California State Route 275
Encyclopedia
State Route 275 is a short unsigned state highway
State highway
State highway, state road or state route can refer to one of three related concepts, two of them related to a state or provincial government in a country that is divided into states or provinces :#A...

 in the Sacramento
Sacramento, California
Sacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. It is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central Valley. With a population of 466,488 at the 2010 census,...

 area of the U.S. state
U.S. state
A U.S. state is any one of the 50 federated states of the United States of America that share sovereignty with the federal government. Because of this shared sovereignty, an American is a citizen both of the federal entity and of his or her state of domicile. Four states use the official title of...

 of California
California
California is a state located on the West Coast of the United States. It is by far the most populous U.S. state, and the third-largest by land area...

. The highway, also known as Tower Bridge Gateway (formerly West Sacramento Freeway), is a short spur from Interstate 80 Business
Interstate 80 Business (Sacramento, California)
Interstate 80 Business, called the Capital City Freeway in its entirety, is a Business Loop of Interstate 80 through Sacramento. As it is state-maintained, unlike most business routes in California, it is assigned route numbers - part of U.S. Route 50 on its western half , and unsigned State Route...

 in West Sacramento
West Sacramento, California
West Sacramento is a city in Yolo County, California. It is contiguous with Sacramento, but is separated by the Sacramento River which is also the county line, so West Sacramento is in a different county than Sacramento...

 over the Tower Bridge into downtown Sacramento
Downtown Sacramento
Downtown Sacramento is the central business district of the City of Sacramento. Downtown is generally defined as the area south of the American River, east of the Sacramento River, north of Broadway, and west of 16th Street. The central business district is generally defined as north of R Street,...

. Despite its deletion from the Streets and Highways Code in 1996, the California Department of Transportation
California Department of Transportation
The California Department of Transportation is a government department in the U.S. state of California. Its mission is to improve mobility across the state. It manages the state highway system and is actively involved with public transportation systems throughout the state...

 (Caltrans) still maintains about half of the route; approximately 1/2 mile (1 km) was relinquished to West Sacramento in 2001 and about the same (along Capitol Mall
Capitol Mall
Capitol Mall is a major street in the city of Sacramento that leads to the iconic Tower Bridge which connects Downtown Sacramento with the Yolo County city of West Sacramento. The Capitol Mall was previously also known as State Route 275, but was relinquished to the city in January 2006. A plethora...

) to Sacramento in 2006. (Similarly, State Route 160
California State Route 160
State Route 160 is a state highway in the U.S. state of California consisting of two sections. The longer, southern, section is a scenic highway through the alluvial plain of the Sacramento River, linking SR 4 in Antioch with Sacramento via the Antioch Bridge...

 is still a state highway north of the American River
American River
The American River is a California watercourse noted as the site of Sutter's Mill, northwest of Placerville, California, where gold was found in 1848, leading to the California Gold Rush...

 in Sacramento, but the legislative description ends at the south city limits.) West Sacramento is in a continuing project to replace the freeway with a pedestrian-friendly street.

Route description

The West Sacramento Freeway begins on Interstate 80
Interstate 80 in California
In the U.S. state of California, Interstate 80 , a major east–west route of the Interstate Highway System, has its western terminus in San Francisco, California, United States. From there it heads east across the Bay Bridge to Oakland, where it turns north and crosses the Carquinez Bridge...

 at exit 81 (West Capitol Avenue), the east end of the Yolo Causeway
Yolo Causeway
The Yolo Causeway is a 3.2-mile long elevated highway viaduct on Interstate 80 that crosses the Yolo Bypass floodplain and connects the cities of Sacramento, California and Davis, California ....

. It soon splits, with I-80 exiting to bypass Sacramento to the north and Interstate 80 Business
Interstate 80 Business (Sacramento, California)
Interstate 80 Business, called the Capital City Freeway in its entirety, is a Business Loop of Interstate 80 through Sacramento. As it is state-maintained, unlike most business routes in California, it is assigned route numbers - part of U.S. Route 50 on its western half , and unsigned State Route...

 (legislatively U.S. Route 50
U.S. Route 50 in California
In the U.S. state of California, U.S. Route 50 runs east from I-80 in West Sacramento to the Nevada state line in South Lake Tahoe. Portions within Sacramento are known as the Capital City Freeway and El Dorado Freeway...

