Interstate 780
Encyclopedia
Interstate 780 is an Interstate Highway in the San Francisco Bay Area
of the U.S. state
of California
. It serves to connect Interstate 80
in Vallejo
with Interstate 680
just north of the Benicia-Martinez Bridge
in Benicia
. Originally, this segment was part of I-680 before that Interstate was extended and rerouted to Cordelia. The city-maintained Curtola Parkway continues west from I-80 to State Route 29
in Vallejo.
at a cloverleaf interchange
. The freeway passes through parts of unincorporated Solano County, then heads southeast along the Benicia State Recreation Area
(a marsh
). It then bypasses downtown Benicia
through the hills to the north. I-780 ends at I-680
at the north end of the Benicia-Martinez Bridge
, with I-680 heading south through the East Bay
to San Jose
.
and Benicia
north of the Carquinez Strait
, following the present Maine Street, Benicia Road, Columbus Parkway, and K Street. Although state highway
s were designated to Benicia in 1910 (Route 7, now I-680
) and Vallejo in 1931 (Route 74, now SR 29
), this connection was not added until 1935, when Route 74 (an unsigned designation) was extended east from Vallejo to Benicia and north along former Route 7 to Cordelia. (A short spur connecting Vallejo to the Carquinez Bridge
was added to Route 74 in 1937.) Route 74 initially entered Benicia on K Street and left on East Fifth Street, making several turns in between. Two realignments were built in the 1940s, reducing the number of turns to one, at the corner of L and East Second Streets.
On September 15, 1955, the Bureau of Public Roads approved the Interstate Highway System
spurs and connections in urban areas. Among these was a loop around the San Francisco Bay
, soon numbered I-280
and I-680
. The east half (I-680) incorporated a number of existing legislative routes, including Routes 69, 108, 107, 75, and 74, crossing the Carquinez Strait
on the proposed Benicia-Martinez Bridge
and ending at I-80
near downtown Vallejo. The first piece of this freeway north of the Carquinez Strait was at the I-80 cloverleaf interchange
, built in the late 1950s when I-80 was upgraded through Vallejo. This was an extremely short roadway, beginning at Lemon Street, crossing under I-80 and Laurel Street, and ending at Reis Avenue and Cedar Street. In about 1960, it was extended east to the old highway (Columbus Parkway) between the cities, and was completed to the new bridge in about 1962, the year the bridge opened.
In the 1964 renumbering, the legislative designation of the completed Vallejo-Benicia freeway was changed from Route 74 to Route 680, reflecting its Interstate designation. The short piece of non-freeway in Vallejo, extending west from I-80 to SR 29
, became State Route 141. This route followed Benicia Road and Maine Street, the same alignment the state highway had always taken; it initially connected with I-780 via Lemon Street, but later followed Benicia Road from I-80 north of I-780. In 1975, a proposed (and never constructed) extension west and north to SR 37
east of the Napa River
was added to Route 141. The route was to be the Waterfront Freeway, scaled down to a boulevard
in 1974.
The Federal Highway Administration
approved a relocation of I-680 onto the State Route 21 freeway between Benicia and Cordelia in July 1973. To keep the route to Vallejo in the Interstate system, it was renumbered I-780; the corresponding legislative changes were made in 1976. As part of the project to construct a new northbound Benicia-Martinez Bridge
, the I-680/I-780 interchange was rebuilt; the new span opened in August 2007. Route 141 was deleted from the state highway system in 1988, soon after the city of Vallejo constructed Curtola Parkway (partially replacing Maryland Street) just to the south, directly connecting I-780 with a surface road to SR 29
.
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...
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...
. It serves to connect 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 Vallejo
Vallejo, California
Vallejo is the largest city in Solano County, California, United States. The population was 115,942 at the 2010 census. It is located in the San Francisco Bay Area on the northeastern shore of San Pablo Bay...
with Interstate 680
Interstate 680 (California)
Interstate 680 is a north–south Interstate Highway in Northern California. It curves around the eastern cities of the San Francisco Bay Area from San Jose to Interstate 80 at Cordelia, bypassing cities along the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay such as Oakland and Richmond while serving...
just north of the Benicia-Martinez Bridge
Benicia-Martinez Bridge
The Benicia–Martinez Bridge refers to three parallel bridges which cross the Carquinez Strait just west of Suisun Bay; the spans link Benicia, California to the north with Martinez, California to the south...
in Benicia
Benicia, California
Benicia is a waterside city in Solano County, California, United States. It was the first city in California to be founded by Anglo-Americans, and served as the state capital for nearly thirteen months from 1853 to 1854. The population was 26,997 at the 2010 census. The city is located in the San...
. Originally, this segment was part of I-680 before that Interstate was extended and rerouted to Cordelia. The city-maintained Curtola Parkway continues west from I-80 to State Route 29
California State Route 29
State Route 29 is a state highway in the U.S. state of California that travels in a north–south direction from State Route 20 in Upper Lake to Interstate 80 in Vallejo.-Route description:...
in Vallejo.
