Former California State Route 231

This past month I drove the entirety of former California State Route 231 west of Mecca in Coachella Valley of Riverside County.

Former CA 231 was an approximately 4 mile State Highway which connected former CA 195 west on 66th Avenue to former CA 86 in Valerie.

Part 1; history of the California State Route 231 designation

The first CA 231 was initially added to the State Highway System as Legislative Route 204 in 1935 according to CAhighways. The future route of LRN 204 appears on the 1935 Division of Highways Map of Riverside County as a heavily traveled County Highway.

LRN 204 first appears on the 1936-37 Division of Highways Map aligned between US 99 and CA 111.

During the 1964 Highway Renumbering LRN 204 was reassigned as CA 231. CA 231 first appears routed from CA 86 and CA 195 on the 1964 Division of Highways Map.

According to CAhighways the first CA 231 was deleted from the State Highway System in 1972. The 1975 Caltrans State Highway Map is the first not to display the original CA 231.

CA 231 was recycled as a designation for a new route between I-5 in Tustin and CA 91 in Irvine according to CAhighways. The second CA 231 designation first appears on the 1990 Caltrans State Highway Map.

According to CAhighways the proposed route of the second CA 231 was extended via transfer from CA 241 in 1991. Part of the original planned route of the second CA 231 split into the planned alignment of the second CA 261. In 1996 the second CA 231 designation was deleted and it's future alignment was eventually assumed by CA 241 and CA 133.

Part 2; a drive on the original California State Route 231

My approach to former CA 231 was via what was CA 195 on 66th Avenue west of Mecca. At Pierce Street CA 195 would have swung southward whereas CA 231 continued westward on 66th Avenue. Former CA 231 westward on 66th Avenue faces the Santa Rosa Mountains.

Former CA 231 west on 66th Avenue passes by the Torres-Martinez Indian Reservation at Martinez Road. The Torres-Martinez Reservation is home to the Cahuilla Tribe and the small community of Martinez was a stage stop on the Bradshaw Trail.

Former CA 231 would have continued west on 66th Avenue to Harrison Street in Valerie. Harrison Street once carried US Route 99 before the 1964 State Highway Renumbering and CA 86 until it was moved to an expressway grade.

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