) continuing east via exit 82 towards downtown. After one interchange, at Harbor Boulevard (exit 1/1B), the freeway splits again, with Bus. 80 turning abruptly southeast over the Pioneer Memorial Bridge to avoid downtown Sacramento. State Route 275 begins here, at exit 3 of Bus. 80, with full access to and from the intersecting Jefferson Boulevard (State Route 84
California State Route 84
State Route 84 is a split-section California State Highway consisting of two sections. The first section is an east–west arterial road running from San Gregorio to Menlo Park, across the Dumbarton Bridge through Fremont and Newark and ending at I-580 in Livermore. The route overlaps the...

).
State maintenance ends just after the Jefferson Boulevard interchange, and the road — now maintained by the city of West Sacramento as Tower Bridge Gateway — crosses the new Garden Street at an at-grade intersection
At-grade intersection
An at-grade intersection is a junction at which two or more transport axes cross at the same level .-Traffic management:With areas of high or fast traffic, an at-grade intersection normally requires a traffic control device such as a stop sign, traffic light or railway signal to manage conflicting...

. This intersection replaced a partial trumpet interchange, oriented towards West Capitol Avenue with a missing westbound entrance, in 2007. After Tower Bridge Gateway crosses under the Union Pacific Railroad
Union Pacific Railroad
The Union Pacific Railroad , headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, is the largest railroad network in the United States. James R. Young is president, CEO and Chairman....

 line that used to cross the Tower Bridge, a ramp enters the westbound lanes from the intersection of West Capitol Avenue and 5th Street; this completed the former interchange at Riske Lane. Two blocks to the east, a westbound offramp leads to West Capitol Avenue and 3rd Street, and eastbound access to Broderick
Broderick, California
Broderick is a former town in Yolo County, California, USA, now forming part of the City of West Sacramento. It is located just west of the Sacramento River in the eastern portion of the county. Broderick's ZIP Code is 95605 and its area code 916...

 to the north and the formerly industrial area to the south, now containing Raley Field
Raley Field
Raley Field is the home of the Sacramento River Cats minor league baseball team in the Pacific Coast League. Raley Field was built on the site of old warehouses and railyards, in West Sacramento, California, USA across the Sacramento River from the California State Capitol.The privately financed...

, is provided via South River Road.

State maintenance resumes once again as SR 275 crosses the Sacramento River
Sacramento River
The Sacramento River is an important watercourse of Northern and Central California in the United States. The largest river in California, it rises on the eastern slopes of the Klamath Mountains, and after a journey south of over , empties into Suisun Bay, an arm of the San Francisco Bay, and...

 on the Tower Bridge, a four-lane lift bridge
Lift bridge
A vertical-lift bridge or lift bridge is a type of movable bridge in which a span rises vertically while remaining parallel with the deck....

 that formerly carried a Sacramento Northern Railroad track in the center. At the east end of the bridge, the roadway becomes Capitol Mall
Capitol Mall
Capitol Mall is a major street in the city of Sacramento that leads to the iconic Tower Bridge which connects Downtown Sacramento with the Yolo County city of West Sacramento. The Capitol Mall was previously also known as State Route 275, but was relinquished to the city in January 2006. A plethora...

, maintained by the city of Sacramento, and crosses over Interstate 5. Seven blocks later, the main road ends at 9th Street; the last block of Capitol Mall to 10th Street, on which the State Capitol fronts, is a two-lane road with a mid-block traffic circle
Traffic circle
A traffic circle or rotary is a type of circular intersection in which traffic must travel in one direction around a central island. In some countries, traffic entering the circle has the right-of-way and drivers in the circle must yield. In many other countries, traffic entering the circle must...

 around a fountain
Fountain
A fountain is a piece of architecture which pours water into a basin or jets it into the air either to supply drinking water or for decorative or dramatic effect....

.

History

SR 275 began as part of Legislative Route 6, one of the shorter main routes of the initial system funded by the 1910 bond issue. This highway, which included the several-mile-long Yolo Causeway
Yolo Causeway
The Yolo Causeway is a 3.2-mile long elevated highway viaduct on Interstate 80 that crosses the Yolo Bypass floodplain and connects the cities of Sacramento, California and Davis, California ....

, connected Sacramento with the north–south Route 7 at Davis
Davis, California
Davis is a city in Yolo County, California, United States. It is part of the Sacramento–Arden-Arcade–Roseville Metropolitan Statistical Area...