Route description
The Interstate 780 state-maintained freeway begins at Lemon Street and Curtola Parkway, quickly crossing underneath I-80Interstate 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 a cloverleaf interchange
Cloverleaf interchange
A cloverleaf interchange is a two-level interchange in which left turns, reverse direction in left-driving regions, are handled by ramp roads...
. The freeway passes through parts of unincorporated Solano County, then heads southeast along the Benicia State Recreation Area
Benicia State Recreation Area
Benicia State Recreation Area is a state park unit of California, USA, protecting tidal wetland. It is located in Solano County west of downtown Benicia. The park covers of marsh, grassy hillsides and rocky beaches along the narrowest portion of the Carquinez Strait...
(a marsh
Marsh
In geography, a marsh, or morass, is a type of wetland that is subject to frequent or continuous flood. Typically the water is shallow and features grasses, rushes, reeds, typhas, sedges, other herbaceous plants, and moss....
). It then bypasses downtown Benicia
Benicia, California
Benicia is a waterside city in Solano County, California, United States. It was the first city in California to be founded by Anglo-Americans, and served as the state capital for nearly thirteen months from 1853 to 1854. The population was 26,997 at the 2010 census. The city is located in the San...
through the hills to the north. I-780 ends at I-680
Interstate 680 (California)
Interstate 680 is a north–south Interstate Highway in Northern California. It curves around the eastern cities of the San Francisco Bay Area from San Jose to Interstate 80 at Cordelia, bypassing cities along the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay such as Oakland and Richmond while serving...
at the north end of the Benicia-Martinez Bridge
Benicia-Martinez Bridge
The Benicia–Martinez Bridge refers to three parallel bridges which cross the Carquinez Strait just west of Suisun Bay; the spans link Benicia, California to the north with Martinez, California to the south...
, with I-680 heading south through the East Bay
East Bay (San Francisco Bay Area)
The East Bay is a commonly used, informal term for the lands on the eastern side of the San Francisco Bay, in the San Francisco Bay Area, in California, United States...
to San Jose
San Jose, California
San Jose is the third-largest city in California, the tenth-largest in the U.S., and the county seat of Santa Clara County which is located at the southern end of San Francisco Bay...
.
History
By 1914, a paved county road connected VallejoVallejo, California
Vallejo is the largest city in Solano County, California, United States. The population was 115,942 at the 2010 census. It is located in the San Francisco Bay Area on the northeastern shore of San Pablo Bay...
and Benicia
Benicia, California
Benicia is a waterside city in Solano County, California, United States. It was the first city in California to be founded by Anglo-Americans, and served as the state capital for nearly thirteen months from 1853 to 1854. The population was 26,997 at the 2010 census. The city is located in the San...
north of the Carquinez Strait
Carquinez Strait
The Carquinez Strait is a narrow tidal strait in northern California. It is part of the tidal estuary of the Sacramento and the San Joaquin rivers as they drain into the San Francisco Bay...
, following the present Maine Street, Benicia Road, Columbus Parkway, and K Street. Although 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...
s were designated to Benicia in 1910 (Route 7, now I-680
Interstate 680 (California)
Interstate 680 is a north–south Interstate Highway in Northern California. It curves around the eastern cities of the San Francisco Bay Area from San Jose to Interstate 80 at Cordelia, bypassing cities along the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay such as Oakland and Richmond while serving...
) and Vallejo in 1931 (Route 74, now SR 29
California State Route 29
State Route 29 is a state highway in the U.S. state of California that travels in a north–south direction from State Route 20 in Upper Lake to Interstate 80 in Vallejo.-Route description:...
), this connection was not added until 1935, when Route 74 (an unsigned designation) was extended east from Vallejo to Benicia and north along former Route 7 to Cordelia. (A short spur connecting Vallejo to the Carquinez Bridge
Carquinez Bridge
The Carquinez Bridge refers to parallel bridges spanning the Carquinez Strait, forming part of Interstate 80 between Crockett and Vallejo, California. The name originally referred to a single cantilever bridge built in 1927, helping to form a direct route between San Francisco and Sacramento. A...
was added to Route 74 in 1937.) Route 74 initially entered Benicia on K Street and left on East Fifth Street, making several turns in between. Two realignments were built in the 1940s, reducing the number of turns to one, at the corner of L and East Second Streets.
On September 15, 1955, the Bureau of Public Roads approved the Interstate Highway System
Interstate Highway System
The Dwight D. Eisenhower National System of Interstate and Defense Highways, , is a network of limited-access roads including freeways, highways, and expressways forming part of the National Highway System of the United States of America...
spurs and connections in urban areas. Among these was a loop around the San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay
San Francisco Bay is a shallow, productive estuary through which water draining from approximately forty percent of California, flowing in the Sacramento and San Joaquin rivers from the Sierra Nevada mountains, enters the Pacific Ocean...
