taken 05/22/04.
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| Southbound Sports Arena Drive/West Mission Bay Drive approaches Interstate 8 as it crosses over the San Diego River. Photo taken 05/22/04.
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| The right lane is exit only onto eastbound Interstate 8. This is helpful in keeping the beach traffic moving once they leave the Mission Beach/Mission Bay area. Photo taken 05/22/04.
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| Interstate 8 comes into view along southbound Sports Arena Drive/West Mission Bay Drive after crossing the San Diego River. Photo taken 05/22/04.
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| Even travelers in the left lane may access eastbound Interstate 8. Sports Arena Drive continues southeast into the Midway District. Photo taken 05/22/04.
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| A bit further south, Sports Arena Drive approaches former California 209/Rosecrans Street. Note the placement of the Interstate 5 and Interstate 8 shields. Photo taken 05/22/04.
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| This overhead points the way from Sports Arena Drive to the two freeways via former California 209/Rosecrans Street. Photo taken 05/22/04.
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Interstate 5 is the San Diego Freeway, starting at the International Border at San Ysidro and extending north along the San Diego County coastline into Camp Pendleton, passing through Chula Vista, National City, downtown San Diego, Old Town, Mission Bay Park, La Jolla, Sorrento Valley, Carmel Valley, Solana Beach, Encinitas, Carlsbad, and Oceanside. Interstate 5 replaced U.S. 101 in 1964 as the primary coastal route in San Diego County, but U.S. 101 is preserved in many areas, especially northern San Diego County. Interstate 5 is one of the busiest stretches of freeway in the county, and it is eight or more lanes for its entire length.
Because of its size and number of pictures, Interstate 5 is subdivided as follows:
Interstate 8 is the region's primary east-west route, following Old U.S. 80 from the Imperial Valley into the county near In-ko-pah. The freeway follows the Kumeyaay Highway (named for a local Native American tribe) and gains importance as it reaches the outer reaches of suburban areas near Alpine. Interstate 8 quickly widens into an eight-lane freeway, passing by one of the busiest stretches of freeway in the county near the Interstate 15 and Interstate 805 interchanges. The freeway ultimately concludes its run near the mouth of the San Diego River in Mission Bay Park. For pictures and more detail, see Interstate 8 in San Diego.
Interstate 15 is the Escondido Freeway (Avocado Highway), and it comes into San Diego from the Inland Empire near Temecula, and it becomes an important commuter route from the bedroom neighborhoods within Escondido, Poway, and San Diego to the jobs in Mission Valley, downtown San Diego, and Sorrento Valley.
Because of its size and number of pictures, Interstate 15 is subdivided as follows:
Interstate 805 is the Jacob Dekema Freeway (Inland Bypass), which provides an alternative to Interstate 5 through San Diego, National City, and Chula Vista. Completed in the 1970s, Interstate 805 has seen explosive traffic growth as a result of the expansion of the suburbs in the South Bay areas as well as new communities and businesses along the northern portion of the route, especially the high-tech businesses that have appeared in Sorrento Valley.
  
What? No U.S. routes in San Diego, the seventh largest city in the United States? Yes, San Diego is the largest city in the United States that is not served by a single U.S. highway (other cities not served by U.S. highways include Seattle, Washington, and Tucson, Arizona). U.S. 80 has been replaced by Interstate 8, U.S. 101 has been replaced by Interstate 5, and U.S. 395 has been replaced by Interstate 15.
California 52 is the Soledad Freeway, starting at Interstate 5 at the foot of Mount Soledad in Rose Canyon, passing through Soledad Canyon to form the bottom of the Golden Triangle (locally known as University Town Center or UTC) before ascending Kearny Mesa. The freeway was extended in the late 1980s and early 1990s through Mission Trails Regional Park to its current terminus at Junction California 125 in Santee. Plans call for California 52 to be extended east to California 67 by 2008.
The western segment of California 54 is the South Bay Freeway between Interstate 5 at the border between National City and Chula Vista and California 125 near Sweetwater Reservoir. It is an incomplete freeway, with a traffic signal remaining at Sweetwater Road (San Diego County Route S-17). Improvements planned to California 54 near this traffic signal will result in the elimination of the signal as well as a widening of the road to California freeway standards. The eastern segment of California 54 is a conventional highway from California 94 north to the southern city limits of El Cajon; it used to extend all the way to Interstate 8 via Second Street.