, thereby linking the capital city with the San Francisco Bay Area
San Francisco Bay Area
The San Francisco Bay Area, commonly known as the Bay Area, is a populated region that surrounds the San Francisco and San Pablo estuaries in Northern California. The region encompasses metropolitan areas of San Francisco, Oakland, and San Jose, along with smaller urban and rural areas...

. Route 6 traffic initially left Sacramento on the 1911 I Street Bridge
I Street Bridge
The I Street Bridge is a historic metal truss swing bridge located on I Street in Sacramento, California crossing the Sacramento River connecting Yolo County with Sacramento County...

, heading southwest through the small settlement of Washington via D Street, 5th Street, and present Tower Court to West Capitol Avenue. The state highway was moved to the M Street Bridge in 1926, as part of an improvement that also took it through a two-lane subway
Subway (underpass)
In England and Wales, the Republic of Ireland, Hong Kong and some Commonwealth countries , the term subway normally refers to a specially constructed underpass for pedestrians and/or cyclists beneath a road or railway, allowing them to reach the other side in safety.The term is also used in the...

 under the Sacramento Northern Railroad, still present on West Capitol Avenue. The M Street Bridge was replaced by the Tower Bridge in 1935.

U.S. Routes 40 and 99 (soon 99W) were marked along Route 6 in 1928. These two routes remained on West Capitol Avenue until 1954, when the new West Sacramento Freeway opened, connecting the west end of the Tower Bridge with the east end of the Yolo Causeway. Traveler-oriented businesses along the bypassed West Capitol Avenue were hit hard by the shifting of through traffic.

The entire freeway was designated as part of Interstate 80
Interstate 80 in California
In the U.S. state of California, Interstate 80 , a major east–west route of the Interstate Highway System, has its western terminus in San Francisco, California, United States. From there it heads east across the Bay Bridge to Oakland, where it turns north and crosses the Carquinez Bridge...

 in the late 1950s. However, two bypasses were planned — a realignment of Route 6 that would take I-80 over a new bridge and around the south side of downtown, and a northern bypass of the entire city (I-880). Since the southerly bypass had not been completed in time for the 1964 renumbering, the route over the Tower Bridge — and along downtown streets — became Route 80, but US 99W signage remained (initially following Capitol Mall to near the State Capitol, later turning south onto 3rd and 5th Streets east of the bridge) until the late 1960s, before I-5
Interstate 5 in California
Interstate 5 is a major north–south route of the Interstate Highway System in the U.S. state of California. It begins at the Mexico – United States border at the San Ysidro crossing, goes north across the length of California and crosses into Oregon south of the Medford-Ashland metropolitan...

 had finished replacing old US 99W north of Woodland
Woodland, California
Woodland is the county seat of Yolo County, California, located approximately northwest of Sacramento, and is a part of the Sacramento - Arden-Arcade - Roseville Metropolitan Statistical Area. The population was 55,468 at the 2010 census.Woodland's origins trace back to 1850 when California...

.

Normally, upon completion of the new I-80 south of downtown, the old alignment over the Tower Bridge and through downtown would be relinquished. The legislature recognized that it might be useful to keep a state highway to the Capitol, and so in 1966 it passed a concurrent resolution
Concurrent resolution
A concurrent resolution is a resolution adopted by both houses of a bicameral legislature that lacks the force of law and does not require the approval of the chief executive.-United States Congress:...

 requesting that the California Highway Commission
California Highway Commission
The California Highway Commission was established in 1895 and continued until 1978 as the primary state highway bureaucracy in California.Their first noticeable efforts centered on the Lake Tahoe Wagon Road over the Sierra Nevada mountains...

 delay relinquishment west of 9th Street until the last day of the 1967 legislative session. During that session, a new Route 275 was created from that portion of former Route 80. This consisted of the eastern part of the West Sacramento Freeway, the Tower Bridge, and Capitol Mall
Capitol Mall
Capitol Mall is a major street in the city of Sacramento that leads to the iconic Tower Bridge which connects Downtown Sacramento with the Yolo County city of West Sacramento. The Capitol Mall was previously also known as State Route 275, but was relinquished to the city in January 2006. A plethora...

 up to 9th Street, just west of the capitol building. The portion in Sacramento, east of the bridge, was not to be beautified with state highway funds. Due to the cancellation of a replacement of the North Sacramento Freeway, I-80 was moved to former I-880 around the city in 1981, giving the West Sacramento Freeway three numbers: I-80, US 50
U.S. Route 50 in California
In the U.S. state of California, U.S. Route 50 runs east from I-80 in West Sacramento to the Nevada state line in South Lake Tahoe. Portions within Sacramento are known as the Capital City Freeway and El Dorado Freeway...

