Skip to main content

California State Route 202

By
After crossing my way over the Sierras via California State Route 155 and Caliente-Bodfish Road I made my way up to Tehachapi to drive the original alignment of US Route 466.  Before heading out on the former alignment of US 466 I went on a side trip on CA 202.






CA 202 is a 11 mile state highway completely contained within Tehachapi Valley in Kern County.  CA 202 begins near Tehachapi Pass at CA 58 exit 148.





Tehachapi is located one mile away on CA 202 from CA 58.


Heading westward CA 202 begins on Tucker Road which is also part of the CA 58 Business Route.  Interestingly CA 58 Business co-signed on CA 202 to Techachapi Boulevard and even has an "end" placard at it's mainline route.






CA 202/CA 58BL crosses over the Union Pacific Railroad and Tehachapi Creek into Tehachapi.  CA 58BL splits east on Tehechapi Boulevard whereas CA 202 stays on Tucker Road.




CA 202 splits west on Valley Boulevard towards the California Correctional Facility.  Valley Boulevard was originally a section of US 466.






At Woodford-Tehachapi Road US 466 would have split north towards Tehachapi Pass.  CA 202 continues west on Valley Boulevard but it's original routing began southward on Woodford-Tehachapi Road.





The California Correctional Facility is listed as being 5 miles west of Woodford-Tehachapi Road.





There isn't much to CA 202 west of Tehachapi.  The route is clearly meant to funnel traffic as quickly as possible to Cummings Valley Road and the California Correctional Facility.







CA 202 cuts south towards the California Correctional Facility where it ends outside the main gate.






Prior to the 1964 State Highway renumbering the route of CA 202 was unsigned Legislative Route 144.  LRN 144 was one of the 1933 adoptions into the State Highway system according to CAhighways.org.

CAhighways.org on LRN 144

Very little of modern CA 202 is on the original alignment but rather on a bypass route to the north.  Originally LRN 144/CA 202 would have begun at US 466 headed south on Woodford-Tehachapi Road and used the following to reach the California Correctional Facility:

-  West on Schout Road
-  South on Backes Lane
-  West on Highline Road
-  North on Banducci Road
-  West on Valley Boulevard
-  West on Cummings Valley Road
-  South on Bear Valley Road

The original alignment of LRN 144/CA 202 can be observed on the 1935 California Division of Highways Map of Kern County.

1935 Kern County Highway Map

According to topographical maps I've looked on historicaerials it seems that CA 202 was moved east into Tehachapi via Curry Street, Tehachapi Boulevard, and Tucker Road between 1965 and 1967 as the CA 58 expressway was being built.  The State Highway Maps for 1966 and 1967 don't show enough detail to be certain but I linked them below anyways.

1966 State Highway Map

1967 State Highway Map 

It seems that CA 202 was shifted onto Valley Boulevard west of Woodford-Tehachapi Road some time in the 1990s.  The 1990 State Highway Map shows CA 202 on it's original routing but on Valley Boulevard in 1995 on historicaerials.

1990 State Highway Map

Topographical maps show CA 202 on Tehachapi Boulevard and Curry Street as late on 2012.  It would seem that the shift in CA 202 completely onto Tucker Road happened in the last couple years. 


Labels:

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Hawaii Route 8930

By
Hawaii Route 8930 is a 2.5-mile State Highway on the Island of O'hau.  Hawaii Route 8930 is aligned over Kualakai Parkway over the course of its entire alignment south from Interstate H-1 to Kapolei Parkway.  Hawaii Route 8930 is one of the newest Hawaii Routes only having been completed during 2010.   This page is part of the Gribblenation O'ahu Highways page.  All Gribblenation and Roadwaywiz media related to the highway system of O'ahu can be found at the link below: https://www.gribblenation.org/p/gribblenation-oahu-highways-page.html Part 1; the history of Hawaii Route 8930 The history of Hawaii Route 8930 is brief given it is a modern facility.  Hawaii Route 8930 and what was known as "North-South Road" were built to facilitate the developing areas of Kapolei on western O'ahu.  According to hawaiihighways.com the first stage of Hawaii Route 8930 was completed from Kapolei Parkway north to Farrington Highway as a four-lane highway during November...
Post a Comment
Read more

Madera County Road 607 and the Stockton-Los Angeles Road

By
Madera County Road 607 is an approximately seven-mile rural unsurfaced highway which spans from Road 600 near Raymond west to Road 29.   Road 607 west from Raymond Road Cemetery (established in 1905) is part of the Stockton-Los Angeles Road corridor surveyed in 1853. The corridor lies in the gap between Fresno Crossing at the Fresno River west to Newton's Crossing at the Chowchilla River. The Buchanan Copper Mine would be along what is now Road 607 in the namesake Buchanan Hollow during July 1863. The Buchanan Mine is thought to have once had a population of between 1,000-1,500 residents by the early 1870s. Copper prices would decline in the decade after the Civil War and much of the activity at Buchanan shifted towards cattle ranching. The last businesses in the community would shutter during World War II and it is now a true ghost town. Part 1; the history of Madera County Road 607 and the Stockton-Los Angeles Road What is now Road 607 was a component of the larger Sto...
Post a Comment
Read more

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