California 56 is the incomplete Ted Williams Parkway between Interstate 5 in Carmel Valley and Interstate 15 in Rancho Penasquitos, all within the city of San Diego. The freeway has a gap in the middle that is planned for closure by 2004. This gap in California 56 is primarily funded with developer contributions and facility benefit assessment credits along with state funds and the local transportation sales tax.
California 75 is Palm Avenue, Silver Strand Highway, Orange Avenue, and the Coronado Bay Bridge.
California 76 is the San Luis Rey River Valley Expressway and Mission Boulevard. It extends across Northern San Diego County from Interstate 5 in Oceanside to California 79 southeast of Palomar Mountain via Bonsall.
California 78 connects Interstate 5 in Oceanside with Interstate 15 in Escondido as a freeway, then snakes through several city streets in Escondido en route to San Pasqual Valley. The highway heads into the high country of San Diego County, passing through Ramona, Santa Ysabel, and Julian before entering the desert and Imperial County.
California 94 is the Martin Luther King, Junior Freeway between downtown San Diego and Junction California 125 in La Mesa. California 94 continues east as Campo Road to serve the backcountry of San Diego, connecting to the Tecate Port of Entry via California 188 and culminating its easterly journey at Interstate 8 near Boulevard.
California 125 is eastern bypass of San Diego. The route for this freeway from Otay Mesa north to Santee has been identified, and sections of the route between California 54 and California 52 have already been completed. Controversy has prevented identification of a specific route for California 125 north of California 52, but continuing congestion on Interstate 15 has brought the concept of this freeway back to the forefront.
California 163 is the Cabrillo Freeway between downtown San Diego and Junction Interstate 15 in Kearny Mesa. The four-lane freeway passes through scenic Balboa Park before assuming an eight-lane configuration in Mission Valley. California 163 is the primary commuter route from downtown to Interstate 15.
California 282 connects California 75/the Coronado Bay Bridge with North Island Naval Air Station.
California 905 is the Otay Mesa Freeway between Interstate 5 in San Ysidro and the Otay Mesa Port of Entry. The portion of this state highway between Interstate 805 and the future California 125 interchange is currently an expressway and is slated for upgrade to freeway standards; once this upgrade is complete, the entire route is slated to become Interstate 905.
Decommissioned Routes
California 209 was Rosecrans Street, Canon Street, Catalina Boulevard, and Cabrillo Memorial Drive. It was legislatively decommissioned and accepted by the City of San Diego by May 2001. Signs and shields still remain for this route, however.
California 274 was Balboa Avenue between Interstate 5 and Interstate 15. It was legislatively decommissioned and accepted by the City of San Diego by May 2001. Signs and shields still remain for this route, however.
Future Routes
California 11 is an unconstructed state highway that was added to the General Plan in 1996 by SANDAG, the San Diego Association of Governments. This freeway would extend east from the planned California 125/California 905 interchange to a proposed new federal Port-of-Entry (POE). This new POE would link to the Tecate-Tijuana Toll Road (Mexico 2-D) and the proposed Tijuana Beltway. This 20-mile beltway, called Tijuana 2000, would link with the Tijuana-Ensenada Toll Road (Mexico 1-D) near Rosarito. SANDAG plans on California 11 being a toll facility, like the southern segment of California 125 and the Mexican toll roads. This, along with California 7 in Imperial County, will provide freeway to freeway links across the border
California 241/Foothills Corridor is primarily an Orange County route, but it is proposed to connect to Interstate 5 between San Onofre and Cristianitos Road in Camp Pendleton Marine Corps Base. Completion is expected in 2008.
Unconstructed Routes
There were several freeway corridors proposed for the San Diego region that were proposed a various intervals that were deleted from planning documents prior to construction. These routes are no longer under consideration for construction at this time.
California 157, the San Miguel Freeway, was proposed to follow Paradise Valley Road between Interstate 805 and the location of the California 54/California 125 interchange complex at Jamacha Road. Due to local opposition, the entire freeway alignment of California 157 was deleted from both the state and SANDAG planning documents. Combined with defunct California 252 (the Southcrest or El Toyon Freeway) and Interstate 5, California 157 would have provided direct access from East San Diego County to downtown. California 157 was planned to run from Interstate 805 near Ocean View Boulevard, cut through Paradise Hills, and link up to the proposed California 125 alignment near Sweetwater Reservoir. Highway planners added the California 157 freeway to the state system in 1959, but it was rescinded locally by SANDAG in 1974. SANDAG deleted California 157 because of the "extensive residential and commercial development in the western portion of the corridor." The right-of-way purchased for the eastern portion of the route was sold in the mid-1970s. It took another twenty years for the route to be deleted from the state log.