, and SR 275.

In 1993, the West Sacramento City Council approved the "Triangle Specific Plan" for a new downtown in the triangle bounded by the Sacramento River, SR 275, and US 50; this plan included downgrading the freeway to a surface road. The state legislature passed a law in 1994 that allowed Caltrans to come to an agreement with West Sacramento or Sacramento for the relinquishment of any part of SR 275. Although no portions had yet been relinquished, the legislature deleted Route 275 from the Streets and Highways Code in 1996.

The Triangle redevelopment happened slowly, with the first part — Raley Field
Raley Field
Raley Field is the home of the Sacramento River Cats minor league baseball team in the Pacific Coast League. Raley Field was built on the site of old warehouses and railyards, in West Sacramento, California, USA across the Sacramento River from the California State Capitol.The privately financed...

 — opening in 2000. Effective January 1, 2001, Caltrans relinquished SR 275 to West Sacramento between postmiles 12.4 (west of Riske Lane) and 13.0 (the west end of the Tower Bridge). The city renamed the road Tower Bridge Gateway and demolished the Riske Lane overpass in early 2007, replacing it with a signalized intersection that now serves the new Garden Street. A planned removal of the 3rd Street underpass and addition of two more intersections at 5th and 3rd Streets is contingent on funding and relocation of a Union Pacific Railroad
Union Pacific Railroad
The Union Pacific Railroad , headquartered in Omaha, Nebraska, is the largest railroad network in the United States. James R. Young is president, CEO and Chairman....

 track.

The city of Sacramento also wished to modify its section of SR 275, which, while not a freeway, was still designed for motor vehicle traffic. Capitol Mall east of postmile 0.11 (the east end of the Tower Bridge) was relinquished to the city effective January 1, 2006. A ramp from the bridge to N Street was closed in July 2007, allowing the block it had cut diagonally through to be sold. The ramp's counterpart, from L Street to the Tower Bridge, remains open, though the lot that includes it was sold to the Sacramento Housing and Redevelopment Agency in 2005.

These 2001 and 2007 relinquishments left Caltrans maintaining only two pieces of SR 275 — the Tower Bridge and the west end through the Jefferson Boulevard (SR 84) interchange — for a total of about 0.9 miles (1.4 km), under half of the 1967-2001 length. A joint project to widen the bridge sidewalk
Sidewalk
A sidewalk, or pavement, footpath, footway, and sometimes platform, is a path along the side of a road. A sidewalk may accommodate moderate changes in grade and is normally separated from the vehicular section by a curb...

s was carried out by Sacramento, West Sacramento, and Caltrans. The project was completed in May 2008.

Major intersections

Note: Except where prefixed with a letter, postmiles were measured in 1964, based on the alignment of Route 80
Interstate 80 in California
In the U.S. state of California, Interstate 80 , a major east–west route of the Interstate Highway System, has its western terminus in San Francisco, California, United States. From there it heads east across the Bay Bridge to Oakland, where it turns north and crosses the Carquinez Bridge...

 as it existed at that time, and do not necessarily reflect current mileage. The numbers reset at county lines; the start and end postmiles in each county are given in the county column.

{| class=wikitable
!County
!Location
!Postmile

!Destinations
!Notes
|-
|rowspan=7|Yolo
Yolo County, California
Yolo County is a county located in the northern part of the U.S. state of California, bordered by the other counties of Sacramento, Solano, Napa, Lake, Colusa, and Sutter. The city of Woodland is its county seat, though Davis is its largest city....


YOL 11.70-13.08
|rowspan=7|West Sacramento
West Sacramento, California
West Sacramento is a city in Yolo County, California. It is contiguous with Sacramento, but is separated by the Sacramento River which is also the county line, so West Sacramento is in a different county than Sacramento...


|bgcolor=#ffdddd|11.70
|bgcolor=#ffdddd|
|bgcolor=#ffdddd|Westbound exit and eastbound entrance
|-
|12.04
|Jefferson Boulevard (SR 84
California State Route 84
State Route 84 is a split-section California State Highway consisting of two sections. The first section is an east–west arterial road running from San Gregorio to Menlo Park, across the Dumbarton Bridge through Fremont and Newark and ending at I-580 in Livermore. The route overlaps the...

