Interstate 40 Spur in Barstow

Interstate 40 Spur is 0.794-mile hidden State Highway which exists in the city of Barstow, California. Interstate 40 Spur originates at National Trails Highway and follows Main Street west to the vicinity of Coolwater Lane. Interstate 40 Spur is a former segment of US Route 66 which was bypassed during July 1961. The purpose of Interstate 40 Spur is to permit movement from westbound Interstate 40 to northbound Interstate 15.

The history of Interstate 40 Spur

The September/October 1961 California Highways & Public Works announced the opening of the Barstow Bypass. The Barstow Bypass was primarily a component of Interstate 15 which opened on July 5, 1961. The Barstow Bypass included the exit ramp to Interstate 40 and the first stub of the freeway eastward towards Needles. The mainlines of US Route 66 and US Route 91 were relocated onto the new freeway bypass whereas the previous surface routings were retained as a Business Routes. Main Street (former US Route 66) between Interstate 40 and Interstate 15 was retained as a spur of Legislative Route Number 58 (LRN 58). This section of State Highway was necessary to retain to due to the Interstate 15/Interstate 40 interchange not permitting traffic to transition from westbound Interstate 40-to-northbound Interstate 15 and southbound Interstate 15-to-eastbound Interstate 40.

The US Route 66 Business Route along Main Street in Barstow had been approved by the American Association of State Highway Officials (AASHO) during their November 1960 Meeting. The application was made by the Division of Highways in advance of the Barstow Bypass opening.

US Route 66 was approved to be truncated from Santa Monica to US Route 95 in Needles by the AASHO on November 14, 1963. Signage of US Route 66 would not be truncated from Pasadena to US Route 95 until Interstate 40 was completed through the Bristol Mountains in 1972. The US Route 66 Business Route on Main Street in Barstow would be swapped without application to Interstate 15 Business.

As part of the wider 1964 State Highway Renumbering the Legislative Route Numbers were dropped. The spur facility of LRN 58 on Main Street between Interstate 40-Interstate 15 was re-designated as Interstate 40 Spur. Interstate 40 Spur remains minimally signed as Interstate 15 Business. Interstate 40 Spur can be seen below as presently configured in the Caltrans Postmile Tool.

Note, Caltrans recognizes all categories of their highway inventory as "State Routes." To that end Interstate 40S is not considered part of the Interstate System by the Federal Highway Administration and does not appear in their mileage calculations for Interstate 40.

Comments

Interstate 40's Tumultuous Ride Through the Pigeon River Gorge

In the nearly 60 years Interstate 40 has been open to traffic through the Pigeon River Gorge in the mountains of Western North Carolina, it has been troubled by frequent rockslides and damaging flooding, which has seen the over 30-mile stretch through North Carolina and Tennessee closed for months at a time. Most recently, excessive rainfall from Hurricane Helene in September 2024 saw sections of Interstate 40 wash away into a raging Pigeon River. While the physical troubles of Interstate 40 are well known, how I-40 came to be through the area is a tale of its own. Interstate 40 West through Haywood County near mile marker 10. I-40's route through the Pigeon River Gorge dates to local political squabbles in the 1940s and a state highway law written in 1921. A small note appeared in the July 28, 1945, Asheville Times. It read that the North Carolina State Highway Commission had authorized a feasibility study of a "...water-level road down [the] Pigeon River to the Tennessee l

Mines Road

Mines Road is an approximately twenty-eight-mile highway located in the rural parts of the Diablo Range east of the San Francisco Bay Area. Mines Road begins in San Antonio Valley in Santa Clara County and terminates at Tesla Road near Livermore of Alameda County. The highway essentially is a modern overlay of the 1840s Mexican haul trail up Arroyo Mocho known as La Vereda del Monte. The modern corridor of Mines Road took shape in the early twentieth century following development of San Antonio Valley amid a magnesite mining boom. Part 1; the history of Mines Road Modern Mines Road partially overlays the historic corridor used by La Vereda del Monte (Mountain Trail). La Vereda del Monte was part of a remote overland route through the Diablo Range primarily used to drive cattle from Alta California to Sonora. The trail was most heavily used during the latter days of Alta California during the 1840s. La Vereda del Monte originated at Point of Timber between modern day Byron and Bre

Interstate 210 the Foothill Freeway

The combined Interstate 210/California State Route 210 corridor of the Foothill Freeway is approximately 85.31-miles. The Interstate 210/California State Route 210 corridor begins at Interstate 5 at the northern outskirts of Los Angeles and travels east to Interstate 10 in Redlands of San Bernardino County. Interstate 210 is presently signed on the 44.9-mile segment of the Foothill Freeway between Interstate 5 and California State Route 57. California State Route 210 makes up the remaining 40.41 miles of the Foothill Freeway east to Interstate 10. Interstate 210 is still classified by the Federal Highway Administration as existing on what is now signed as California State Route 57 from San Dimas south to Interstate 10. The focus of this blog will mostly be on the history of Interstate 210 segment of the Foothill Freeway. Part 1; the history of Interstate 210 and California State Route 210 Interstate 210 (I-210) was approved as a chargeable Interstate during September of