California 171, the Switzer Canyon Freeway, was part of a road system first proposed in 1926. The route would have started at Interstate 5 near downtown San Diego at the current Pershing Drive/B Street interchange, and ran northeast to connect with Interstate 805 near the Interstate 8 junction in Mission Valley. California 171 would have crossed several canyons, residential areas, the community of North Park, and the Balboa Park Municipal Golf Course. Local neighborhood opposition stopped this freeway fairly early, but it was not deleted from the proposed state system until 1993. A remnant of what was to be a freeway-to-freeway connection exists at the Interstate 5 and Pershing Drive/B Street interchange.
California 252, the Southcrest (El Toyon) Freeway, was planned to run from the Interstate 5 and Interstate 15 interchange complex southeast to Interstate 5 at the current 43rd Street exit. The huge flyover and approach ramps at the Interstate 805 43rd Street exit are the beginnings of this planned freeway, which was nixed in 1980. A redevelopment project later resulted in an Albertson's (originally Lucky's) grocery store at the terminus of the off-ramp. Behind this shopping area lies abandoned right-of-way that not been developed. Overgrown with weeds, this swath of land clearly shows the path California 252 would have taken across the Southcrest community to meet Interstate 5. A park and other redevelopment is underway along this corridor. At the Interstate 5/California 15 interchange, several widened bridges and ramps clearly show that future expansion for the California 252 connection was envisioned. California 252 was planned to handle an average of 90,000 vehicles per day. Commuters from the communities of Eastlake, Bonita, and Paradise Hills now must use either California 54 or California 94 to make their commute to downtown without using urban streets. This, in turn, has impacted the traffic flow on both Interstates 5 and 805. The California 252 ramps on Interstate 805 were built around 1974-75, long before the rest of the California 252 project would have been started. When they finally got around to starting it, there was a lot of community opposition. It was supposed to act as the north end of an Interstate 5 bypass around National City and Chula Vista, utilizing Interstate 805. But the area already had quite a few freeways, and the community felt that it was being cut up into pieces. There was an alternate plan of a surface street called Martin Luther King Blvd, and also talk of tunneling. But in the end Caltrans relented and canceled the project. So, you end up with gigantic ramps ("Ramps to Nowhere") for a simple 43rd Street interchange. For more information and pictures, please visit Casey Cooper's California 252 Page and Cameron Kaiser's El Toyon Freeway/California 252. .
Black Canyon Road Bridge
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| These pictures show the Black Canyon Road Bridge located northwest of Sutherland Reservoir north of California 78. It is a very old arch bridge that is the prototype of several similar bridges along U.S. 80 in the Laguna/Cuyamaca area. Photos taken 10/12/03.
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Renumbered Routes
Aside from the defunct U.S. routes (80, 101, and 395), a few state routes were renumbered over the years.
California 103 is the former designation for Interstate 15 along what was Wabash Boulevard, 40th Street, and Murphy Canyon Road between Interstate 5 and California 163. Wabash Boulevard was originally a city-constructed expressway, but it was handed over to state control at one point.
California 109 was the planned state sign route for the Ocean Beach Freeway (now known as Interstate 8 west of Interstate 5). This short freeway would follow the San Diego River between Sunset Cliffs Blvd (where it meets Nimitz Boulevard) and the junction with Interstate 5, Interstate 8, and Former California 209. At the time it was planned, it was also submitted to be part of the Interstate Highway System. The Ocean Beach Freeway was constructed in the 1960s, and it may have been signed briefly as California 109. However, only a short time later, California 109 was streamlined into Interstate 8. Interstate 8, which had previously been designated to run from Interstate 5 east to Arizona, was extended west to the Sunset Cliffs intersection - Nimitz Boulevard intersection. Hence, Interstate 8 now ends at the Sunset Cliffs stoplight rather than the massive Interstate 5 - California 209 interchange.
California 117 was the brief designation in the late 1970s and early 1980s for what is now California 905 (Otay Mesa Road/Freeway).
Page Updated March 9, 2006.
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