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Not Quite South Bay Freeway (CA 54 and BR 54) |
Click the thumbnail at left for a new
window with a scrolling map of San Diego highways from 1934-1999.
CA 54 is part of that company of California highways that have unified
routings but persistently split alignments (others in this category include
CA 178 and CA 168). Unlike, say, CA 168, where there's this small matter of
these big mountains blocking the steamrollers, CA 54 simply didn't get the
administrative push to connect up all the segments. Now that CA 54 is
synonymous with its southern alignment, San Diego's South Bay Fwy,
the eastern portion -- which was, interestingly, the first segment to
be signed -- is now fading away. With the relinquishment to
the city of El Cajon of the portion within city limits in 1999, the remaining
portion is an orphaned segment of highway between two nebulous destinations,
a ripe target for future administrative truncation -- hence its appearance
here to photographically preserve what remains of the route.
The original, official routing for CA 54 extends from the present-day
I-5/CA 54 junction to the 2nd St exit in El Cajon.
This was defined in 1959 as Legislative Route Number 280, and was intended as
part of a loop bypass around downtown (reflected in its original name,
the "Belt Line Freeway" -- see the CA 252 exhibit
for additional history of San Diego's loop system). Circa 1961, the South Bay
Freeway was constructed between Sweetwater Rd in National City and Jamacha
Blvd in Spring Valley, and by 1963, the remaining routing was pieced together
using County Route S17 (shown on my 1963 San Diego map as signed entirely as
SDCo S17) from Jamacha Blvd to CA 94, and then SDCo 17 again as Jamacha Rd all
the way to its eastern terminus at the US 80 freeway (future I-8). However,
neither portion would be signed for some time, and by 1972, only the
eastern portion from I-8 to CA 94 was shown as signed, truncating the
routing and alignment of SDCo S17 to the Jamacha Blvd/Campo Rd intersection.
By 1976, maps would start showing the southern portion as CA 54 as well but the
actual South Bay Fwy, the original intended loop route, would remain unsigned
until well into the 1990s when it was finally extended west to its
present junction with I-5. When CA 125 was extended south through Spring
Valley, a new interchange was built for CA 54 to connect with it,
closing the San Diego loop route at the southern end.
Despite the expansion, however, no effort was made to link the two sections,
and the isolated eastern segment suffered a further blow when the portion of
the alignment within the city limits of El Cajon (thus, its eastern terminus
at I-8 down to the southern city limit just before Grove Rd) was relinquished
in 1999. CA 54 would remain signed in El Cajon until later that year when
the old California shields were replaced, perplexingly, with Interstate
Business shields indicating a new "Business Route 54." Even these signs are
starting to disappear, however; the "END BR 54" sign at the I-8 junction
which once stood in 1999 is now gone, and the route is in general very sparsely
marked.
Now that the eastern alignment's endpoints are the Campo Rd/Jamacha Rd
junction in Rancho San Diego and the El Cajon city limits, an undistinguished
routing, it seems that this orphaned portion will probably one day be deleted
as well. For its part, SDCo S17 continues to link the two portions as Jamacha
Blvd, apparently
truncated to the south by the South Bay Fwy which bypasses it (although there
is still inconsistent signage in the field, Bonita Rd and E St
are no longer part of S17 according to NAVTEQ), and to the north by the CA 54
alignment that it may yet outlive.
Photographed December 2004, April 2005, February 2006 and November 2007.
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The present-day western terminus, shown from SB I-5. This was completed in
the 1990s, and is not part of the original South Bay Freeway. We exit to
EB CA 54.
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This portion of CA 54 up to the I-805 junction is rather pretty with the
central canal and the ample sunlight.
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Junction I-805, shot looking back at the WB side and those honking 805
shields on the overhead signs. This is the original termination point of
the South Bay Freeway when first constructed.
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CA 54 through south Spring Valley.
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Approaching the junction for the CA 125 toll road (which is, btw, very nice,
but not cheap).
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Separation. The signage indicates we are "together" as CA 54 and CA 125, but
this doesn't last very long.
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Present eastern terminus at CA 125. There is no obvious evidence that
CA 54 has ended in space. We exit Jamacha Blvd, the logical continuation.