) – West Sacramento
West Sacramento, California
West Sacramento is a city in Yolo County, California. It is contiguous with Sacramento, but is separated by the Sacramento River which is also the county line, so West Sacramento is in a different county than Sacramento...


|
|-
|colspan=3 align=center|East end of freeway and state maintenance
|-
|12.50
|Garden Street
|Former interchange with Riske Lane
|-bgcolor=#ffdddd
|12.71
|5th Street
|Interchange; westbound entrance only
|-bgcolor=#ffdddd
|12.90
|South River Road, West Capitol Avenue – West Sacramento
West Sacramento, California
West Sacramento is a city in Yolo County, California. It is contiguous with Sacramento, but is separated by the Sacramento River which is also the county line, so West Sacramento is in a different county than Sacramento...


|Interchange; no westbound entrance; west end of state maintenance
|-
|rowspan=2|13.08
|colspan=2 rowspan=2 align=center|Tower Bridge over the Sacramento River
Sacramento River
The Sacramento River is an important watercourse of Northern and Central California in the United States. The largest river in California, it rises on the eastern slopes of the Klamath Mountains, and after a journey south of over , empties into Suisun Bay, an arm of the San Francisco Bay, and...


|-
|rowspan=6|Sacramento
Sacramento County, California
Sacramento County is a county in the U.S. state of California. Its county seat is Sacramento, which is also the state capital. As of 2010 the county had a population of 1,418,788....


SAC 0.00-0.70
|rowspan=6|Sacramento
Sacramento, California
Sacramento is the capital city of the U.S. state of California and the county seat of Sacramento County. It is located at the confluence of the Sacramento River and the American River in the northern portion of California's expansive Central Valley. With a population of 466,488 at the 2010 census,...


|-bgcolor=#ffdddd
|0.07
|Neasham Circle
|No left turn from SR 275 east; east end of state maintenance
|-
|0.25
|3rd Street
|Former SR 99
California State Route 99
California State Route 99 , commonly known as Highway 99 or, simply, as 99 , is a north–south state highway in the U.S. state of California, stretching almost the entire length of the Central Valley...

 south
|-
|0.40
|
5th Street to I-5 / SR 99
California State Route 99
California State Route 99 , commonly known as Highway 99 or, simply, as 99 , is a north–south state highway in the U.S. state of California, stretching almost the entire length of the Central Valley...

 / SR 70
California State Route 70
State Route 70 is a state highway in the U.S. state of California. Connecting Sacramento with U.S. Route 395 near Beckwourth Pass via the Feather River Canyon, it was formerly known as U.S. Route 40 Alternate, crossing the Sierra Nevada at a lower elevation than Donner Pass on U.S. Route 40...

 – Old Sacramento
Old Sacramento State Historic Park
Old Sacramento State Historic Park is the historic region of Sacramento, California, which has been designated as a state park. It is generally referred to as Old Sacramento, or Old Sac, and since the 1960s has been restored and developed as a significant tourist attraction. All of it is...

, Marysville
Marysville, California
Marysville is the county seat of Yuba County, California, United States. The population was 12,072 at the 2010 census, down from 12,268 at the 2000 census. It is included in the Yuba City Metropolitan Statistical Area, often referred to as the Yuba-Sutter Area after the two counties, Yuba and...


|Former SR 99
California State Route 99
California State Route 99 , commonly known as Highway 99 or, simply, as 99 , is a north–south state highway in the U.S. state of California, stretching almost the entire length of the Central Valley...

 north
|-
|0.70
|9th Street
|
|-
|0.70
|Capitol Mall
Capitol Mall
Capitol Mall is a major street in the city of Sacramento that leads to the iconic Tower Bridge which connects Downtown Sacramento with the Yolo County city of West Sacramento. The Capitol Mall was previously also known as State Route 275, but was relinquished to the city in January 2006. A plethora...


|Continuation beyond 9th Street

External links

The source of this article is wikipedia, the free encyclopedia.  The text of this article is licensed under the GFDL.
 
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