California State Route 150


State Route 150 is a state highway in the U.S. state of California. It runs from U.S. Route 101 near the Ventura/Santa Barbara County line to State Route 126 in Santa Paula, providing a connection to Lake Casitas and Ojai. It is a two-lane road. There were some one-lane bridges near the western end of the route, but these were rebuilt to be two-lane bridges after flooding in 2005.

Route description

The western terminus is at US 101 in eastern Carpinteria. It climbs above the Pacific Ocean to reach the mountains west of Lake Casitas. The portion of the road between US 101 and Lake Casitas is called Casitas Pass Road, and the portion between Lake Casitas and Ojai is called Baldwin Road. However, this part of the road is rural and is not used as a primary thoroughfare. SR 33 is recommended to reach Ojai from U.S. 101. SR 150 joins SR 33 near Meiners Oaks and remains co-signed with the route into the Ojai city limits, where it is known as Ojai Avenue. It runs southeast on Ojai-Santa Paula Road and serves as the major connector between the cities of Ojai and Santa Paula, running past Thomas Aquinas College. In Santa Paula, it becomes 10th Street and ends at an interchange with SR 126.
The other names of Route 150 include Rincon Road, Casitas Pass Road, Baldwin Road, Ventura Avenue, Ojai Avenue, Santa Paula/Ojai Road, Ojai Road and 10th Street.
SR 150 south of the outer Ojai city limits is part of the National Highway System, a network of highways that are considered essential to the country's economy, defense, and mobility by the Federal Highway Administration. This route is eligible for the State Scenic Highway System, but it is not officially designated as a scenic highway by the California Department of Transportation.

History

The route was opened in 1897. Before the construction of US 101, it was part of the main highway between Los Angeles and Santa Barbara. Originally, State Route 150 followed the alignment of State Route 192 through the Santa Barbara foothills and climbed up San Marcos Pass via the present-day route of State Route 154 before heading west on State Route 246, passing through Santa Ynez, Solvang, and Buellton and ending in Lompoc at State Route 1. The only current remnants of that routing are at the mileage signs for westbound State Route 150, which have the control city as Santa Barbara west of Santa Paula, even though SR 150 currently ends east of the city.

Major intersections