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Jamacha Blvd entering Spring Valley and La Presa, with an SDCo S17 shield
just past the traffic signal.
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This is the present-day
western terminus of SDCo S17, but there is another sign just before this, at the CA 54 onramp,
alleging that S17 is actually co-routed with CA 54. This assertion
does not hold up with any of my current maps nor with my NAVTEQ data,
and is probably a holdover
sign from when S17 traveled briefly with pre-CA 54 South Bay Fwy to Sweetwater
Rd and turned south to join Bonita Rd, and then become E St. This old
alignment has since been
obliterated by the CA 54 freeway construction.
Nevertheless, despite this
discontinuity introduced by the road work and the apparent truncation of
SDCo S17, S17 shields do still appear inconsistently on Bonita Rd through
Sunnyside and Bonita (but save
for a lonely "END S17" shield at the E St/I-5 junction, Bonita Rd and E St
within the Chula Vista city limits
are almost totally devoid of S17 signage). Probably because of these
orphaned signs still marking the route, these curious "S-17" [sic]
temporary shields (right) were built and
placed at the Briarwood Dr exit and (depicted here) portions of Sweetwater
Rd during construction
to direct people to the previous through route on Bonita Rd.
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Jamacha Blvd through La Presa, just past Grand Avenue, where my folks used
to have their veterinary clinic.
Mount Miguel is faintly visible in the background.
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The Sweetwater Reservoir, visible on the right as we travel EB on SDCo S17.
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Jamacha Blvd is in the process of widening due to the large numbers of
housing developments being erected in what was originally empty land. This
(rather witty, I think) sign reminds drivers that the developers' road
work isn't to blame for the exorbitant sales tax.
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Green mile marker, typical for San Diego county-maintained routes.
It is also significant in that it indicates there are no standard highway
postmiles (and thus that this alignment was not adopted as a state route).
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Junction CA 94, at Campo Rd. Although the sign alleges that SDCo S17 continues
on with Campo Rd, there are no shields for it past this point.
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EB CA 94, past Jamacha Blvd and approaching the CA 94/CA 54 junction.
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Sign announcing the junction, on EB CA 94. This replaced the original sign,
which was done in old-style button copy.
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Junction of CA 94/CA 54, facing westbound on Jamacha Road CA 54 for a better
angle. CA 94 continues briefly south and then east again as old Campo Road.
A significant amount of commercial construction occurred during the 1990s as
housing developments expanded south from El Cajon; previously this area was
quite underdeveloped.
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First shield, just beyond the junction. There is no BEGIN shield.
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First visible postmile, PM 11.5,
at Fury Ln. The distance is approximately correct to the western terminus.
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EB CA 54 at Willow Glen.
Most of the shields for CA 54 appear on traffic signal signs, like this one.
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One of the few freestanding shields remaining, although since this was
taken in 2005 it has since disappeared.
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EB CA 54 at Hillsdale, just before its official termination.
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CA 54's new eastern terminus, at the El Cajon city limits.
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On the westbound side, a corresponding "BEGIN 54" appears.
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Despite no longer being a state route in the city limits, one or two of the
postmiles are still visible. Unfortunately, they are naturally falling into
disrepair. This is probably the best preserved example, but it's still rather
illegible.
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Business Route 54 (El Cajon)
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First appearance of the "BR 54" marker, with, as mentioned, the incorrect
use of an interstate shield.
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Notice that
the WEST banner has a PROPERTY STATE OF CALIFORNIA decal, but the BR 54
signage does not -- they are erected and maintained by the City of El Cajon,
so the mistake was the city's, not Caltrans'.
Signing it as "Business CA 54" (like Business
CA 18) would have been at least
technically accurate, so I wonder where the ball was dropped.
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Junction at E. Main St in El Cajon, where "BR 54" changes names to Second
St.
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Terminus at I-8.
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No obvious end marker seems to remain. There used to be
one when BR 54 was first signed, but it's apparently gone now.
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Just for a recap of signage, we take EB I-8, loop around, and come back on
WB I-8 to look at the exit to 2nd St. Note the greenout covering up what
used to be the CA 54 route marker.
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Exiting 2nd St and heading back to Spring Valley south on BR 54, we see
the first "BR 54" marker heading westbound again.
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