, soon numbered I-280
Interstate 280 (California)
Interstate 280 is a 57-mile long north–south Interstate Highway in the San Francisco Bay Area of Northern California. It connects San Jose and San Francisco, running along just to the west of the cities of San Francisco Peninsula for most of its route.I-280 from its northern end at King...
and I-680
Interstate 680 (California)
Interstate 680 is a north–south Interstate Highway in Northern California. It curves around the eastern cities of the San Francisco Bay Area from San Jose to Interstate 80 at Cordelia, bypassing cities along the eastern shore of San Francisco Bay such as Oakland and Richmond while serving...
. The east half (I-680) incorporated a number of existing legislative routes, including Routes 69, 108, 107, 75, and 74, crossing the Carquinez Strait
Carquinez Strait
The Carquinez Strait is a narrow tidal strait in northern California. It is part of the tidal estuary of the Sacramento and the San Joaquin rivers as they drain into the San Francisco Bay...
on the proposed Benicia-Martinez Bridge
Benicia-Martinez Bridge
The Benicia–Martinez Bridge refers to three parallel bridges which cross the Carquinez Strait just west of Suisun Bay; the spans link Benicia, California to the north with Martinez, California to the south...
and ending at I-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...
near downtown Vallejo. The first piece of this freeway north of the Carquinez Strait was at the I-80 cloverleaf interchange
Cloverleaf interchange
A cloverleaf interchange is a two-level interchange in which left turns, reverse direction in left-driving regions, are handled by ramp roads...
, built in the late 1950s when I-80 was upgraded through Vallejo. This was an extremely short roadway, beginning at Lemon Street, crossing under I-80 and Laurel Street, and ending at Reis Avenue and Cedar Street. In about 1960, it was extended east to the old highway (Columbus Parkway) between the cities, and was completed to the new bridge in about 1962, the year the bridge opened.
In the 1964 renumbering, the legislative designation of the completed Vallejo-Benicia freeway was changed from Route 74 to Route 680, reflecting its Interstate designation. The short piece of non-freeway in Vallejo, extending west from I-80 to SR 29
California State Route 29
State Route 29 is a state highway in the U.S. state of California that travels in a north–south direction from State Route 20 in Upper Lake to Interstate 80 in Vallejo.-Route description:...
, became State Route 141. This route followed Benicia Road and Maine Street, the same alignment the state highway had always taken; it initially connected with I-780 via Lemon Street, but later followed Benicia Road from I-80 north of I-780. In 1975, a proposed (and never constructed) extension west and north to SR 37
California State Route 37
State Route 37 is a state highway in the northern part of the U.S. state of California that runs 21 miles along the northern shore of San Pablo Bay. It is built from U.S. Route 101 in Novato and runs through the southern tips of Sonoma and Napa Counties to Interstate 80 in Vallejo...
east of the Napa River
Napa River
The Napa River, approximately 55 miles long, is a river in the U.S. state of California. It drains a famous wine-growing region, called the Napa Valley, in the mountains northeast of San Francisco. Milliken Creek is a tributary of the Napa River....
was added to Route 141. The route was to be the Waterfront Freeway, scaled down to a boulevard
Boulevard
A Boulevard is type of road, usually a wide, multi-lane arterial thoroughfare, divided with a median down the centre, and roadways along each side designed as slow travel and parking lanes and for bicycle and pedestrian usage, often with an above-average quality of landscaping and scenery...
in 1974.
The Federal Highway Administration
Federal Highway Administration
The Federal Highway Administration is a division of the United States Department of Transportation that specializes in highway transportation. The agency's major activities are grouped into two "programs," the Federal-aid Highway Program and the Federal Lands Highway Program...
approved a relocation of I-680 onto the State Route 21 freeway between Benicia and Cordelia in July 1973. To keep the route to Vallejo in the Interstate system, it was renumbered I-780; the corresponding legislative changes were made in 1976. As part of the project to construct a new northbound Benicia-Martinez Bridge
Benicia-Martinez Bridge
The Benicia–Martinez Bridge refers to three parallel bridges which cross the Carquinez Strait just west of Suisun Bay; the spans link Benicia, California to the north with Martinez, California to the south...
, the I-680/I-780 interchange was rebuilt; the new span opened in August 2007. Route 141 was deleted from the state highway system in 1988, soon after the city of Vallejo constructed Curtola Parkway (partially replacing Maryland Street) just to the south, directly connecting I-780 with a surface road to SR 29
California State Route 29
State Route 29 is a state highway in the U.S. state of California that travels in a north–south direction from State Route 20 in Upper Lake to Interstate 80 in Vallejo.-Route description:...
.
Exit list
- Note: Except where prefixed with a letter, postmiles were measured in 1964, based on the alignment of Route 680 as it existed at that time, and do not necessarily reflect current mileage.