Skip to main content

Cummings Skyway

By

Cummings Skyway is a locally maintained highway in the Crockett Hills of Contra Costa County, California.  Cummings Skyway begins at former US Route 40 at San Pablo Avenue and traverses the Diablo Range southeast to the John Muir Parkway segment of California State Route 4 in Franklin Canyon.  Cummings Skyway primarily serves as cutoff route between Interstate 80 and California State Route 4.  




Part 1; the history of Cummings Skyway

The first reference to Cummings Skyway appears in the May/June 1961 California Highways & Public Works.  California State Route 4 is cited to have been designated at the Arnold Industrial Freeway between US Route 40 (realigned off San Pablo Avenue onto what is now Interstate 80) and California State Route 21 (now Interstate 680) via a route adopted made by the California Highway Commission during October 1958.  Advanced planning of a segment of the Arnold Industrial Freeway between the Cummings Skway east to East Alhambra Avenue in Martinez is cited.  



The completed Cummings Skyway is detailed in the September/October 1961 California Highways & Public Works.  Cummings Skyway is described as being one of two Federal Aid Secondary Programs constructed in Costa Contra County during 1961.  The Cummings Skyway was constructed as part of Federal Aid Secondary Route 1256 as a direct cutoff line between US Route 40 and California State Route 4 in Franklin Canyon.  The Cummings Skyway was named in honor of Contra Costa County Supervisor H.L. Cummings.  The Cummings Skyway is described as having two 12-foot-wide lanes and a grade which could be expanded to a four-lane expressway in the future.  The Cummings Skyway is described as being built as part of Federal Aid Secondary Route 1256 between US Route 40 1.96 miles to Crockett Boulevard to an existing segment which spanned another 1.55 miles to California State Route 4 in Franklin Canyon.  Construction of the Cummings Skyway between US Route 40 and Crockett Boulevard is cited to have begun December 3rd, 1959 and was completed by January 16th, 1961.  






Part 2; a drive on Cummings Skyway

Cummings Skyway can be accessed from Interstate 80 via Exit 26 on the outskirts of Crockett.  From Interstate 80 westbound the Exit to Cummings Skyway is signed as "TO California State Route 4."  



From Interstate 80 westbound Exit 26 traffic can either travel west or east on Cummings Skyway.  Westbound traffic can follow Cummings Skyway via short of extension of the road to former US Route 40 at San Pablo Avenue.  


Eastbound Cummings Skyway jogs over Interstate 80 and climbs into the Crockett Hills to Crockett Boulevard.  Traffic is advised via eastbound Cummings Skyway of a truck prohibition on Crockett Boulevard.  










From Crockett Boulevard eastbound Cummings Skyway crests the Crockett Hills and descends to California State Route 4 in Franklin Canyon.  










Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Old US Route 60/70 through Hell (Chuckwall Valley Road and Ragsdale Road)

By
Back in 2016 I explored some of the derelict roadways of the Sonoran Desert of Riverside County which were part of US Route 60/70; Chuckwalla Valley Road and Ragsdale Road. US 60 and US 70 were not part of the original run of US Routes in California.  According to USends.com US 60 was extended into California by 1932.  US 60 doesn't appear on the California State Highway Map until the 1934 edition. USends.com on US 60 endpoints 1934 State Highway Map Conversely US 70 was extended into California by 1934, it first appears on the 1936 State Highway Map. USends.com on US 70 endpoints 1936 State Highway Map When US 60 and US 70 were extended into California they both utilized what was Legislative Route Number 64 from the Arizona State Line west to Coachella Valley.  LRN 64 was part of the 1919 Third State Highway Bond Act routes.  The original definition of LRN 64 routed between Mecca in Blythe and wasn't extended to the Arizona State Line until 1931 acc...
3 comments
Read more

Trimmer Springs Road (Fresno County)

By
Trimmer Springs Road is an approximately forty-mile rural highway located in Fresno County.  The corridor begins near in California State Route 180 in Centerville and extends to Blackrock Road at the Kings River in the Sierra Nevada range near the Pacific Gas & Electric Company town of Balch Camp. The roadway is named after the former Trimmer Springs Resort and was originally constructed to facilitate access to the Sanger Log Flume.  Trimmer Springs Road was heavily modified and elongated after construction of Pine Flat Dam broke ground in 1947.   Part 1; the history of Trimmer Springs Road Much of the original alignment of Trimmer Springs Road was constructed to facilitate access to the Sanger Log Flume.   The  Kings River Lumber Company  had been established in 1888 in the form of a 30,000-acre purchase of forest lands in Converse Basin.  This purchase lied immediately west of Grant Grove and came to be known as "Millwood."  The co...
Post a Comment
Read more

When was Ventura Avenue east of downtown Fresno renamed to Kings Canyon Road? (California State Route 180)

By
California State Route 180 was one of the original Sign State Routes designated in August 1934.  The highway east of Fresno originally utilized what was Ventura Avenue and Dunlap Road to reach what was then General Grant National Park.  By late year 1939 the highway was extended through the Kings River Canyon to Cedar Grove.   In 1940 General Grant National Park would be expanded and rebranded as Kings Canyon National Park.  The Kings Canyon Road designation first appeared in publications circa 1941 when the California State Route 180 bypass of Dunlap was completed.  Kings Canyon Road ultimately would replace the designation of Dunlap Road from Dunlap to Centerville and Ventura Avenue west to 1st Street in Fresno.   The Kings Canyon Road would remain largely intact until March 2023 when the Fresno Council designated Cesar Chavez Boulevard.  Cesar Chavez Boulevard was designated over a ten-mile corridor over what was Kings Canyon Road, remaini...
Post a Comment
Read more